Dante's POV

"He's recovering extremely well!" Dr. Trevor's voice rang out in my ears as he inspected my leg.

"That's a relief to hear." Daliah returned his smile.

"I'm really sorry about the long wait. I didn't realize how many appointments were scheduled for the evening." He apologized.

My focus shifted as a hand lightly turned my face away from the conversation for the third time and the nurse began applying something above my eye.

I pulled my head away from her face and glared subtly, but she remained oblivious, so, I resorted to words.

"What is it now?" I gritted out.

"I'm treating your wound." She said innocently in an excessively high-pitched voice.

She wasn't even trying to come up with a new excuse.

"This is the third time you're saying that and we've already been here for half an hour."

"Look!" She produced a mirror and pointed at a light red line on my temple.

I looked up at her. "That's a scratch."

"Scratches can still scar!" She fussed and grabbed my face again, her long pointy nails poking my cheeks.

Okay, enough.

I grabbed her hand firmly, pushing it away from me.

"Listen, Miss. I get that you're obsessed with me but frankly, I'm not interested so it would be fantastic if you could either stop being immature and unprofessional or leave and get someone else to take your place."

Her cheeks turned pink and she became flustered, as if it was surprising that I figured her out.

Just then, my attention was drawn elsewhere as I overheard something...unpleasant.

"Hey, it's already dark outside. Would you like me to drive you home? We could have dinner somewhere in between-"

"We're fine, thank you, Dr. Travis." I interrupted coldly.

Two pairs of eyes turned towards me, one looking down as I held them.

"It's actually Trevor..." he trailed off.

Travis, Trevor...potato, tomato. Same thing.

Daliah glanced at the nurse beside me, silently asking if everything was done, but the woman rolled her eyes.

To my amusement, Daliah just raised an eyebrow and turned back to me, clearly dismissing Miss Acrylics, which just aggravated her even more.

She turned away, burying her hands in her pockets.

"Hey, wait-!"

Travis spoke....again.

"Are you...sure?"

Does this guy not get a hint?

His eyes darted towards me for a second, taking a step back as I stood up.

As he should.

I silently looked at Daliah and motioned towards the exit with my eyes.

She nodded before smiling apologetically at him.

"Don't worry, we can go home on our own and, honestly, I don't feel that hungry. But thank you so much for offering."

We exited the hospital and got on her bike, my arms automatically wrapping around her as soon as she started the engine.

It's fucking mortifying. I was more used to the switched position, me in the front. I'm so glad nobody I know can see me right now.

On the way, she took a turn I didn't recognize and stopped in front of a diner.

After helping me down she practically skipped towards the entrance.

"Come on Enzo, I'm practically starving." she called out.

I found myself smiling secretly, feeling bad for Trevor.



Not.



My eyes scrutinized her as she walked in front of me, heart swimming with skepticism.

Was she to be trusted or not?

Being the leader of one of the largest mafias in the world put countless targets on my back since my childhood. The betrayals, manipulation, and assassination attempts I had gone through were each painful lessons that taught me the fact that I cannot trust anybody who hasn't proved their loyalty.

And it would be stupid if I wasn't wary of this woman.

She seemed innocent, but those who did were always anything but.

"What do you want to eat?"

I looked up, noticing a man hovering over our table with a tiny notebook, holding a pencil in his hand.

Once we had ordered, Daliah grabbed the glass of water and excused herself outside to make a call, and I watched her through the glass window.

She dug into her pocket but along with her phone she also took something else out.

I squinted, trying to identify the shiny item.

Then, she put something in her mouth and drank the water.

Oh, so she was taking medicine.

She doesn't look sick, so it was strange but not suspicious.

Suddenly a man stumbled out of the shadows towards her, a smoking joint clasped between his lips.

My eyes narrowed.

Smoking, drunk and from the male species.

Usually not a good sign.

Especially for Daliah.

I was already contemplating walking out and standing beside her.

Like I expected, the guy leaned towards her and she moved away.

My fist itched to meet his face as an unfamiliar sense of possessiveness overtook me, and any distrustful thoughts I had about her were momentarily banished from my mind without a trace.

He tried again, this time saying something before stuffing the cigarette back in his mouth, and then...

And then the fucker exhaled smoke all over her face.

I instantly got up but just then, I saw him collapse on the ground.

...

Did Daliah just punch him?

I watched as she crouched down beside him and grabbed the collar of his shirt, her lips moving as she said something before getting up again and heading back inside, leaving the man on the ground.

She took a seat in front of me again, smiling faintly as I gave a her an impressed look.

