Erica’s POV
“Dante stop this! You’re being unreasonable!”
Dante had walked over to Javier and the both of them were in a heated argument. Javier was standing calmly behind me while Dante was snarling threats at him.
“Dante!”
I stood between the two of them and tried my best to keep them away from each other. I had no idea how this had escalated so fast.
I was grateful that Javier was being so composed. He simply stood behind me, staring quietly yet intensely at Dante.
“You want to be a smart talker. Why don’t you say what you said earlier to my face!”
I was barely strong enough to keep Dante at bay. I turned back and glared at Javier.
“You have to go. You can’t stay here.”
“And what about you?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine. You should go. We can talk later.”
Javier was reluctant and he didn’t listen. He still stood in the room. His golden eyes were still daring Dante to take him on if he dared.
“Javier!”
He looked at me.
“Go!”
He was hesitant but he finally left the room and Dante and I were left alone.
He eased off the pressure and relaxed. He was still snarling but soon he stopped and all became quiet around us.
“What is your problem, Erica?”
I looked at him flabbergasted.
“My problem? I’m the one that is trying to fix this mess that we are in. Ever since I got here, we haven’t made any reasonable progress toward stopping Hazan. Wasn’t the note that you got from him that was embedded in the head of your guard not enough warning for you to spring into action?”
I snarled and turned away from me.
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I mean why did you have to bring that bastard here?”
I sighed.
“I told you already. He wants to help us and fight Hazan. They took his family away from him. He wants to help and I am more than open to the idea.”
He slammed his fist on the desk and it rattled.
“I don’t like him, Erica…”
“You don’t like any guy that you see me around…”
“And for good reason!”
He turned to me I saw a look of overwhelming jealousy in his eyes.
I gasped and tried to take a step back but he grabbed me and pulled me close.
“Dan…”
He kissed the words back into my mouth. I wanted to pull away but my body relished the taste of his lips.
It had been a while. It was wrong to feel this way but I missed his kisses. It was wrong. I was engaged to Lorenzo but deep down, a part of me missed Dante.
But I wasn’t ready to be with him. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to be with him.
He pulled away and stared deep into my eyes. His grasp around my waist tightened and the intensity in his eyes became stronger and sent ripples down my spine.
“You are my mate, Erica. You are supposed to be with me and you know it.”
The words rang in my ears and I tried to extract myself from his grasp before I became a slave to his touch. But he didn’t let me and pulled me in closer.
“Don’t think that you can get away again. You are mine. Running away from it will do you no good. I’m sorry if I played with your feelings and used them against you but haven’t you thought for once that the only one playing with your feelings is you.”
He pulled me in even closer. Our lips were mere inches away from each other.
I could feel his breath fanning against my face.
“You know that you want me. You know that you love me but you are the one that is giving yourself excuses to stay away. You are engaged to Lorenzo. You can leave him and there will be no consequence. You can be with me. You say that you don’t want me but your body always says otherwise.”
I flushed a deep scarlet.
“Dante let go of…”
“I can smell you. I can tell that you’re soaking for me. I can see your thighs rubbing against each other and all this is just from me kissing you. You always try to push me away but how long are you going to keep doing this? How long will you continue to remain unhappy with a man that you don’t love.”
I scowled.
“And how do you know that I don’t love…”
“At the airport, when you came to pick him up and you kissed him. I saw the look on your face. You were uncomfortable, if I may say, repulsed, by the feeling that you had kissing him. You only did it as a statement, a show, to prove to me that you loved him but you and I both know that it was all a lie.
I felt my heart pound rapidly in my chest.
He was reading me like an open book.
I saw a smile curl his lips.
“I can feel your heartbeat, mate. It is unsteady. It means that you are guilty and everything that I am saying is true, isn’t it?”
I flushed red and pulled myself away from him.
“That’s not what we were supposed to talk about. Javier says and that is that.”
Dante was about to say something when the doors of his office flung open.
“Back again you whore!”
I turned.
“Hello, Laura.”
My voice was light and I wasn’t making an effort to hide the mockery in my tone.
“Don’t hello me! What are you doing here?!”
I smiled and turned to face her. Dante had had his little battle. Now it was my turn.
“Business. What about you?”
I could see the fear in her eyes as she looked at me. I reckoned that Pearl had told her about me. Did she come to test the waters?
“What are you doing here, Laura?”
Dante butted in and glared at her.
I frowned slightly. He was stealing all the fun.
“You!”
She pointed angrily at him and pushed past me.
“My father has been downstairs for hours trying to get a meeting with you but your guards and Beta refused him entry.”
Dante rolled his eyes.
“Well, they didn’t do such a good job if they let you past them.”
Laura was red with anger and I simply stood and enjoyed the show.
“So you admit it. You have been deliberately ignoring my father and council. You would rather have a meeting with this bitch than to talk to the council.”
“I had a meeting with her because she did what any sane person would do. She scheduled a date for the meeting. She made an appointment and didn’t just show up here like she owns the place.”
Laura was furious and could barely talk.
“Liar! My father said that he has scheduled many appointments but you haven’t answered any of them!”
Dante’s lips broke into a smirk. I could feel the tension. I stood back and watched. It was nice to see someone else get Dante’s cold shoulder. I had gotten it from him for years when he was frolicking with her.
Oh, how the tables have turned.
“Your father scheduled an appointment? Really? Well, it must not have gotten to me. What a shame.”
I wanted to giggle. I was fighting to keep a straight face.
“How dare you do this to me, Dante! How dare you make a fool of me after everything that I did for you! You disgust me and I hate you. You were supposed to marry me. You ignored this whore for years and now you’re crawling back to her like a baby. Is this how low you can stoop?!”
She was crying hot tears.
It was nice to see her feel the rejection that I felt for years when Dante was sleeping with her and making a fool of me with her by his side, smiling smugly.
“You will pay for this. I promise you!”
She turned around and stormed out.