Chapter 2

Third Person POV

She slammed the glass on the counter, more because she can barely hold it than anything else. 

"Ahh need anoder shwot, pwease?" Kate said, her words heavily slurred due the effects of alcohol. 

She cut a bizzare sight in the bar, what with her wedding dress and her heavy drinking. The other bar goers pointed at her and whispered, but Kate was way past caring at this point. 

Leaving the stunned Max and the even more stunned guests in the hall, she had run all the way here. 

She was already heavily drunk, but she didn't care as she slurped her new shot and moved her body along to the beat of the music. 

Suddenly, she tripped and lost her balance. 

Kate had fully resigned herself to a broken nose when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a strong embrace she didn't know she desperately needed. Her soft body collided with a hard one, and she got a whiff of the man. 

Heavenly! 

Dominating, powerful, tempting. 

All these were her first impression of the man, even through the haze of alcohol.

On his own part, the man felt as if an angel had suddenly fallen into his arms as he stared at the delicate, desolate beauty. 

Kate no longer felt alone and empty. Slowly, she looked up, only to meet the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. 

They were a deep dark brown that stared at her so intensely she almost shivered. 

She took in his face that looked like something a Greek sculptor would make. The jawline was chiselled, and the neatly trimmed side burns framed the face nicer than she had ever seen. The plump lips looked tempting too. 

Kate could only think of one word to describe him. 

Apollo. 

She her definitely seen him somewhere before, but she can't remember where. 

Power and authority radiated from him, making her weak in the knees. A shiver ran down her spine when his eyes raked over her body. 

Unconsciously, she licked her lips which had suddenly gotten dry. She heard him suck in a deep breath of air. 

"Hello pretty," he said. 

His deep baritone sent another thrill of shivers shooting up her spine. It pulled her into it, and washed over her like the waters of a beach. 

"Kate. My name is Kate," Kate said, her voice suddenly thick. 

"Catherine," the man responded, the name rolling off his tongue in a way that strangely made Kate think of caramel dissolving in coffee. 

Sweet and delicious. She wanted to hear him say it over and over again. Her eyes landed on his lips again and unconsciously, she moved closer. 

Their lips were just centimetres apart when all that had happened to lead her to the bar flashed through her mind. 

Max had a pretty face too, but an ugly heart. 

Suddenly, she pushed him away. Not caring at all for the man behind her, she ordered for another shot from the bartender. The previous one had spilled on the floor when she nearly fell. 

However, the man shook his head at the bartender, secretly ordering him not to give her any more drinks. 

"Hey, didn't you hear me?" she pouted. 

But the man kept looking over her shoulder with fear. Kate followed his gaze to find Apollo glaring at the man intimidatingly. 

"Who the hell are you to stop him from giving me a shot?" she slurred angrily.

"Dante di Benedetto," he replied in his thick voice. 

Kate shuddered. What a domineering name. But she simply ignored the feeling the name gave her and snapped at the man. 

"Whether you're ditto or retro, I don't care. I want my shot, and I'm going to get it!"

She turned to the bartender and thrust out her glass almost aggressively. 

Dante's face darkened. No one had ever dared disrespect him before. He wanted to leave, but he had to remind himself she was not in the right state of mind. 

He decided to stay and take care of her. He would make her pay for this tomorrow. 

Kate got angry when the bartender wouldn't fill her glass and started thrashing around. 

"Look at me, Catherine,"

At first, his voice was lost in the noise of the bar. 

"Look. At. Me." Dante repeated, punctuating each word. At the same time, he held Kate's wrist and turned her gently till she faced him. 

The intensity of his gaze froze her, and she stared into his leaf green eyes. Suddenly, she felt as though the shattered shards of her heart were coming together. 

Intense emotions welled up in her chest till she felt she couldn't take in enough breath. Her eyes reddened and tears welled up in them. Her chins quivered and she struggled to hold back a sob. 

Suddenly, everything that had happened came crashing down on her, and she finally had the breakdown she had been staving off with drinks. 

