Chapter 139: 37| Eyes-1

┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓ Eyes ┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛ Chapter 37: Eyes (Anastasia's POV) You would expect me to be familiar with Dante's lazy morning kisses by now, but every morning, I felt a trail of slow, soft kisses pressed along my shoulders and arms; it was the best surprise in the world. I felt the smile teasing my lips before I was fully conscious, and as his lips traveled down the slope of my shoulder and along my arm, a soft chuckle escaped me. "I could get used to this," I mumbled, slowly facing him. "Yeah?" he whispered, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "It's a shame you already aren't. Do I need to work harder, Anastasia?" "Maybe a little," I laughed, opening my eyes and meeting his. A beat of silence passed between us before reality dawned on me. Groaning against his chest, I asked, "Do we have to go to work today?" "I don't think we can afford to skip it," he muttered half-heartedly. I sighed deeply and kissed his chest quickly before pulling back. "Ten more minutes," I said. "Five," he argued. "Ten," I persisted. "Five," he smiled down at me in amusement. "Seven," I bargained. He looked at me quizzically for a moment before saying, "Ten? We can do ten." I grinned, throwing my arms and legs over his and tangling with him beneath the sheets. It was so easy to switch my brain off and tune out the rest of the world and its problems whenever I was with Dante, but every morning we'd wake up, the spell would break, and the bubble we'd created together would shatter, throwing us back to reality. Ten minutes passed before I even realized it, but I bit down on my complaints as he untangled himself from me and moved to stand. By that point in our relationship, Dante and I had plenty of belongings at each other's apartments, so we both got ready and then headed out for work in his car. Throughout the ride, his fingers absentmindedly traced circles and little stars along my inner thigh, and at almost every red light, he leaned in to steal a quick kiss. Sitting in silence during that ride, I couldn't help how my thoughts strayed to Dante's past; I couldn't help but wonder who he relied on growing up. After losing Francesca, my mother made sure I lost her too, and although my father was present, it was too difficult for him to recount the past on every occasion, so instead of standing up for me, he chose to remain silent. I still had one person on my side no matter what the case. Marshall. I couldn't help but wonder who Dante had. I turned to face him as I tugged at his hand lightly to get his attention. "Hmm?" he asked, glancing at me briefly before turning back to the road. "Can I ask you something?" "Of course," he replied, "you can ask me anything, Mia Cara." "After everything that happened," I paused, inclining my body toward his, "after we got out… was there anyone waiting for you? Searching for you?" He slowed to a stop at a light and met my gaze. "Was there anyone you were coming home to?" I asked. He stared back at me for a moment before shaking his head softly. "No," he replied, "there was no one." My breath hitched as I felt my heart sink a little. "I returned to an empty house with one butler and a housemaid waiting for me. I had a grandfather who was still living in Italy. He became my guardian, but he never came to visit me. I grew up alone." "Why didn't he visit?" A small smile danced on his lips sadly as he chuckled dryly. "He despised me. He needed someone to blame after what happened. I made it out, and my parents didn't." He offered me a small shrug before turning to me. "He held me accountable." I knew that feeling all too well. I realized then that Dante and I were far more similar than I thought, and the past we shared tied us into one person. Nobody would ever understand me the way he did, and nobody would ever know him the way I did. "How come you never told anyone?" I questioned. "The same reason you didn't," he replied, turning ahead as the light turned green. "I didn't want to be pitied, Anastasia." I let out a small sigh, "God, you're just like me." He laughed softly and took my hand in his. "It's why I know you so well. I can read you like a book." Within a few minutes, we arrived at the office and headed upstairs. When we found ourselves alone in the elevator, we took our chances, and while ignoring the camera we knew was in the corner, we stole a few quick kisses before stepping out. Dante trailed behind me with his hands comfortably tucked into his pockets and an amused smirk on his lips while I struggled to keep my cheeks from flushing and a grin from breaking out. "Morning," I greeted Marshall as we stepped into his office. He reached for a file behind him and dropped it on the table before me. "I'd highly recommend next time you two want to get so… handsy," he cleared his throat, "you don't do it in my elevator." I went utterly still. I knew the camera was there, but I also knew that Marshall never took it upon himself to watch it. That was security's job. "We hardly got handsy," Dante replied calmly, stepping beside me and picking up the file. "Dante," Marshall said pointedly. "Trust me, Marshall," Dante mused, "we've gotten far more handsy than that." "Okay," I said loudly, dropping my purse on the table with a bang. I smacked Dante's chest lightly before facing Marshall. "It won't happen again." "I've heard that one before, Anastasia," Marshall said, amusement dancing in his eyes. With a blink, it was replaced with seriousness, and we all switched into work mode. "That file has all the details we've ever had on Isaiah Morales, including his address. It's everything you asked for," he said to Dante. "We couldn't find enough information on his son. He shuffled through several foster families in his childhood but became a ghost when he turned eighteen. He inherited his father's property upstate, but we're unsure if he's living there." I nodded slowly in understanding. "We'll go check it out." "Take backup," Marshall said. "Backup has to keep a distance," I replied, "if he happens to be there and sees so many agents at once, he'll run."