Dante's Way

by Marie Rochelle

  “The hell I will get anything from you,” Amara yelled. “I can’t stand you. Furthermore, Mr. Braden you stay away from me too. I know you aren’t helping me out of the goodness of your heart.”

  Pivoting, Amara hurried away from the two men hoping and praying neither one of them decided to follow after her. Why in the hell did Ike have to even bring up her name with Dante standing right there? She was in the clear because he never knew her identity, but now he had something to go on.

  Amara exhaled a long sigh of relief. She was almost away from the beach and halfway into the parking lot. She had gotten away from Dante and Ike without either one of them following her. But her happiness was short-lived when a hand wrapped around the back of her arm stopping her in her tracks.

  “Amara, wait. Don’t run off again,” Dante said, spinning her back around to face him. “I still want to talk to you.”

  “No,” she said, jerking her arm away then moving back. “I already felt your contempt for me that night at your bar. I apologized for stealing your food. What else do you want from me?”

  At this point after dealing with Ike, she was beyond being intimidated by Dante. If he was going to do something then she wished he would just get it over with.

  “Calm down, hell cat, and listen to me. I’m not mad about the food anymore. I shouldn’t have overacted the way I did.” Dante’s apology shocked her and sent up more red flags in her head.

  Amara had quickly learned on the streets that the fewer people she trusted the better off she would be and she didn’t trust Dante as far as she could throw him. Something was going on. All she had to do was find out what it was because men like Dante Braden didn’t just admit to blame for no reason.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Standing back, Dante looked at Amara watching how she got all tense when he got too close to her personal space. He didn’t know anything about the young girl in front of him, but not even the dirty clothes and half-done Pippi Longstocking braids couldn’t take away from her natural beauty.

  Her skin complexion was smooth and silky like melted chocolate over a hot fudge sundae; there was both a delicacy and strength in her face. The suggestion of curves beneath her baggy clothes is probably what caught Ike’s attention, something Amara didn’t need.

  “Amara, I know you don’t know me that well, but I want to help you. I know of a very good place you can go and they will help you until you get out of this—”

  “Out of what,” Amara demanded, interrupting him. “I’m fine. I can handle things on my own. I’ve been doing it for this long. Besides, how do I know you aren’t like Ike? You’re a stranger to me and how about we keep it that away, Mr. Braden?”

  Dante didn’t have a chance to tell her anything else before Amara turned and walked away from him and he let her go. If anyone needed his assistance, it was Amara. She might not know it, but the night when she came to him searching for food she had gained his protection. Now, all he had to do was gain her trust and then the rest should be easy.

  He took one last look at Amara’s retreating figure before going back towards his motorcycle. Stopping half way there, he frowned when he spotted someone standing there waiting for him.

  “Theresa, what are you doing here?” he asked, coming upon her. “I didn’t see you with Ike earlier.”

  Dante had known Theresa for a while because he had dated her older sister for three years. When Los Angeles became too much for Candace, she decided to pack up and move back home to Idaho. Yet, Theresa had fallen in love with the fast pace of the city and stayed despite her sister’s protests.

  Sadly, Candace was right and within a matter of months Theresa ended up on the streets, easy prey for Ike. After he found what his ex-girlfriend’s baby sister was doing to earn money, he had worked hard to get her away, but the lure of Ike and the lifestyle was way too alluring.

  Glancing down, Theresa kicked at a rock with the toe of her high heel and then looked back up at him through her fake eyelashes.

  “Hi, Dante,” she said, softly shoving her hands into the front pockets of her jeans.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, noting how thin Theresa looked since the last time he saw her. “Do you need any money?”

  “No, I’m good,” she finally answered looking at him. “I wanted to talk to you, but I had to wait until Ike was gone. He hasn’t been in a good mood lately. I didn’t want to upset him any further by talking to you while he was around.”

  “What’s going on?” Dante questioned. “Do you need my help? You know that I’m here for you.”

  “It’s too late for me to leave Ike. I’ve been with him for too long. He wouldn’t ever let me leave the escort business, but you need to help Amara. Ike wants her bad. However, she wouldn’t be able to handle doing this day after day.”

  Shock flew through him; Dante was momentarily speechless. He didn’t have a clue she knew Amara. How in the hell had their paths crossed?

  “Tell me how you know Amara?” he asked, wanting to find out more about her.

  “I met her on the streets about two weeks before I started working for Ike. I know she comes off as tough but Amara is scared. She hates living the way she does,” Theresa continued. “If Ike sees any kind of weakness in you he will use it to his advantage. I know you tried to get me away numerous times and I turned you down, but don’t let her do the same.”

  “Do you even know how I first met Amara? All I have to say was it didn’t end well and now she doesn’t trust me.” He wanted to do as Theresa asked, but he couldn’t make Amara accept anything from him.

  “I know all about the incident. She told me about it, but that doesn’t matter. You have friends in the community who can get through to her. Please do this. I never had a lot of girlfriends, but Amara is my closet friend besides Liam.”

  “I don’t know,” he hedged.

