by Monica Burns
Chapter 15
“THAT’S fabulous news. When? How is she? Are they still in Genova?” Cleo rattled off her questions in rapid succession into her cell phone as Ares’s voice echoed in her ear.
“Christus, one at a time, Cleo.” Ares chuckled. “Phae came out of the coma day before yesterday. We almost lost her until Lysander blood bonded with her. She’s tired, but is doing great.”
“He blood bonded with her?” Cleo gasped in amazement. She closed her eyes and offered up a brief prayer to Juno for the good news. Her two friends had finally gotten their act together. “So where are they now?”
“They left for the States this morning. Lysander and the doctors wanted her to stay another week, but she insisted on going home. She said she can rest at home just as easily as she can in the hospital.”
“Have they said anything about an official ceremony or celebration ?”
“Lysander mentioned doing something in another month or so when Phae’s fully recovered. In the meantime, the two of them are going to honeymoon at the White Cloud estate.” Static in the cell phone made Ares’s voice crackle slightly, and she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She turned slightly to keep the connection clear.
“What?”
“I asked why are you still in Rome? When I talked to Atia yesterday, it was obvious she wasn’t happy about it.” The sudden shift of direction in their conversation made her tense.
“I know she’s not, but I’m not ready to go back to Chicago or White Cloud,” she said quietly, unwilling to reveal any of her reasons for staying in Rome.
“So where the hell are you?” Ares asked pointedly. “I checked the Rome guild, and they said you hadn’t reported in.”
She turned her head at the sound of footsteps and saw Dante enter the library. Her senses were immediately humming with electricity. Damnit, what the fuck was wrong with her? The man had dedicated himself to the Absconditus. He was untouchable. Irritated by her physical response to the man, she turned sharply away from him to finish up her conversation with Ares.
“I’m in a safe place, okay? Marcus knows where I am, so you don’t need to worry about me,” she said in the best reassuring voice she could muster. “I need to go. Tell Lysander and Phae I can’t wait to see them.”
“Damnit, Cleo, I know you’re up to something. You didn’t stay behind just—”
“Look, there’s someone here. I’ll talk to you later.”
Heedless of her friend’s curse-filled protest, she pressed the END button on her cell phone. Ares would probably read her the riot act for that the next time they saw each other. The man hated it when she hung up on him. The sound of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” echoed from her phone, and she glanced downward. Ares. She pressed the IGNORE button and turned the phone off before shoving it back into her pants pocket.
Stiffening her shoulders, she turned to face Dante. Awkward. That was the only way she could have described it if someone had asked. Damned awkward. She wanted to believe he was as uncomfortable as she felt, but he looked completely at ease. It was irritating. It was even more irritating that she was feeling self-conscious.
She rarely cared what others thought of her, and certainly not what this man thought. A snort of laughter echoed in the back of her head. She ignored it. It had been this way for three weeks now. Ever since that night in the garden, the two of them had been dancing around each other as if they were sparring partners. They’d done everything they could to avoid each other.
Actually, she was pretty sure she was the one doing all the avoiding. A couple of times, Dante had tried to talk to her, but she’d dodged him completely except when others were present. It wasn’t like he was the first Sicari male to reject her. But his reason was definitely a first. She’d been pissed as hell when she’d left the garden after he told her the truth about his oath. Partly because she’d never been that sexually frustrated before, and partly because the man hadn’t bothered to tell her up front that he’d committed his body, mind, and soul to the Absconditus.
It didn’t help that she had to take some of the blame herself. She’d been hell-bent on seducing the guy and hadn’t really given him a chance to say much of anything.
And if she were really honest with herself, the real reason she’d been avoiding him like the plague was because she was embarrassed. Dante was different from the other Sicari males who’d passed her over. She didn’t know how, but he’d touched something deep inside her. It made his rejection hurt worse than she cared to admit. If possible, it made her feel even more inadequate than ever before.
She’d made it a rule to stay away from Sicari men after Michael, and Dante was as Sicari as they came. So for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she’d made a play for him. It wasn’t like she didn’t know better. She bit the inside of her cheek. It didn’t help matters that his dedication was a complete waste in her opinion.
The man was beautiful. What in Jupiter’s name had convinced him that he couldn’t lead his guild and have a healthy, loving relationship at the same time? She sucked in a sharp breath. Loving relationship? Had she lost her mind? Even if his oath wasn’t an obstacle, a relationship was the last thing she wanted.
It indicated permanency. Something she knew was out of her grasp. Despite that knowledge, her heartbeat still reverberated in her ears like a freight train as he crossed the floor toward her. Fight or flight? The instinct of survival at work.
Only problem was, she couldn’t dart off so easily this time. The entire rescue team was due in the library in a short while for lastminute instructions regarding tonight’s raid on the convent. She’d just happened to show up early. Then there was the possibility that her subconscious had arranged for her to get here before everyone else.
