Chapter 92 Rags and Ritches 33

Chapter 92 Rags and Ritches 33
Aria

“Dante Ritches knocked on our door.” My roommate’s tone was so panicked that her words sounded warbled.  “What is going on Ria? What have you got yourself into?”

My blood turned to ice in my veins. 

“Are you in trouble with the mob? Seriously if I had known I would never have answered the door, I would have-“

I lifted my eyes to the huge window. Half of it was frosted but Dante was tall and he could look right in.

Our eyes clashed and my heart knocked against my ribs painfully tight.

“No trouble.” I said softly, and I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his. “I’ll handle it. Ok.”

“Ria.”

“Can you call my brother. His name is in my address book. If you can’t get hold of Gio, call a Christian. Explain about-“ for the first time since I had spotted Dante staring at me I felt a flicker of fear in my gut. “Tell them about Theo, and ask for help. They will protect the both of you.”

I hadn’t had any contact with my family since I had run. Sure I kept up with what they were up to but I never reached out to them. It was too dangerous to.

Now it was too dangerous not to. Dante had finally found me. All I could do now was get my son out of his grasp and to safety. 

“Ria.”

“It’s fine.” I whispered, tracking my husbands movements as he pushed through the door and made the little bell tinkle. All heads turned towards him. “ I have it under control. Phone my brother please..”

I did not have anything under control. My hands shook so much as I plucked the order pad from my apron and moved to his table. 

Sure I could have run, but what was the point? 

“Evening, sir. Can I start you off with some water or maybe a coffee?” It was what I asked every customer who sat in my section but my voice shook.

Slowly Dante tilted his head up to study my face. “Coffee.” He said.

“Coming right up.” I took a step back and he lashed out to catch my wrist in a punishing grip. I hissed in pain. “Please let go of me sir.”

Darkness flickered into his eyes. “No. Don’t you even have a hello for your husband Aria?” He didn’t shout it but his voice carried. Behind the counter, the owners head snapped up. Shock tightening his features.

I opened my mouth to tell him he was mistaken and promptly shut it again. Denying who I was now was pathetic. He knew exactly who I was just like I knew him.

“Hello Dante. How you been?”

For a second he stared at me in shock, and then the corner of painfully pretty mouth pulled up at the edges and he threw his head back and laughed. “How have I been? Did you seriously just ask me that?”

Licking my lips I didn’t answer him.

“I’ve been in hell.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. But he didn’t let go of my wrist. Instead his grip intensified. “Didn’t you hear , my wife ran away and hasn’t been seen for over two years.”

I shrugged. “Might have heard something about it. Gotta suck to be you.”

Dante’s eyes flashed. “Yeah it has sucked. I’ve scoured the world for her so imagine my surprise to find her so close.” One tug of my arm and he forced me to step a step closer. My legs brushed his knees and my traitorous body quickened. “How long have you been here Aria?” He whisper hissed.

“A while.”

“How long? Have you been here the entire time?”

Sucking in a deep breath. I set my shoulders. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Watching me?”

“Yes.”

His eyes widened at that. “So you were allowed to see me but I wasn’t you. Do you think that’s fair Aria?”

“Someone once told me that life isn’t fair. Yes I watched you Dante. I planned on killing you.” 

A flicker of surprise swept across his face. There and gone again in a second. “Why didn’t you put me out of my misery Aria?”

“I might still do it.” Ok I didn’t sound sure about that at all.

Dante chuckled again. “If you were going to do it then you would have done it by now. You could have put a bullet in my head and ran. Had a good life.” Another tug on my arm and this time he yanked me right now into his lap. 

Behind the counter , my boss moved and I threw up a hand to stop him. If he got involved now, he was going ti get hurt.

“You choose to stay. Because you wanted me to find you, didn't you?” Dante’s arm looped around my waist to keep me locked to him but his other hand reached up to slowly slide across my cheek. “You couldn’t give this up either could you?.”

I scoffed at him. Turning to face him, I felt the twitch in his pants that was so familiar even after all of these years. “Let’s just say something else came up, and you ceased to matter to me.” Cupping his face in my hands I lowered my face over his. But instead of kissing him I whispered. “I can smell her perfume on you Dante.” 

He whirled back like I had hit him. His eyes blazing in his head. “It’s not like that Aria.”

“You don’t seem to get it Dante. I don’t care. I’ve moved on.” I lied. 

The anger that flowed over his face was terrifying. “Yes I noticed you moved on Aria. I saw your son.”

The blood drained out of my face and he saw it. It happened in an instant, the realisation. 

“Holy Madonna.” He hissed. “He’s my son isn’t he?”