"Didn't know you could throw a punch."

"How much do you even know about me?" She spoke without a beat.

Fair enough...

But why did that feel wrong?

"Not a problem we can't fix." I said without thinking.

She paused, sparing me a glance.

"Elaborate."

I leaned my chin on the palm of my hand.

"Tell me about yourself."

Wow, Dante, since when were you the conversationalist?

She was silent, as if nobody had ever bothered to ask her that before.

I realized that I was actually interested to know more about this. About her.

She was just another one of the many people who were repaying their debt to me. But somehow...

Somehow this felt different.

Maybe because of the fact that I was literally living with her.

I looked back, patiently waiting for a response.

"This isn't a date."

A sigh of disappointment left my lips.

"Never thought it was, cara. I was just asking a normal question." (dear.)

"Fine. Choose a question and we both have to answer it. Then its my turn." she responded.

Fine by me.

I tried thinking of a worthy question.

Needless to say, I didn't trust her completely yet, but I couldn't be subtle with my questions because it might backfire.

For example, I was curious about her job, but according to her rules, I would have to answer that too.

And my line of work isn't exactly...advertisable.

God, why is it so damn hard to come up with a question?!

"One thing that pisses you off."

"You mean, pet peeve?" She questioned and I nodded.

She leaned back, thinking.

"When people talk like saliva-sprayers." She wrinkled her nose is disgust.

Oh my god.

"So true." I nodded.

"What about you, caro?"

"So petty..." I drawled before thinking of something.

"When people interrupt me."

I feel like cutting their tongue off.

I have, actually.

More than once.

But that's beside the point.

"For real." she agreed. "Alright, my turn."

"Do you know how to cook?" she asked.

"Yes, a bit." I responded.

"How much?"

"Enough."

"Favorite dish to make?"

"Hey, one question at a time."

"Oh c'mon, don't feel bad about your minuscule skill." Daliah tried again.

"Excuse me?" If anything my skill was the exact opposite.

Just then, the waiter arrived, swiftly placing steaming plates and bowls on the table in front of us.

Our conversation was briefly cut short as we took and tasted our share of food.

We continued getting to know each other and I learned that we both liked chocolate ice cream, late night runs, the color black, and hated anything flavored with 'mixed fruit' and strawberry but loved fruits and strawberries.

She looked kind of surprised when I told I liked ice cream, apparently, and I quote, I looked like "a takes-extra-strong-espresso-with-no-sugar kinda guy who would chew a raw lime with a straight face."

I mean...I could do both those things, in fact I usually take espresso like that, but it does not mean I don't enjoy something sweet once in a while.

Daliah pushed open the door for me and helped me climb onto her motorcycle, the powerful engine rumbling to life. With a twist of the throttle, we were off, the cool night breeze threading through our hair as we navigated the familiar roads that led us home.

Home.

I guess it counts as that right now.

Just as we turned the corner and the house came into view, Daliah squeezed the brakes, causing the bike to come to a halt as the tires screeched against the gravel.

I instantly became on high alert and scanned our surroundings.

Just as I was about to conclude that there was nothing out of place, I noticed something...out of place.

It was a car.

Parked right in front of the house.

In front of me I faintly heard Daliah's breaths speed up a bit.

Who's car was that?

A single name left her mouth as the answer to my unspoken question.

"Dimitri." she whispers.

____________________________________________________

A.N:-

Henlo oranges! 🧡🧡🧡

Yeeeeeees finally an update LMAO

Ngl I hate this chapter- 💀

Nono it's just that I always wanted Dante to have like that "hot cold smoldering serious" mafia boss personality going on, but I feel like he's been shown as a tad bit too..playful? And carefree? Idk something ain't hitting my writer spot haha

BUT I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU SO. MUCH. TO ALL THOSE WHO READ/ARE READING AND VOTED/ARE VOTING OR COMMENTED/ARE COMMENTING ON MY BOOK Y'ALL MAKE ME SO HAPPY WHENEVER I OPEN MY NOTIFICATIONS SJSIFHBJFYWOQPQAMHDUD ✨✨❤️❤️

Tbh this update might have been even later if you guys hadn't asked me to update 💀🫠

BUT I'm happy that I finally updated and I hope you are too :3

What are your thoughts on this chapter??

Crossing my fingers that this update was satisfactory and if it was please vote :))

Lemme know about any grammar/spelling mistakes I made, I will delete your comment after correcting the error.

That's all SEE YOU IN CHAPTER 14!!!

Your author, Akuto <333 _________________________________________