Jean“Oh, if you could see yourself now, little Jean. You look delicious.”Serafino’s voice plays in the back of my mind like white noise being filtered. How long has it been? A few hours? Minutes? Maybe it has been days. I have no idea, having completely lost track of time.What I remember is Serafino returning after our first encounter with a bandaged nose. It made me snort. . But then, he was inserting a needle into my arm and suddenly nothing was funny anymore. It had been like that for quite a while. Serafino had been continuously pumping me full of whatever drugs to keep me sedated.Manageable.Susceptible.“Take it like a big girl, Jean,” he had said as he injected me with the drugs. I remember screaming and struggling against the ropes at the beginning. But he had done it over and over until I stopped struggling as he pushes the needle into my arm.I remember that it hurt for a while then there was just the dull throb in my arm, swollen from the consistent abuse of the needle.
DanteAntsy doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel at the moment. I’ve been pacing the office back and forth since the beginning of the raid.People say I’m a monster. Daring and unafraid, there’s nothing in the world that could truly terrify me. I thought so too. But all of those assumptions were proven wrong the day Jean was taken right from under my nose.“Remind me again why I’m not there, Luca? I should be the one who takes her back.”Luca looks at me tiresomely, “Dante, we both know the reason,” he says, his voice laced with frustration. “Serafino sent the new guy on your tail. Make a move now and Tsukishima Yū will have our asses handed to the FBI, then Interpol will be chasing us halfway across the globe. Never mind our deal with the police commissioner, he may follow the money, but if we get caught, he won’t be able to do anything with your assets frozen.”“You know for someone who speaks reason, your actions certainly do not match your words,” I remark, noting how Luca has h
DanteI’ve tortured many a person in all my years. Peeled off fingernails, sliced through the skin, pulled out teeth, and many more horrors fill my nightmares. But none of those feel nearly as satisfying as seeing the bane of my wife’s existence tied up and gagged; blindfolded and scared, and at my mercy.Without a sound and without another thought I charge for Serafino plunging the knife in my hand deep into his side.I revel in his muted screams against the cloth that gags him. Then, leaning closer I whisper. “That’s for when you stabbed Jean.”Stepping away, I leave the knife planted in his gut. There’s no reason for him to lose too much blood. At least not right away. So, for now, it stays there, as a reminder that everything else that’s about to happen to him is because he hurt my angel.I rip the gag off Serafino’s mouth leaving him sputtering in pain. “Is this what this is?” he scoffs, chuckling as saliva smears down his chin from having his tongue gagged for so long. “An eye f
Dante“Drop off done, boss.” I nod once, without taking my eyes off Jean. I trust they followed my orders to the T. My soldier leaves the room without another word, leaving me alone with the only person that matters.I move closer to her, tucked in bed, sleeping peacefully as if nothing is wrong in the world. I wish I could provide peaceful nights like this for her forever.It felt like hours, but when Jean stirs in her sleep before finally opening her eyes, the wait was worth it. Everything is worth it to see my angel safe and with me.“D-Dante—” she softly calls but nothing else leaves her lips.“I’m here, love. Drink,” I order softly, helping her sit up and drink a glass of water. “How do you feel?”Jean sighs as she half-empties the glass, and hands it back to me before scooting down into a lying position again. She doesn’t speak yet sets her eyes on the ceiling wearing an expression I cannot decipher.So, I wait.I wait until she is ready.If space is what she needs then I will g
JeanThough I’m still very much shaken and disoriented from the ordeal with Serafino Regis, I wanted to see for myself what has been happening.Dante told me that I had been gone for three days. It felt like years to me, but more than anything, it scares me that I don’t know everything that went on in that room, high on God-knows-what, and at the mercy of the man who claimed he wanted to skin me alive.“Did the plan go without a hitch?” I ask through a nearly full mouth of fried chicken. In my defense, Dante did promise to grant me any wish, and I just so happen to crave fried chicken after I narrowly escaped death.Dante joins me on the couch placing the glass of water I requested on the center table. I mutter a small thank you without taking my eyes off the television where a replay of last night’s news plays at my request.“No, not perfectly. But eventually, Serafino and nearly three hundred of his men are to be put to trial.” Dante sits close to me, yet I don’t feel suffocated, in
JeanUpon hearing those words, I notice that Dante had made himself scarce. Now that I think about it, he didn’t enter the living room with me and Bianca. He most likely left the penthouse to talk to Noah. How do I know that? Because there is no way in hell that Dante would have allowed Bianca to travel alone right when the investigation for the Regis family is about to start.But there’s something in the air that doesn’t quite feel like home.The woman in front of me may look like my little sister, Bianca, but she’s different. The last time I saw her she still had her baby cheeks and that wanderlust look in her eyes, but now that’s all gone.Her eyes no longer hold wonder in them but wisdom that only hardship and experience can mold. Her features look more angled, more mature.It makes me wonder if I somehow look the same to her or if I’ve changed in her eyes as she has changed in mine.I smile at my sister, albeit a little sad that I missed out on an entire year of her life. My baby
DanteThe day I’ve been dreading has finally come. The day that I let her go.I watch Jean silently as she stares out of the wall windows. With the rain softly pattering outside, it reflects my mood perfectly. Jean looks stunning even in sleep shorts and a pullover she stole from my closet. She looks so perfect in my clothes, in my penthouse… and in my life.Suddenly the folder in my hand feels heavier than it should be.I ground myself before approaching Jean, needing to be a hundred percent sure I can handle this conversation. Because once I start, there’s no going back.“Hey,” I whisper in her ear as I wrap my arms around her from behind. Jean leans into my touch, resting her head against my shoulder.“What is it?” she asks, a frown on her face as she turns in my arms to face me. She must have noticed my agitation. “Is everything okay?” Jean reaches forward and cups my cheek.“Yeah,” I reply simply, offering her a reassuring smile—at least I tried to. “Come here for a sec.”“Dante,
DanteI let Jean cry in my arms. The contract was a way to keep us both tethered to each other, and now that it’s gone, there’s nothing officially tying us together. In a way, we both lost someone tonight.“What happens now?” Jean asks with the softest voice. She sniffles a bit before sitting up, but she doesn’t leave my lap.With us finally being at eye level, I can see how red Jean’s nose is, her cheeks are tinted pink as well. She’s beautiful, and I make sure to tell her just that.“Will you stay?” I ask instead, even though I know full well that Jean’s already made up her mind about this long ago.Her eyes soften as she takes me in fully. One of Jean’s hands comes up to cup my cheek, and she smiles ever so softly as she whispers my name.“Dante… I love you,” Jean starts and it’s the saddest I’ve ever heard her utter those words. I know there’s a but coming up. “I never asked for this life, and I—I don’t want any part of it.”Jean finishes talking, shaking her head from side to sid