Desperate for comfort, she flew into his arms and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She started sobbing, hiding her face in his chest. 

The combination of beauty and feminine helplessness had an appeal that made him harden in response. 

Stiff with shock, he couldn't move, neither could he caress her back or any other gesture of comfort. 

His eyes travelled around the bar. It seemed everyone's attention was on them. This was not the right place to talk. 

He started leading her away, but she stumbled and almost fell. She was too drunk to walk. 

Without thinking much, he scooped her up into his arms bridal style. The whole bar immediately erupted in cheers and hoots and catcalls. 

A deadly glance from him silenced them. 

Instinctively, Kate wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him as he carried her up to his room. 

With a gentleness that was unlike him, he laid her down on the bed. She looked up at him with doe like eyes that strangely made him want to offer her solace and comfort, something he himself needed at that moment too. 

"What happened?" he asked a question that he rarely asked anyone. 

"Today was supposed to be my wedding," she replied, her voice just a little more than a whisper. 

"And?" he prodded. 

"My husband-to-be cheated on me with my cousin sister," she replied, looking up at him with teary eyes. The hurt in them almost made him put his hands around her. 

Instead, he put them akimbo. "Then you should be happy," he replied as though someone's life had not just shattered. 

Kate stared at him blankly. 

"You got to see the real him before you got tied to him forever," he clarified. 

Kate's sobs suddenly subsided as she stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. He was right. 

But….it still hurt. Fresh tears welled in her eyes again and she broke into new sobs. 

Dante was lost. This was the first time he was alone with a girl who cried continuously, and he didn't know what do to. 

He looked at Kate, who was no sitting on the bed, her face cupped in her palms as sobs racked her body. 

Gently, he laid a palm on her shoulder. She looked up at him with a teary face, and Dante felt that desire to comfort her once more. 

"True love still exists. One day, you will meet someone who will show you,"

Dante was shocked by his own words, but most especially the tone in which he said it, reassuring and comforting. He was usually a man of few words, and the two sentences felt like paragraphs to him. 

"But can you show me now? I want you to love me now," Kate asked, taking him by surprise. 

Dante's reaction was instinctive. He jerked back his hand, blurting out at the same time. 

"No, that's not possible," 

His heart was well protected by walls, and he no longer believed in love no matter what he said to her. 

He decided he would leave her to sleep off the pain. Perhaps, in the morning, she would have gotten back to her senses. 

"Just for tonight," Kate pleaded. 

He hesitated, and in the next moment, she was on him, her fingers swiftly popping his buttons out of their holes. Dante was too stunned to move. 

"Love me, please. Just for tonight," Kate pleaded as she worked feverishly. 

Her voice was desperate, begging for love. He could see the plea in his eyes, and he felt as if he was looking into his own soul. He wanted someone to love him too, only he knew love no longer exists.

The desperation, her fragrance, the innocence in her eyes, the feeling of her fingers brushing against his chest. All these were overwhelming, and he wanted to do as she asked. 

But a thin wall of reason held him back. 

"You will regret this in the morning," Dante said. 

Kate smiled ruefully as she finally stepped back from him. 

"I have done many things I regretted," she said. In two swift movements, she unzipped her gown and loosened her hair. Both fell lose. Dante couldn't help drawing in a breath at the breathtaking sight before him. 

"But this will not be one of them," Kate continued, closing the distance between them in one step. "Because this is what my heart wants at this moment," 

So saying, she stroked the part of him over which no man had control. Without waiting for him to catch his breath, she pulled him towards the bed, and they both crashed down with her below. 

Grabbing his face with both hands, she kissed him deeply and passionately. Dante completely lost control then.

With a low growl, he tore off what remained of the gown. And then, he took her like he had always imagined. 

Hard, but lovingly. Passionate, but soft. 

They made love throughout the night, bringing each other to ecstasy upon ecstasy, unaware of the havoc that awaited them the next morning. 

One that would completely change their lives.