Submerged

Chapter 4

Dante

This woman is going to be the death of me.

I heave a sigh, pulling my car onto the road and keeping a good distance between her and I as she sprints down the street. It's been two weeks since I last saw her. I had planned to keep my distance as usual, I just wanted to watch her, but she looked so lost that day it gutted me. I knew she was barely handling everything. I also knew Riot would be livid when they found her after she ditched her guard that day and all it would do was make things worse. So, for the first time ever, I intervened. Now technically I've intervened many times but usually I snatched someone from the street and threatened their lives to get them to step in and pay for whatever item she needed cash for, which is what I did when she went inside the coffee shop, but this time I intervened in person.

I called the first bakery that popped up on google for bakeries nearby and Rory, the owner, answered. The bakery was closed as she was prepping cakes to be picked up for events happening the following day but with a little pushing, and a lot of money, I talked her into a last minute cake tasting. She warned me she wasn't prepared for it and had no samples prepared but I assured her any cake she could manage to spare would be well compensated for. Then I called Riot and told him Alessia and I had a cake tasting appointment and I was on my way to pick her up. I couldn't leave her alone unguarded so I watched her until Leo picked her up and I met Riot at Rafael's house where Alessia stays. When I arrived he told me she was on her way with Leo but left out the part where she ditched her guard. I'm assuming he doesn't want me to think she's difficult and speak to my father about it but I don't think she's difficult, it's her family who seems to be complicating everything.

The cake tasting went better than expected even with how visibly frazzled Rory was. It was nice to spend time with Alessia one on one. No family or guards lingering nearby, just the two of us. I constantly had to fight a smile because she actually looked happy and seemed relaxed for the first time in my presence since she found out I'm her soon-to-be husband. I really enjoyed the sight of her sitting in the passenger seat of my car. It was only a rental, nondescript and all black to help blend in, so even though it technically wasn't mine it still felt good.

I had to force myself to take her home after our meal. I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and put her on the jet so she could come home with me but I knew that wouldn't go well and I doubted she would come with me willingly. It was really hard to let her go and because of that I forced myself to keep my distance. If I took her Riot wouldn't hesitate to kill me and I know the family would back his decision up. Our wedding date is rapidly approaching so it shouldn't have been much of a struggle to stay away. Two weeks was all I could manage before I broke.

Today she's out with Viola, Nolani, Polina, and a few of her cousin's wedding dress shopping. Or she was.

One second I'm parked down the street, keeping an eye on the building and the next I see her fleeing out of the alley beside the boutique. How she managed to evade three guards and six people without being caught is beyond me. Riot is lucky I'm obsessed with her with how often she ditches her guard although I don't think the guard is really necessary.

I press the gas harder as she disappears around the block where I can no longer see her. I whip into the turning lane and make a right turn at the light. My eyes flicker back and forth between the road and the sidewalk as she comes into view when I round the building. She didn't make it far, just a few feet around the building on the corner. There's a man shouting and gesturing to his shirt, the front of Alessia's dress is covered in a brown liquid, a puddle of matching liquid at their feet and a smashed coffee cup lying nearby. I quickly park in one of the empty spaces in front of the coffee shop and shut my car off before exiting the vehicle, Alessia's voice filled with venom as I hear her say, "I said sorry, asshole, stop screaming at me!"