Jab

Jab
Vinorca Jona POV

"Good job, Bunny." Dante's words pulled me out of the trance I'd fallen into the moment I heard Finn Roth speak.

Be careful with yourself.

What did he mean by that? On the way here, confusion had tangled itself through my thoughts until I couldn't think straight. He really messed with my head. Was it a warning, or just another way to get inside my mind?

"I'm talking to you, Vin." I looked up to find Dante watching me, his expression questioning.

I opened my mouth. "What were you saying?" I'd heard him praise me, but everything after that had dissolved into white noise.

He sighed. "Never mind. Just sit quietly on that sofa and stop distracting me."

Did he really have to talk like that? "Not like I want to disturb you." Which was the truth.

I dragged myself to the couch and sank into it, my head still a tangled mess. There was no way I wanted to talk about anything right now.

Time crawled. Each minute stretched impossibly long, driving me toward the edge of my sanity. Browsing my phone did nothing to help, but I didn't know what else to do.

"You're bored?" No shit, Sherlock.

I nodded. "Turns out sitting around doing nothing isn't exactly entertaining." The sarcasm dripped from every word.

"That tracks." His arrogance bled through his tone, thick and unmistakable. He couldn't breathe without showing his filth.

I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Then why are you wasting your precious time? Didn't you tell me not to distract you?"

"I love when your mouth gets spicy, though it doesn't burn me." He paused, his smirk widening. "Keep trying."

I didn't even want to know his kinks, but he kept spilling them anyway.

“Hold your horses. No spice can change what's between you and me." I forced a smile.

He said nothing, but his lips curved into a line, like I'd told him a joke only he understood. One thing was certain about Dante: he'd talk dirty, then contradict himself in the same breath.

My jabs seemed to irritate him sometimes, yet he claimed they turned him on. Before he left three years ago, he hadn't given me any importance at all.

But since he came back, his tongue and hands found every opportunity to spill his disgusting thoughts—the ones he must have hidden before.

"What did you talk about with Finn?" he asked after a brief silence.

I blinked, my mind scrambling for an answer. Should I even tell him? His Beta had said something that confused me, and now my nerves were completely wrecked.

"He told me to be careful with myself." The words spilled out before I could stop them, my confusion bleeding through every syllable.

What was there to hide? Finn was his Beta. He could tell him—would tell him, probably.

"Huh? Did you do something?" He rested his cheek against his palm, his full attention locked on me now.

That was his first question after hearing my words? Like I could have done something to his Beta—someone more powerful than me, who had authority, who knew everything about me while I knew nothing about him.

I didn't have a single shred of knowledge or authority to challenge him with.

"Give me your precious insights on what I might have done with your Beta." So amusing. "He's a man with more strength than me, so I'm curious what you think I'm capable of."

"You're capable of nothing." He threw shade like the professional he was. "Yet who knows what capabilities your tongue showed, because you recently learned how to use it."

"Seems like you don't have the skills to compete then," I retorted.

His fingers tapped against his cheek. "Who knows? Maybe I have so many, you can't figure out which one's the specialty."

Dante dragged his tongue across his lower lip when he finished speaking. I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. Heat crawled up my neck despite every instinct screaming at me to stay unaffected.

His eyes tracked the movement, that damned smirk deepening like he'd won something.

I forced my gaze away, jaw tight. "Your arrogance isn't as charming as you think it is."

"Funny." He leaned back in his chair, all lazy confidence. "I wasn't trying to be charming."

The air between us felt thick, charged with something I refused to name. I hated how easily he got under my skin, how one look could unravel the composure I'd spent years building.

"Are we done here?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Or are you going to keep wasting time with your cryptic bullshit?"

"Patience, Bunny." His voice dropped lower, almost a purr. "We're just getting started."

"Dante, did you ever think that maybe starting anything with you isn't on my agenda?" I closed my eyes before the sentence even finished, refusing to hear his response. Maybe my actions would make it clear enough—and apparently, they did.

Because no reply came from his side. Something twisted in my stomach, strong and unsettling. I felt like I might throw up right then and there, but not because of our conversation. It was something else entirely.

My nerves felt like they were burning on a stove, ready to burst open at any second. Heat prickled across my skin, and my breathing grew shallow. Something was wrong—deeply, physically wrong—and I couldn't pinpoint what.

I pressed a hand to my abdomen, trying to steady myself, but the sensation only intensified. My body felt foreign, like it was rebelling against me from the inside out.

‘What is happening to me?’ I asked myself, but I couldn't make sense of anything.

"Vin." My name rang in my ears. I opened my eyes, everything blurred as if tears were ready to fall, but my eyes stayed dry.

Fuck. I felt like I was going to die, like I'd burst open from the pain suddenly tearing through me.

"Something is wrong with me." I tried to keep my voice stable, but it cracked anyway.