Chapter 66 Power pull
Isabella POV
My arm rested over his, feeling the powerful heat his body projected. He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck, his lips soft against my cold skin. Like our earlier fight never happened, we lay there in comfortable silence.
Like my brother and I didn’t just have a moment right outside the front door, we lay there like lovers. I knew Dante had overheard the entire conversation, if he was sitting on the couch the whole time, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Baby.” His masculine voice filled the darkness of my bedroom. I turned my head toward him, my eyes moving to the ceiling without turning around. “Hmm?”
“Tell me what you want.”
I faced forward again. “Nothing. I just want to stay like this.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
He’d never given me the option before. “Does it matter? Would you go if I asked?”
He kissed my shoulder. “Yes.”
This was my chance to get rid of him, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t want to lie in that bed by myself. I was used to his big body beside me. I slept with him every single night, so when he wasn’t there, my night was alwaysnterrible. “I want you to stay…”
He kissed my shoulder again, giving me his tongue. He moved up my neck until he reached the shell of my ear. “Then I’ll stay.”
I sat at the easel and continued working on the painting. I’d taken a photo when I walked home from the store. It was an image of an alleyway, a narrow place that had a few bicycles leaned up against the walls. It was an iconic image of Roman culture, so I snapped it on my phone and then got to work. Now I was almost done.
I sat in my workspace, the room Dante had given to me. He rarely came in here while I worked, giving me my space so I could be creative without hindrance. The painting I made for him was still in here, leaning against the wall because he hadn’t found a place for it yet. At midday, my wrist started to ache, so I took a break and walked into the kitchen.
The kitchen table was covered with paperwork, guns, and ammunition. Semiautomatic weapons along with pistols and shotguns were on the surface, surrounded by rounds of ammunition. Dante stood there, wearing a t-shirt and black jeans. He didn’t look up at me when I walked in, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes focused. I could grab any one of those and shoot him between the eyes.
It was tempting just for a second. “What’s all this about?”
He took a few seconds before he finally turned his head my way. “Work.”
“Work? It looks like you’re about to take out a whole country.”
“I’m hitting him tonight.”
He hadn’t mentioned it in a few days so I had hoped he’d dropped this vendetta. Dante was a smart man, but his stubbornness would get him killed. He needed to learn to release these grudges and move on with his life. He lived in the past way too much. “I was hoping you’d let this go…”
“Do I ever let anything go?” he challenged. I stared at the shotgun sitting on the table. “Are these loaded?”
“Yes.” He kept his arms crossed over his chest and stared at me, slightly amused. “And you’re just going to leave these out like this?”
“Yes.” His confidence suggested he didn’t think I was a threat. “You shouldn’t be so arrogant.”
He grabbed the shotgun sitting in front of him then popped open the barrel. It was full of rounds. He shut it again then placed it on the table right in front of me. “Take your shot, baby. I’m a strong man, but against a shotgun,
I have no chance.” He stared me down and waited for me to do something.”
I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face and shoot him right between the eyes. All I had to do was grab the gun and aim. But even if I had the strength to do it, the table was full of loaded guns. He was a lot faster than me, so all he had to do was grab a pistol and shoot me in the chest. If that weren’t the case, I might have done something. I turned around and walked into the kitchen. “That’s what I thought.”
I stopped in my tracks and turned back around, my eyes full of warning. He maintained his arrogant expression. “You’ve kept me for over two months, and I’m still here. So drop that
stupid look and make good on your threat.” I grabbed the shotgun and placed it in front of him. Instantly, his smile was gone.
“Come on. Do it.” Both of my hands gripped the table as I leaned over. “What are you waiting for? Take me out and then kill him. Your vendettas will be over, and you can go back to your lonely and pathetic life.”
The anger rose into his shoulders, but he still didn’t grab the gun. “That’s what I thought.” I turned my back to him, exposing myself
completely, and walked into the kitchen. I shut down his arrogance and reminded him that he was just as weak as I was. He said he was going to kill me, but the more time passed, the more I thought he wouldn’t. He listened to
my brother on my doorstep, and he protected me when he didn’t have to. This relationship wasn’t black and white anymore. He thought he had power over me. I had the same power over him.
His footsteps thudded hard against the floor, telling me he was stampeding this way I barely had time to turn around before he scooped me into his arms and lifted me onto the counter. He crushed his mouth against mine, and he kissed me so hard I could barely breathe. His shirt came over his head and fell on the tile, and then his pants and boxers were pushed down so his cock could be free. Like all the other times, my body was lit on fire, and I was kissing him back. My hands groped his hard body, and I panted into his mouth. My nails
clawed at him, and I lifted my body so I could help him get my panties off. My shirt was pulled to my waist, and then he was inside me with one hard thrust.