Page 54 of Vow of Hate

All I need is to forget about Sienna. So, I decide to leave the house. A little bit of chaos will be fun tonight. It’s just what I need.

Gabriel’s nightclub. It’s in the heart of the city. Popular. Tons of people waiting in line to get in. He makes a fuck ton of money through this place. Both real, honest money and all the money laundering he does. I’m not judging. I do the same with my own businesses. It’s admirable. Too bad Gabriel is a prick and I hate him.

The last thing I want is to ever make peace with him. I can’t marry Sienna. Then she would become my weakness.

But for a moment, I let myself imagine what life would be like married to her. Waking up beside her every day. Not my prisoner but my wife. Would she have love in her eyes as she looked at me? Or would she still hate me, even then?

It’s a question I don’t want to consider and none of it should matter. Sienna will never love me and I don’t want her to. It’s more fun to torture someone when they hate you.

At least, this is what I tell myself.

Fuck. What is happening to me?

I’ve had my fair share of women before. One innocent woman’s pussy shouldn’t be my undoing. I barely know Sienna.

Except, I do know her. I’ve seen how brave she can be. How she’s not afraid to fight back. How she’s not afraid to use her voice even when I can tell it’s a struggle. How selfless she is when she protected her mom. How much she’s not willing to give up.

And of course, the small amount of darkness in her. The one who didn’t feel any guilt for killing that cop. The one who begs me to touch her.

She’s a surprising woman and I haven’t been surprised that often in my life. It just has to be that. Sienna is a novelty who will wear off. I just know it.

Which is why none of this matters. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her. She shouldn’t matter one bit.

So that’s why I need Sienna off my mind.

For fun, I stroll up to the bouncer outside the club. “Tell Gabriel that Dante is here. He’ll know who I am.”

The bouncer speaks into a walkie-talkie and after a beat, lets me on in.

The smell of sex, alcohol, and sweat permeates the air. Normally, it would have made my heart start pumping but right now, I only feel cold. I walk with determination towards the back office but I’m stopped by two guards out front.

“He’s here,” one of the guards says into the walkie-talkie strapped to his jacket.

“Let him in,” Gabriel’s voice filters through the device.

The guard, after frisking me and taking my gun, opens the door and I waltz on in.

“Dante,” Gabriel says in a hard tone. “What brings you here?”

“I considered making a bomb and throwing it at your club just for shits and giggles.” I walk over to the bookshelf he has on the opposite wall of his desk and swipe my finger along one of the shelves. “Mmm. Dusty. You might want to clean more.”

“Are you making another threat? I could have you killed for that.”

“So then kill me,” I say with a shrug. “Maybe then you’d put me out of my misery.”

Gabriel scoffs. “Misery? You? What misery could you be in? You don’t have a fucking heart.”

“And you do? You’re a big, bad, scary mafia man just like me.”

“But then I got married.”

“Right. And you softened. Who would want that?”

“Why are you here, Dante?”

I plop down into the seat across from him. “I don’t really know. I thought I’d come here to fuck with you but now that I am here… I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Where is Sienna?”