Chapter 101 I love you
Isabella POV
He ended the embrace again and stared at my face, his thumb gently stroking my cheek. His eyes shifted back and forth slightly as he looked at me. He did something he’d never done before and leaned in to kiss me on the
forehead. He left his kiss there, soft and warm. The heat radiated all the way down my spine and to my ass because the touch was so powerful. A man had never kissed me that way. He pulled his lips away and looked me in the eyes again. “I love you, baby.”
I heard every word that came out of his mouth, but it took an entire span of ten seconds to understand those words were real. They were really spoken aloud, coming from his mouth and landing on my ears. After I confirmed it
was real and not a lie from my imagination, I took a deep breath because my lungs ached for oxygen. “What…?”
His thumb continued to glide across my cheek. “You heard me.”
My eyes watered, the flood of tears beginning to emerge. “I went Lake and stood on the bank where you painted me. I stared at the trees, the water, the snow…and I knew.”
The tears piled up at the corners of my eyes until they spilled over and streaked down my cheeks. His thumb caught one and wiped it away. “And I know you love me too.”
Shock, terror, and pain seared my entire body. I’d struggled with this relationship for the last three months because I hated my feelings for him, but this crossed a line. I didn’t even know how bad things had gotten between us. “I don’t love you…”
He cocked his head slightly, but his expression didn’t change. I pulled away from his grasp, getting his hands off me. “This is over.” I
didn’t want his hands on me ever again. I never wanted the touch of my enemy, of this man who brainwashed me into thinking this relationship was okay. I’d fallen so far, but I wasn’t going to fall anymore. This was a dealbreaker because it was so fucked up.
I stepped farther away, putting more space in between us. He dropped his hands, his blue eyes flashing with hostility. “We’re done.” I wiped away the tear that streaked down my cheek. “Get out of my apartment.”
Dante didn’t move an inch. “Baby”
“I mean it. I don’t want you anywhere near me. I don’t want you in my apartment ever again. I want you to just disappear. I would much rather fight you with my family then go down this road.”
“isabella, I would never hurt your family. I’m dropping my vendetta for good.”
It was something I’d never thought he would offer, and I couldn’t believe he’d actually put it on the table. But I knew it was too good to be true. “For now. Then when this goes south, you’ll change your”
“No.” His eyes flashed in anger. “Regardless of what happens tonight, I won’t touch them. I know how much they mean to you, and I would never hurt someone you love…because I love you.”
More tears emerged, angry tears. “Stop saying that. You’re not the kind of man who loves anyone.”
“No. I’m not the kind of man who lies. I know how I feel about you, and I’m not going to lie about it. Just because I’ve never loved a woman before doesn’t mean I’m incapable of loving you better than any man ever could.”
His arms remained by his sides and he didn’t move closer to me, but I felt like his body still surrounded mine. He shot me a look of hostility mixed with disappointment. “I didn’t think we would end up here, and as annoyed as I am about it, I’m not going to pretend nothing happened. You think I want to be in
love with my enemy’s daughter? You think I want to drop this vendetta? You fucked up everything, baby. But, you know? I’m okay with it. I’m okay with it because you’re the one woman I can’t stop thinking about. You’re the one woman I respect. You’re the one woman I want to protect. So be strong and just be real with me.”
“I am being real,” I said through my tears. “This is just lust, not love. This is just convenience. We’ve been using each other for months, and that’s all it’s ever been. That’s all it will ever be. I’m done.”
He took a deep breath, one full of frustration. His chest rose with the movement, his immense body looking bigger. “I never should have shown you that painting…” It led to all of this. My mother came to the same conclusion when she saw it, and now Dante did the
same. “You’re seeing something that’s not there. It’s just a painting. It’s just paint and canvas. You think you see the way I feel, but you don’t.”
“I don’t need to be a professional to know what I saw. Anyone would draw the same conclusion and you know it.” I looked away, thinking of the words my mother said. “I don’t love you…”
“Say it as many times as you want. Doesn’t change anything.”
I lifted my gaze again. “You told me I had my rights and I’m telling you I want you to leave and never come back. I’m telling you this is never going to happen. I’m telling you I want nothing to do with you.” I threw my hands
down, disgusted with myself for letting this continue for so long. Three months of my life came and went and I spent all of that with this man. Dante didn’t move toward the door. “Cut the bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit.”
“The second I walked through that door, you were all over me.”
“Because I want to fuck you, not because I love you.” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling my life spin out of control. “If you won’t hurt my family and I’m not a prisoner, then I want nothing to do with you. I want you to walk out and never come back. I won’t change my mind.”
He still didn’t move. He hadn’t blinked once throughout the entire conversation. He kept his anger restrained while I had my breakdown. With a clenched jaw and flared nostrils, he looked like he wanted to strangle me. “If you really want me to leave you alone, you’re going to have to give me a real reason. Because I know you love me. I’m watching tears streak down your cheeks, and I still see it. So don’t waste your time thinking you’re fooling me. Maybe you’re fooling yourself, but I know you’re smarter than that.”
I wiped my tears away with my fingertips and sniffed. “There’s no future for us. Even if I loved you, and I’m not saying I do, it would never work. Your father killed my aunt…he raped my mother…and you kept me as a
prisoner for the last three months”
“You weren’t a prisoner, and you know it.”