Dante (19 page)

“Yes, Dante. Well done.”

Dante said goodbye to his father and hung up the phone, astounded. Setting the phone on the counter, his mind ran wild. The most prominent of all his thoughts to stand out was the fact his father didn’t sound the least bit pissed or contrite about losing the bid to his son’s start-up company. In fact, Antony seemed …
proud
.

And shit, his father sure as hell hadn’t let Dante win.

“
Bello
?” Catrina asked, drawing Dante from his thoughts.

“I got it,” Dante whispered.

“What?”

Dante’s palms slapped down on the granite counter, smacking loudly. “I got the fucking contract, Cat.”

Catrina’s grin melted into a brilliant smile across the island. “Really?”

“Yes! Holy shit, I didn’t think I would. I mean, the contract is solid and everything but I didn’t have the rep like Marcello Industries does and—”

“Stop rambling,” Catrina ordered, laughing.

Dante realized his excitement over winning the bid must have been terribly infectious, because Catrina seemed just as happy about his success as he was.  He didn’t have the first clue of what came over him as he watched his wife’s face light up with happiness at the sight of his joy, but the undeniable urge to kiss Catrina slammed into Dante like a wrecking ball.

Not even bothering to think about his next move, Dante leaned over the island before he could second guess his choice, cupped Catrina’s jaw in his palms, and kissed her smiling lips. Her laughter died into a breathless gasp at the sudden kiss. She tasted like candied sugar and the moment her lips parted, he speared his tongue into the warm softness of her mouth to find more of that flavor.

Dante didn’t know what he anticipated from his wife when he broke the invisible barrier between them. After the one time they’d actually had sex on their wedding night, their lines were clearly drawn. The physical side of their non-existent emotional relationship didn’t need to be fed. Dante knew exactly why; they worked like this and that could be a bad thing.

He didn’t care at that moment, he just kept kissing her. Catrina’s fingers curled around his wrists, locking him in place. Her grin grew a little sexier when he began to pull away from the heaven that was her mouth. All the while, her heated gaze never left his.

“Oh!”

That one word from a voice Dante wasn’t expecting sent him stumbling back from the island and Catrina. He cringed and cursed loudly. Dante’s head whipped to the side, immediately finding his mother standing in the entryway between the living room and the kitchen. Something akin to mortification flooded Dante’s gut.

Cecelia shouldn’t be in his condo. Well, not alone with Dante’s wife, anyway. There had been little to no love between his wife and mother ever since that first introduction and he didn’t understand why she was standing there looking at him with a knowing smile and a quiet laugh.

Catrina cleared her throat. “I tried to tell you, but the phone call …”

Dante blindly waved at his wife, brushing off whatever it was she just said. “I’ve, uh, got shit to do.”

Yeah, that seemed like a good plan. Anything but what he was doing now sounded fucking perfect.

Chapter Eleven

Cat leaned in the doorway of the spare bedroom Dante used as a home gym. His fists slammed into the punching bag repeatedly with no pause between the hits.

“Dante?”

He either hadn’t heard her call of his name, or he was ignoring her. Cat didn’t mind if it was the latter. After earlier, she could understand his unwillingness to talk, especially with her. She should have told him straightaway his mother had come over at Cat’s invitation, but she didn’t think he would mind, really.

Well, Dante probably wouldn’t have if he hadn’t …

Jesus, he kissed her. And it was magnificent.

Cat was done pretending as though Dante didn’t have some kind of crazy effect on her physically. Not that she could disregard it now if she really wanted to. Desperately, she needed more of that feeling from earlier. She didn’t care what it meant to want it, either.

“Dante?” Cat called again, firmer and louder the second time.

Dante turned on his heel, yanking out an earbud from his ear that Cat hadn’t noticed. The wire dangled over his shoulder, music still buzzing from the tiny speaker. While he stared at her with those piercing eyes of his, she took in the sight of his form damp with perspiration. Half-naked or clothed, it didn’t make a damn difference. Dante was gorgeous, and he was the only man who made Cat want to bend to his desires, something she kept fighting against. 

Cat knew those hands of his could find every button to push on her without a lick of trouble. His arms, roped with bands of muscles, could lift, pin, or hold her. She’d had him once … and it was so, so good. It might have been easier if she hadn’t crossed that line in the first place but somehow, Cat doubted it.

“What, Catrina?” Dante asked, his breathing still harsh from his workout.

She didn’t bother to hide the shiver wracking her spine at the sound of her name in his mouth.

“I wanted to let you know your mother left a while ago.”

Dante frowned. “I would have said goodbye.”

Cat shrugged. “She said it was fine. You were … busy.”

“Embarrassed, you mean.”

