The Informant

Chapter Sixteen

  I awoke what seemed like only moments later on an ungodly uncomfortable leather couch. The 'Where the hell am I' thought running circles in my head before it all came back to me, Jesus Christ did I really freaking faint in front of them all?

A soft hand brushed my forehead lightly, the quiet, beautiful humming of a woman lulling me back to unconsciousness but before I could slip into the bliss I thought of Julian. My eyes popping wide open, only scaring Dantè's poor mother half to death. She let out a cute little screech as her hand flew to her full chest. She turned to yell at someone, in their language I couldn't understand and half a second later, Dantè's thick, powerful thighs were blocking my view of the rest of his apartment.

"Welcome back, belissima." His eyes were full of something I hadn't truly seen before, and if I'm not mistaken a bit of amusement as well. Ass!

"Hey, um, how long was I out?" I asked as I sat up slowly, taking in my surroundings, my head pounding as white dots tried to take over my vision.

He sat down in front of me in a brown leather recliner that matched his couch and I wondered if it was as uncomfortable as this thing was. Probably. "Just a little over two hours now."

Shit, shit, shit! The full panic setting in now. I rose to my bare feet as quickly as I could, which left me a bit wobbly. "Hey, hey. It's alright, take it slow, yes."

I started running about trying to find my shoes, where the hell are my shoes! "I can't! Julian, I left him at daycare!"

He stood, calmly walking over to me behind his ugly couch and put his large palms on each of my shoulders, he smiled,  "I called Sam, she picked him up. He's perfectly fine."

A breath I hadn't known I was holding came out in a rush. "My phone then, please?" He pointed to the wood end-table next to the place I had been previously occupying. I walked around him and swept it up, checking my messages from Samantha and confirming she had my baby. Not that I didn't trust Dantè, but this was my precious baby boy we're talking about.

He came to sit back in the recliner, his mother had ran off somewhere, his father also not in sight. His expression was.. grave? . "Sit. We need to talk."

Oh shit, this is about what I said in the hallway, isn't it. "About what I said in the hallway, look, I-"

He cut me off, a small smile coaxing his lips upward, but it didn't reach his eyes, "We'll get to that in a bit, but first I need you to know what's going on. Why I left you, how you say? High and dry?" I nodded

His eyes were still guarded, "You're scaring me." I whispered, "what's going on, why are you looking at me like that?"

"I fucked up, Mia. I fucked up bad." His hands were rubbing his thighs up and down, squeezing them tightly enough to crinkle his jeans.

"Are you in some sort of trouble, Dantè?" I asked. "If you are, just tell me." I plead.

He took a deep breath, "Not just me, but now you and Julian too. I tried to stay away, Mia. For you two, I really did. Maybe I didn't try hard enough" He looked almost remorseful.

My panic started to rise once again, "Why? Tell me now what's going on."

Another deep inhale, "I'm an informant for the polizia, baby. Against some very bad people from my past."

"Okay, but why would that mean we're in trouble. You've got the police on your side."

He shook his head, "I do, but the people I'm ratting out know who I am now, and they'll stop at nothing to keep me quiet. They've been watching me since the night I left your apartment and didn't come back." He rose and walked to the bay-window in his spacious living room. "They're down there now, Mia. They saw you come up and now know who you are. I've called my amici, my friends at the station and they're keeping an eye on us too. But they need them to try and pounce before they step in. We need to pin the guy I've been after for all these years."

"What guy, Dantè? Who're the bad people? And do they know about Julian?" I'm going to have a heart attack.

"I'm not sure, baby. So I've asked Sam to take him to her parents house in Florida. They boarded the plane and hour ago." Why didn't she tell me this in her confirmation message about having Julian!

"Okay, so we're sure he's safe, right?" My question is frantic.

"Si, bellisima. They also have protection watching their every move." He's trying to be reassuring, I can't say that it's working.

I scramble for my phone and call Samantha, it rings only twice but it seems like an eternity, "Say hello to mommy before she shits a brick little guy," I can just see her eyes rolling through the phone, but hearing little J shout mommy has my heart calming it's chaotic rhythm "He's fine, Mia. We're fine, just boarding our second plane. By the way, he's totally hogging the window seat." She play whines and I forget what's happening for a moment and giggle.

But it's short lived, "Please Samantha, keep him safe. Promise me." I beg her.

"With my life, babe. No doubts about it. But with this hottie new bodyguard I doubt I'll have to. Gotta go now, we're on and about to depart. I love you, text you when we land." The call is short and the 'bye-bye from Julian let's me know he's happy and safe at the moment which helps to ease my nerves. Some.

I look back at Dantè, determination settling deep in my bones, "So what's the plan, Stan?" I ask, ready to get the show on the road so I can be with my boy once again, all of us safe and sound, including Dantè.

He gives me an angry questioning look, "Who the hell is Stan? I thought we established this in the hallway, you're mine, Mia."

I smile from ear to ear, "It's a saying. Just some rhyme us Americans like to say."

His embarrassments setting in, he scratches his head sheepishly, "Ahh, okay." He doesn't say anything after that, he continues to stare at me In that way that I've never seen before. That expression I can't quite pin. There's a long silence between us as neither of us know exactly what to say, I haven't forgotten my fears about what's happening but I'm determined not to crumble and freak because it's not going to get us any closer to being safe again.

I wonder what he's thinking, his eyes are intense on me, never leaving my face, not for a second. Watching me as if he might be waiting for me to crumble too. His expression comes to something of a resolve before he asks, "Did you mean it?"

I have no clue what he's talking about, I frown, my brows coming together. "Did you mean what you said in the hallway?" He clarifies.

I know all too well what he's referring to now, my hands come together around my cell and I begin to wring it between them, scared to say it out loud again, because what if he doesn't feel the same way, and I've made a complete fool of myself. He says I'm his, but that doesn't necessarily means he wants to be mine as well. He could just want strictly Sex and nothing else. Like I had in the beginning.

I had yet to discover how I really felt about him. I was too busy worrying about him and why he hadn't called or texted to think about how I really felt. But as soon as the words left my mouth, wether I wanted them too or not, I knew they were true.

Someone once told me you miss out on a hundred percent of the things you don't try. Or In this case, say. So I held my head high, and answered him truthfully, "Yes."