  “You’re a great guy. I remember you with my sister. She shouldn’t have just up and left you like she did. I thought it was so wrong. Can’t you overlook what Amara did? She wouldn’t have done it unless she was starving for food. Will you do this for me?” Theresa begged, oblivious to his thoughts.

  Theresa was wrong about her sister walking out on him. She just got homesick and went back home, nothing more to it. It wasn’t like she went out for a gallon of milk and didn’t come back.

  From the few short times that he had been in Amara’s presence, he learned that she was very strong willed. He didn’t think she would even let Theresa help her, but he was willing to give it a try. He was mature enough not to take a young girl’s temper tantrum to heart.

  “I’m not making any promises, but I will try to see what I can do for her. However, I have to find Amara first and that might take a while.”

  “Do what you have to do. Just please don’t let her end up like me,” she pleaded again with him. “I’m so glad I got to see you.”

  Coming up to him, Theresa gave him a hug and then stepped away. She looked at him like she wanted to tell him something more, but she decided to leave it alone.

  “Are you okay?” Dante asked, cupping her face looking past the heavily applied make-up. He still saw a scared young woman who wanted a way out but didn’t know how to ask for it.

  Touching his hand, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “Do you ever take a moment for yourself instead of always wearing that invisible superhero cape of yours? As I told you before, you just need to forget about me and my problems. Amara is still untouched by Ike’s poison. She’s the one who needs your help.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thank you for doing this. You’re going to be saving her life whether Amara knows it or not.”

  Theresa slowly moved his hand away from her face and gave him a small smile before walking away and eventually blending in with the crowd walking around on the beach.

  Something about the tone of Theresa’s voice made his determination rise even more to the surface. He had been calling the shots for way too many years to
take a back seat now.

  He believed the way he was doing things was the right and only way. So, Amara better watch out because she was in his sights and he never stopped something until he was completely finished.

  Getting on his bike, Dante started it and pulled away from the curb with his mind already on different ways he was going to change his tactics about dealing with Amara’s stubborn streak.

  ****

  Hours later Dante sauntered around his bar. He smiled as Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ played loudly in the background for the 80’s night. Every time he scheduled one of these theme nights, an hour before the doors opened a line was usually around the corner of the building. The place was filled to capacity tonight, but what pleased him the most was the energy inside of the place.

  Making his way around the room, Dante grinned when he spotted a booth filled with his favorite couples. Stopping at the side of the table, he looked at everyone sitting there enjoying their usual food and favorite drinks as laughter flowed around them.

  “How is it possible for all of you to be here tonight?” he asked.

  “My father is in town and he’s at my house with a babysitter,” Hayward said. “Everyone else hired a sitter for the night. I don’t think our wives were going to allow us to miss 80’s night here.”

  “Don’t act like you aren’t having a good time,” True told Hayward then glanced over at him. “How are you doing tonight?”

  “I can’t complain, because I’m always happy when I get to see a table of beautiful women,” he flirted.

  “Married women,” Dave corrected, wrapping his arm around Charisma’s shoulders making her roll her eyes.

  Dante laughed at the hard glare Dave was giving him. He had heard rumors about how possessive he was of his wife, but he couldn’t blame the guy. Charisma was stunning and he would be overprotective too, if she was his.

  “Don’t worry, Dave. I know all of these lovely ladies are taken. I missed my chance at landing one of them,” he teased.

  “Are you sure you want a wife? I swear sometimes mine has me running around in circles.” Clinton chimed in, grinning at him. “You might be better off single.”

  “Hey, I’m sitting right here,” Jenisha pointed out, leaning away from her husband. “Did you happen to forget that or do you want to be sleeping on the couch tonight?”

  “I think you might be in trouble, Clinton,” Dante said.

  “I’m not worried. It’s nothing a nice foot rub won’t get me out of once I’m alone with my beautiful wife,” Clinton said with confidence then winked at his wife.

  “You better give me one hell of a good massage,” Jenisha stated, looking at her husband. “Where is Bambi tonight? She hasn’t been around trying to flirt with my husband.”

  Glancing to his right, Dante found Keira staring at him waiting for an answer. He still couldn’t get over how truly beautiful she was on the inside and outside. Jim really got lucky finding her.

  Sometimes a part of him wished that Keira had walked into his bar alone that night without Jim at her side. She was everything a man searched for in a woman, but they were only friends and he was finally happy with that.

  “She quit a couple of days ago,” Dante answered. “I’m looking for a new waitress. Do you know anyone looking for a job?”

  “Not right off hand, but I’m glad that she’s gone,” Keira answered. “I wasn’t going to stand for that woman shoving her breasts into my husband’s face one more time. I was going to forget I was a mother, a wife, and kick her ass.”

  “Bambi was jealous of you and loved pushing your buttons. She hated your self-confidence. I wished you told me more often how much of a problem she was becoming for you and Jim. I can’t have my waitresses scaring away my customers or, even worse, my close friends.”

  “I wasn’t even attracted to Bambi. She knew it and that was one of the reasons she kept bothering me all of the time,” Jim interjected. “How could I think about another female when I’m married to such a beautiful woman? I’d have to be out of my mind.”