Was it possible she’d secretly hoped to find a moment alone with him? She swallowed the ball of fear wedged in her throat. It didn’t matter whether her subconscious had finagled her early arrival or not. Flight was no longer an option. She didn’t have much choice but to stick it out until someone else showed up.
Leaving the room right now would make her look like a coward. Something she wasn’t, even if she’d been acting like one for the past few weeks. She tensed as he stopped a couple of feet away from her, and despite the reasonable distance between them, a heat wave of sensation rolled over her skin. Her stomach lurched as she realized his ability to set her on edge hadn’t weakened.
It wasn’t just a physical attraction. And there was plenty of that on her part. Her body was an explosion of awareness whenever she got near him. If anything, his presence was stronger than before, and something else had slipped into her heart as well. She sneered inwardly at the fanciful thought.
They barely knew each other. How was it possible to have any feelings other than lust for a man she didn’t know very well? And yet she did know him. Watching him with Pietro the day of Giuseppe and Santino’s fight had only emphasized the little things she’d been picking up on since he’d carried her out of that dark alley.
He was compassionate, kind, and loyal. Sure, he was a little uptight, but that could be from dealing with her none-too-subtle come-ons. He had a caring nature and reminded her a lot of Ares and Lysander. In the back of her mind, the resemblance she’d drawn between Dante and Lysander stirred to life before her thoughts returned to Dante’s qualities. It was that caring nature of his that made her realize she had feelings for him she shouldn’t have. Feelings she didn’t want to examine because their only possible outcome was heartbreak.
“Can we talk, or are you going to run away again?” That dark, sexy voice of his was like a warm, lazy finger trailing its way down her back. She flinched before she stiffened her shoulders.
“Run away? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied. He arched his eyebrows at her, and she gritted her teeth. She didn’t like it that he could see right through her.
“I want to explain the night in the garden,” he said quietly.
“What’
s there to explain?” She shrugged in an open display of sarcasm. “You took a vow of celibacy and didn’t bother to tell me until after I made a fool of myself trying to seduce you.”
There. She’d said it. It was out in the open now. She thought saying it would make her feel better, but it didn’t. In fact, the disappointment winding its way through her body was alarming. She dealt it a crushing blow. He was off-limits.
“You are not a fool,” he said with a quiet intensity that surprised her. “But I was a fool for not telling you the truth right away.”
“And why didn’t you?” she bit out fiercely. “Why let me think you were interested in me if you knew you couldn’t . . . that there would never be anything between us?”
“Because I wanted you.” A tortured look flashed across his face as she stared at him in disbelief. “I’ve wanted you from those first few moments I found you in that alley the night you assassinated Angotti.”
“And this is supposed to make me feel better how?” she snapped. She ignored the heat skimming through her that made her nipples hard and tingly.
“Damnit, Cleopatra. This isn’t easy for me.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I took an oath. It’s not something I can just toss aside.”
“Fine, you can’t break your vow of celibacy.” Hands resting on her hips, she tilted her head in an open display of irritated disgust. “But just because you’re attracted to me doesn’t mean you had to keep me in the dark. You should have just told me the truth. I would have understood.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.” She puffed out a breath of exasperation. “I respect the decision you made, and I just don’t see the problem.”
“It’s a problem because every time I get near you, I want to break my oath,” he said in a raw whisper that scraped across her senses like fire, and she saw a flash of torment in his dark blue eyes. “Not once in all these years have I ever regretted dedicating myself to the Absconditus. That is, not until I met you.”
Stunned, she didn’t have the slightest idea how to react to his confession. In a strange way, he’d just paid her the highest compliment a man could ever pay a woman. He found her desirable enough to consider betraying something he believed in deeply. She’d obviously not made it easy for him. In fact, after that mind-blowing moment in her apartment and then that incredible encounter in the garden, she’d have to say he’d reacted like any normal, hot-blooded male would.
It didn’t matter that he’d given off enough signs that he wasn’t experienced with women. She should have known something was off when he was so tentative in his kisses and even his caresses. But she refused to take all the blame for the situation, and she sure as hell didn’t like the idea that he might be thinking of her as forbidden fruit.
“Are you blaming me for being a temptation you’re having trouble resisting?” she asked in a frigid tone. “Because if you are, I’m not buying it.”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he growled as he turned away to cross the floor and stare out the window. “Christus, I don’t know what the hell I’m saying.”
Hands clasped behind his back, he stared out at the inner courtyard. The reddish orange light of the setting sun streamed through the window to throw his tall figure into shadowy relief. As she studied his solitary stance, her heart suddenly ached for him. He seemed so alone, and it made her long to go to him. Instead, she didn’t move. She was feeling edgy enough about tonight. She didn’t need something else weighing down on her—like seeing him get hurt or worse.
“Look, tonight we’re getting those women out of that Praetorian hellhole. I’ll be gone in less than two days, and our lives can go back to normal.” The idea that she could fall back into her daily routine without thinking about him again struck her as hopeless. “I’ll be gone and you won’t feel tempted to label me Lilith in your fall from grace.”
