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Chapter 46

** REBEL SIMMONS POV **

"What did you just say?" I said to my mother, disbelief hanging off of every word.

"Honey I'm so sorry for hiding the truth from you all these years." My mother said frowning.

"Why? Why didn't you take me and leave then? If he wasn't my real dad, why the fuck did we stay? You knew. You knew all the fucked up things he did to me, the fucked up things he did to you- yet you still chose to keep yourself and your child there. Why?" I exclaimed. My confusion soon turned to frustration before it quickly escalated into full blown anger.

"Because I wasn't strong enough, Rebel! I was weak. I still am. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." My mother said weeping hysterically, as I stood up and walked to the small bedroom on the plane, Dante following closely behind me.

"I still have nightmares, mom." I said stopping at the door. "I still have fucking nightmares about the night I killed him. He ruined me." I said taking a shaky breath as my memories came flooding back. "I killed him.... I killed a man at 14 fucking years old mom. A man that I thought was my father..." I said as I turned around and looked her in the eyes.

"What what your plan then, huh? Stay there, with him, until we were killed?!" I yelled, unable to control the emotions that were consuming me.

"Rebel..." My mother cried.

"We could have had a normal life mom! A life without the beatings, without the abuse! Instead you let your child take care of your problems." I said as I ran my hand through my hair.

"At least one of us can sleep soundly at night." I said under my breath before turning back around to face a very concerned Dante.

I know it's wrong for me to scream at my mother after she just confessed the truth about my father, but anger boiled inside of me as I recalled the traumatic events of my past. Knowing that we had a chance, a reason to leave and didn't filled me with rage. I always thought my mother was the only person in the world who loved me, who protected me, yet she willingly kept us in that situation because of what?

She stayed with a cheating and abusive husband, who wasn't even the father of her child because she was weak? Because she was afraid? It baffled me that she was more afraid of leaving than being killed by her own lover.

I know I was being selfish... and I understand that being in an abusive relationship leaves the victim feeling helpless and weak, but this was our livelihood we were talking about. She knew he beat me, she knew he locked me in the bathroom when she was working, she knew all the horrific things he did to me and she never did a thing to save us from that situation.

"I just need to be alone." I said before I pushed the door open walked into the bedroom, leaving my mother crying in her seat before my anger got the best of me.

The bedroom was sleek, and had a King sized bed placed in the middle. The floor was covered in a white plush carpet. Large windows on both sides showed the clouds surrounding us as they passed by. As Dante closed the door his arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. His chin rested on the top of my head, and his hand rubbed my back in a soothing manner.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He whispered before he kissed the top of my head.

"Not really." I said as I leaned into his kiss and closed my eyes.

He led me to the bed and pulled me down. He was leaning on the headboard with his legs spread. He grabbed my hips and positioned me so I was sitting in between his legs. I felt his chest on my back, his steady breathing calming me as we sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"I was 13 when I made my first kill." Dante finally spoke out.

"We were on our way to my birthday dinner. We were going to my favorite restaurant at the time, a fancy Italian restaurant with the best gelato in city." Dante said in an emotionless tone. I looked up at him and took in his words.

"I was so excited that my father was actually rewarding me on my birthday. I never received gifts because he thought it would make me a weak man." He said. I rubbed my hands on his thigh as he continued his story.

"Our car was ambushed by rivals, Russians. We were surrounded. My father handed me a gun, and told me to prove my worth. My father and I.... we killed everyone. Every. Single. One." He recalled as his body tensed. His arms tightened around me, as if he was comforting himself rather than me.

"I still remember the fear... my hands shaking as I pulled the trigger... the anxiety I felt knowing that my family was in danger, and that I was standing in between them and a bullet." Dante said as his eyes narrowed. I placed my hand over his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"Once the shooting stopped, my father captured the last remain shooter. He beat him in front of me, until the man was barely breathing on the floor. He headed me a gun... and told me to finish the job." Dante said before he took a deep breath.

"I held out the gun, and just as I was about to shoot, the man began to speak. He told me that he had a son, and a pregnant wife at home waiting for him. He begged me to spare his life." Dante said as his face hardened once more. We sat in silence, tension thick in the air.

"Then... I pulled the trigger." Dante said as he avoided eye contact with me.

"My father simply patted me on the back, we wiped off the blood, then continued to the restaurant like nothing happened." Dante said as he looked down at me, sadness pooling within his grey irises. "I was in shock... I couldn't even eat anything without vomiting." Dante said as he looked down at the floor. We sat there in silence as Dante opened up about his traumatic upbringing.

"I had nightmares for years, and I still do. Constantly being haunted by what I did." He practically whispered. His gaze was far off, as if he was reliving the memory as he told it.

"I guess..." He said, pausing as he furrowed his eyebrows. "The reason why I'm telling you this, is because I don't want you to feel alone. I don't want you to feel like you suffered by yourself. I understand and can relate to what you went through. I always resented my father, for forcing me into a lifestyle I didn't want. For ruining my childhood. For turning me into a monster, yet, I couldn't help the constant craving his approval." He said as his expression tensed.

"You aren't a monster, Dante. You are far from it." I said gently as I looked up at him.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of, Rebel. I've done things, things that I'm not proud of. Things I can never take back nor forget. I'm as monstrous as they come." Dante said as his voice morphed into a deep growl.

"Dante... No matter what you've done, what you do, or what you're going to do, I accept and respect you just the way you are. Monstrous or not, I will happily take your demons as mine and be by your side." I said, turning around to cup his face.

"I will never try to change you. You are perfect just the way you are, no matter how many you have killed, no matter what you've done, none of it alters the perception I have of you." I said before I kissed his lips gently.

"I know that we haven't known each other long, but just know...I'll always protect you Rebel, always. No one will ever hurt you again as long as I am breathing." Dante spoke as he held me even tighter.

"And I'll always protect you, Dante." I whispered, making him tense even more before he eventually relaxed around me.

We drifted off to sleep, listening to the calming hymn of the turbines and each other heartbeats.