  Dante didn’t miss the love shining in Jim’s eyes when he stared at Keira. “I totally agree with you,” he replied. “Well, I better get back to my mingling with my other customers. Don’t worry about paying for the meal because it’s on me.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jim said, surprised.

  “Consider it my treat to you for your first adult’s night out in a long time. Have a great night and remember to try the karaoke machine before you leave.”

  He waved goodbye and headed back toward the kitchen to make sure everything was going okay with the food. Dante wasn’t about to admit to anyone, he was running away from what he wished he had in his own life.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tugging her jacket tighter around her body, Amara tried to blend in with the other runaway young people and homeless at the homemade campsite at the abandoned building outside of an old shopping center.

  This wasn’t the prime place for her to bed down for the night. Yet, every other place she had gone to over the past two hours was already overflowing with people so she decided to continue looking. However, it was getting late and all she wanted to do was find a quiet and deserted corner to rest her head for a few hours.

  Amara pulled her backpack on her shoulder when it slipped down again. Several pairs of eyes watched her as she stepped around the bottles and cans scattered across the ground. The smell of unwashed clothes and pee burned her nose as she hurried past a couple of men sharing a bottle of whiskey. She quickly turned her head away, so she wouldn’t give them any signs she was interested in any kind of ‘company’ from them for the night.

  She was halfway past them when she got the eerie sensation that she was being closely watched. Her stomach clenched tight as she continued to try to make her way to the other side.

  “Hey, pretty young lady. Why don’t you join us for a little drink? We don’t mind sharing our liquor especially with a chocolate beauty like you.”

  Slowly, she turned around and instantly felt a sense of panic when she spotted the two men from earlier along with another man standing behind her eyeing her with lustful, hungry looks.

  “No....thank you, I don’t want anything to drink,” Amara answered, taking a step back.

  “We weren’t asking for your permission,” the taller of the men snapped at her. “We’re telling you to keep us company.”

  “Randy is right. I haven’t seen a woman who looked as good as you in a very long time,” the other guy holding the whiskey bottle commented. He grinned at her showing a row of rotten teeth.

  It was impossible to steady her erratic pulse. Terror like she’d never known before welled in her throat, but she hurriedly pushed it down so she could talk.

  “I’m sure you can find someone else who would be much better company than me,” Amara answered, keeping her eye on all three men.

  “Randy and Gus weren’t paying any attention to you when you hurried past us, but I saw you. How can I miss you? Tony always has his eyes out for a beautiful woman.”

  Sounds intensified around her, battering Amara as she tried to think of a way out of this. She knew that she would have to out-think the three of them because she knew they wanted more than to share an old bottle of whiskey with her.

  Just thinking about being in a dark corner alone with Randy, Gus and Tony petrified her. She had survived on the streets this long by using her head and she wasn’t about to lose her smarts now, not when she needed them the most.

  Taking a breath, she plastered on a fake smile. “I’m sorry for being so rude. I shouldn’t have tossed your kindness back into your faces. Where do you want to have this drink with me?”

  Amara watched how all three men’s eyes lit up as they roamed over her body. She could already see on their faces what they were thinking about and it scared the hell out of her. She wouldn’t have a chance against them if they got her alone.

  “Over there at my tent,” Randy said, turning around
, pointing over his shoulder.

  She saw the horrible conditions where they wanted to take her, but she pretended not to see it. It looked like a prison waiting for any unsuspecting woman and she wasn’t about to be that woman. “It’s pretty dark out here. I’m not seeing what you’re trying to show me,” Amara lied.

  “Girl, what’s wrong with you?” Tony snapped as he looked in the direction Randy was still pointing.

  “I apologize, but I don’t have the best vision at night. Why don’t I follow you so there won’t be any confusion?” She wondered if they could hear the sound of her heart as it raced away inside of her chest.

  “Are you trying to trick us or something?” Gus demanded, eyeing her warily.

  “Of course not,” Amara answered sweetly knowing she had to make them believe she would follow behind them. “I swear I can’t see very far in the dark. Why do you think I was searching around for a place to sleep for so long earlier?”

  The unwelcome tension stretched even tighter between them as Amara waited for the three homeless men to believe her lies.

  “Okay...I believe you,” Gus finally said.

  “So do we,” Randy and Tony added a few seconds later. “Follow us and we’ll make sure that you have the best spot inside of the tent.”

  Oh, I bet the two of you would, Amara thought watching as all three men twirled around and hurried back towards the dirty green tent hidden between two trees. She had to find a way out of this and fast.

  ****

  Amara waited until Randy and his cronies were a little bit in front of her before she spun around and took off in the opposite direction running as fast as her shorter legs could carry her. She was halfway across the parking lot when she heard furious male voices screaming and cussing behind her.

  A second later a bottle zoomed past her head shattering a few inches from her body. The strong odor of whiskey filled her nose, but Amara kept putting more and more distance between her and the three determined men chasing her. She had to find someplace to hide, but where could she go without them finding her and getting payback?