“You are not some Lilith tempting me to sin. I’m telling you that all of this is my fault,” Dante snarled as he turned sharply to face her, his features harsh with turbulent emotion. “It’s a hell of a lot more than the need to possess your body, and Juno knows how much I want to explore every inch of you with my hands and mouth.”
“Would it be so bad if you made love to me?” she asked, deliberately avoiding the implication that he had feelings for her.
She saw him pale and immediately realized how unfair her question had been. His oath wasn’t just something he paid lip service to. He’d taken his vow because he cared about the people he’d sworn to protect and lead. Even if he did have feelings for her—no, she wasn’t going there.
“It’s a question I ask myself every day, and—”
Whatever he was about to say never passed his lips, because at that precise moment, Cornelia entered the library. There was a curious look on the woman’s face as she turned first to Dante and then to Cleo. Although Dante’s expression had become indecipherable, Cleo knew her own emotions were easily readable, so she moved away toward the maps laid out on the table. Cornelia joined her and stood at her side in silence for a moment.
“He’s worried about you.”
“What?” She jerked her head up to look at her new friend.
“Dante. He’s worried you’ll get hurt.”
“That’s a risk everyone takes tonight.”
“True, but you’re special.”
“Because I’m Marcus’s daughter, I know,” she murmured. A shiver went down her back as she remembered Dante saying his desire for her was more than the need to make love to her.
“No, because he likes you. Cares about you,” Cornelia said with a quick glance behind her in Dante’s direction. He was talking with one of the team members who’d just walked in the door. “He cares about you a great deal more than he believes he has a right to.”
“Yeah, the oath. He’s told me all about it. No need to warn me off,” she said with a shrug of feigned indifference.
The last thing she wanted to reveal was how much it bothered her that Dante’s oath stood between them and the possibility of happiness. Deep inside she heard the sound of mocking laughter.
“You misunderstand me, Cleo. I never wanted Dante to take that ridiculous oath to begin with. I think he was entirely too young when Marcus and Placido agreed to let him swear his allegiance to the Absconditus in such a way.” The woman sighed softly. “I don’t know about Marcus, but I know Placido has finally realized it was a mistake to let Dante take the oath so young.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cleo said with a sudden bitterness she knew she shouldn’t feel. What the fuck had Marcus and Placido been thinking to let a fifteen-year-old make a vow like that? “I’m not going to try and seduce him into betraying his vow. I refuse to be the bad guy in that scenario.”
“I know you won’t,” Cornelia said as she met Cleo’s gaze. “Which is why I’m praying Dante will see the light.”
“See the light?” What the fuck was Cornelia trying to say? Was she suggesting that Dante had deeper feelings for her than simple desire?
“I hope he comes to realize that he cares enough about you to do something about it. He knows his vow isn’t binding. He took it before he came of age.”
“But it’s binding to him,” she said quietly as she realized how well she’d come to understand him in the short time they’d known each other. Astonishment crossed Cornelia’s features as she nodded her head.
“Exactly. You know him better than I thought.”
“I don’t know how, but I can read him a lot more clearly than I can myself, I think. So what does that say about me?” It was a rhetorical question, and she didn’t expect an answer.
Cornelia didn’t give her one. She just reached for Cleo’s hand and squeezed it in a reassuring manner. The idea that the woman felt sorry for her made Cleo gently tug her hand free and turn her attention to the maps on the table. She knew them by heart, but it was easier to pretend interest in them than to see pity in the woman’s gaze.
She was
certain Cornelia wanted to say more, but the arrival of two additional fighters drew the Praefect’s attention away from her. The room continued to fill with Sicari warriors until there were at least fifteen people present. The assault tonight was going to be a two-pronged attack. One team would use Sonny Mesiti’s service van to make an unexpected delivery, while the second group would enter the convent from the cliffside.
A sudden tingle on the back of her neck announced that Dante was directly behind her. She drew in a sharp breath at the way her body reacted whenever he got near her. The heat of him warmed her back for a fraction of a second before he continued past her to circle the table.
The team had already gone over all the final arrangements the day before, and after a brief review they were loaded up for the fourhour drive south to the Amalfi Coast. At a pre-determined point along the way, the two teams split to head in different directions.
As a member of the seaside assault team, Cleo knew how risky this operation was, and for the first time she experienced trepidation. Had she been wrong to think up this crazy plan? No. It couldn’t be too crazy if Dante had gone along with it. She’d seen how thorough he was in the team meetings when planning this assault. The man was far too logical and careful to have implemented her plan if he thought it had even the slightest possibility of failure.
It was almost ten o’clock when they arrived at the dock rented specifically for the mission. Isolated and remote, the landing was perfect for their use. The team moved swiftly to carry the scuba gear and propulsion units onto the sleek yacht tied to the dock.
As she carried her own gear toward the gangplank leading up to the boat, a strong hand grasped her elbow and held her back. Immediately the heat flowed up and over her entire body as she turned to look at Dante.