Beautiful Lies

Chapter Fourteen

Lorena

The whole evening made me totally emotional. I hate knowing that Dante is right. He had warned me and told me what could be coming. We're not even married and I'm already emotionally devastated.

I just have to try to keep my emotions in check and do what I'm paid to do.

Sighing, I brush my teeth and tie my hair in a ponytail. I open the bathroom door and see Dante lying on the bed. "What are you doing here?", I ask, confused. "Lying down?"

"Yes I can see that, but why are you in my room." He sits up and gives me an annoyed look. "You must mean our room, principessa." 

"There are about a hundred rooms in this villa and you want to sleep in mine."

"We have to sleep here together. I don't want my men to suspect anything. What would it look like if we slept in separate rooms?"

He's right, but I don't feel like agreeing with him, so I pull my blanket and pillow off the bed and spread it out on the floor. "What are you doing?" he asks, confused. "What does it look like? I'm sleeping on the floor."

I make myself as comfortable as I can on the floor when I hear Dante laughing.

"I had my fingers inside you and now you don't even want to sleep in the same bed with me." I feel the blood rush to my cheek. 

"Good night!", I say and turn off the small light on my side. I just hear him sigh and then get up from the bed. Then I hear the bathroom door close.

When I hear the shower, I can't help but imagine Dante's hard body in the shower. I close my eyes and try to think of something else, but my thoughts keep wandering back to him.

I have to stop doing this. Dante and I can never become more than two people trapped in an unpleasant situation. I thought maybe we could be friends who could hook up now and then. But he has proven several times that he has no respect for me.

I feel my eyelids getting heavy and before I know it I fall asleep.

—-

"NO!", I scream. Startled, I sit up and realise that I am lying in bed. I brush my sweaty hair out of my face and try to control my breathing. "Principessa, are you all right?" I look to my left and see Dante looking at me with concern. 

"What am I doing here on the bed?"

"You were rolling on the floor all the time. It looked so uncomfortable, I thought it would be better to put you on the bed." I just nod. The nightmares have lessened over the years, but every now and then I get one again and when I do they are usually really bad.

"Who is Henry?" My heart stops for a moment. I look at him with widened eyes. 

"What?", I whisper. 

"You were always calling for Henry. Is there something I should know?" he asks. 

"No, there's nothing to know. I don't know the name." I turn away from him and pull the blanket up to my chin.

"I'll pretend to believe you, but just for the record, if you ever cheat on me, your lover will never survive. I will tear him apart piece by piece and then feed him to my fish. So think carefully about your next steps," he whispers in my ear as he brushes my hair aside.

Snorting, I sit up and look at him angrily. "You know what, Dante, you can take your fake caring and shove it up your ass. If I want to cheat, I'll cheat. You've made it clear that I'm nothing more than your appendage. What I do behind closed doors is none of your business, is it?"

Faster than I can look, he is bent over me and pressing me to the bed by my throat. "You listen to me. You are mine! Everything of yours is mine - your body, your soul, everything. If you cheat on me, you will regret it. Understood!" My body goes on autopilot. I am transported back to my 18th birthday.