Page 37 of Vow of Hate

I flush. “You’re mocking me.”

His expression turns cold. “And you’re trying to get me to open up to you. Why? So you can find a weakness in me?”

“No. So I can know the man who kidnapped me better. If you didn’t want to show me any kindness, why give me this bath? Why wash my hair?”

“As I said: you’re no fun to me if you’re hurt.”

I scoff. “I don’t believe you. You’ve hurt countless people. Luciana told me what you did to her and her husband. How you threatened to rape her with your gun. How you locked the two of them in a metal box. You enjoy hurting people. So why would you care if I’m hurt or not? You could still touch me if I was bleeding. If I was dying in your arms.”

“But then if you were dead, I wouldn’t be able to have any fun with you. So there’s that.”

“You know I’m right,” I say, forcing my eyes into his. Now is not the time to be shy. It’s the time to be bold. “You’re hiding things from me.”

“Why do you think you have the right to know them?”

“I have every right. What you’ve done to me. It’s only fair.”

“You’ve enjoyed the things I’ve done to you.”

My face feels hot but I ignore it. “I have. That still doesn’t mean I’m not right. Just be honest with me for once, Dante. You saved me from Edward. You didn’t have to kill him but you did. For me.”

“How do you know I’m not lying about that?”

“Because I saw your face the night you told me. I could tell you were being honest and I can tell you’re not being honest now. Just one perfect day you had growing up. Just one. Just tell me.”

“Fine,” he snaps. “You want a perfect day? Ok. My mother really did take me out for ice cream. It was the first time she had ever done it. She didn’t want me getting fat so we weren’t allowed these things. But she took me out that day. I didn’t understand why at the time. But I was so happy. Just six years old. I remember it vividly. She smiled at me. Spoke sweetly to me. Gave me ice cream. It was a perfect day. Until it wasn’t. She didn’t hit me, my mother. You are right. I lied about that. But she did something even worse. She used the lure of ice cream to get me to come with her and then she took me to this man’s home. A man I had never seen before. And she told me that I would be his now. That I belonged to him and then she left. Just… walked away. I never saw her again. I don’t even know if the bitch is alive or dead.”

Silence once Dante finishes his story. I open my lips but can’t get the words out.

“You’re… you’re mother gave you away?”

“She didn’t just give me away. She sold me. She didn’t have any money. It’s the reason we never had ice cream. It was a luxury. But we had it that day because he had paid her. For me. The man who became my father. And yes, I did kill him. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“So your father wasn’t your actual father?”

Dante chuckles but there’s no humor to it. “He was my father in every way that counted. He raised me. Taught me how to be a mafia man. But he was cruel. So I killed him when I was old enough to do so. End of story.”

There’s a hardness to Dante’s eyes that tells me he’s still not saying everything. But he told me a lot today and I don’t want to push it further.

Something compels me to grab Dante’s hand. His eyes widen. “Thank you. For sharing that. Even if your perfect day ended in tragedy.”

“I guess you never experienced anything like that. It sounds like your parents loved you.”

“They do. I mean… my father did. He treated me like a princess. My mother was always more bold. More realistic about the world than my dad. It’s how she kept me safe from suitors who came knocking at our door after my dad died.”

His slow smile his eerie. “But she couldn’t save you from me.”

“No,” I breathe out. “She couldn’t. You shot her. I hate you for that.”

“She survived, didn’t she?”

“You still shot her and I still hate you for it.”

He presses his head to mine. I jerk back, putting space between us. “If you hate me so much, Sienna, why do you let me touch you the way I have?”

“You haven’t touched me, remember?”

“I know,” he glowers. “You like having a dildo inside of you? A fake cock? Would you prefer that to a real one?”