“Well, that, too.” Cat offered him a smile that wasn’t returned. “There’s really nothing to be—”

“If you finish that sentence, I’ll physically throw your ass out of this room.”

Cat laughed. “You could try. Dante, you’re twenty-nine-years-old, you’re allowed to kiss your wife if you want. I don’t think Cecelia minded seeing it. She was more pleasant to me after than she was before, so maybe seeing it helped her.”

“That’s not my problem,” Dante muttered.

“Then what is?”

“I’m not in the mood for this right now.”

“Dante, enough.”

“Apparently we’re going to talk whether I want to or not,” he said, turning to her with crossed arms and a defensive stare.

“About earlier—”

“I’m sorry, I crossed a line. It won’t happen again.”

Cat shook her head, exasperated.

“I liked it,” Cat said, tossing her arms wide. “I didn’t mind you kissing me. Was it a shock? Yes, but that was okay, too. It’s fine,
bello
.”

Dante stared at her like she had grown a second head in the span of seconds. “Liked it.”

“Very much. I’ve never denied my attraction for you, Dante. I only said I didn’t want us to act on it.”

Clearing his throat, Dante glanced away from Cat. “Why was my mother here, anyway?”

“You’re deflecting again.”

“No, I’m honestly curious.”

“I invited her,” Cat admitted.

“God, why? She isn’t the nicest person to you,
bella mia
. I would understand if you wanted to keep your distance.”

“Maybe so, but I also haven’t made much of an effort to let her be, either.”

Dante raised a single brow as he regarded her again. “Between the two of you, she should be the one to make the first move, Cat.”

“For you, sure. For me, no. Today was my way of inviting her into our space, not hers. We’ve been married four months, and you’ve yet to invite your mother here even once. I understand why. At the same time, I’m aware that probably hurts her, regardless if she admits it or not. So, I invited her over to cook with me.”

“If you think it will help,
dolcezza
.”

“I do because she’s your mother and she’s important to you. The more you push her away for my sake, the more she dislikes me, Dante. I want Cecelia to at least find some common ground with me where we can work from. Cooking seems like a good place to start.”

Dante chuckled. “She does like to cook.”

“So do I.”

“
Mmm
, I know.”

“I wish you hadn’t run off like that, though.”

“I’m sorry,” Dante said quietly. “She just … shocked me, that’s all. My problem wasn’t my mother, but she didn’t help.”

“What was the problem?”

“It was easy. Kissing you, I mean. I didn’t even have to think about it and if my mother hadn’t interrupted us, I wouldn’t have stopped. So you liked it, Cat. That’s great, but you made it clear what you wanted from me and it’s not a physical relationship.”

Cat tapped a beat to the floor with her foot. Before she lost her nerve, she asked, “Have you been faithful to me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Have you been faithful to me since we married, Dante?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked.

“For me, it has a lot to do with it.”

“
Why
?”

Cat didn’t like the tone of his voice or how defensive he seemed. “Can I assume, based on your reaction, that the answer is no, you haven’t been?”

“You can assume fucking nothing,” Dante snapped right back.

“Because you don’t think it’s my place to question your fidelity, or because you have been?”

“Not your place—”

“Don’t act surprised, Dante. It’s all too common in our culture for men to have mistresses on the side filling in for their wives and girlfriends.”

Dante looked as if he’d swallowed a wasp. “Not in my home it wasn’t.”

“Oh?”

“No, my father was always faithful to my mother and so are my brothers in regards to their wives.”

“But we’re not like them, Dante. We’re not in love, building a family, or any of those normal things that come along with marriage. It wouldn’t shock me to know you’ve been with other women since we married.”

But it would hurt her and speak volumes about this man. Cat needed to know if he had stepped out on her with someone else.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have faith in the sanctity of marriage, Catrina. I do,
completely
. Despite not wanting to be married, I absolutely believe in the vows I spoke, and when I said them, I meant them. Especially remaining faithful to my wife.”

Dante gestured in Cat’s direction, adding, “And what about you? I’ve never questioned you about your fidelity to this marriage or to me. If I ask, will you answer truthfully or shut me out?”

Cat didn’t answer. “Have you had the opportunity to fuck someone?”

“
Cristo
cazzo
, Catrina!”

“Well, I asked. I would like an answer.”

“Yes, of course. You know what I do for a living. I spend at least four hours a day in venues that sport a lot of beautiful women. Some of them know my name. None of them get my attention, not since we married.”

“Have you wanted to, or thought about it?”

Dante canted his head to the side, gaze narrowing. “That’s an unfair question,
Amore
.”

“How so?”

“Because it is. Believing in the sanctity of marriage meant the moment you took my last name, I knew exactly what I was giving up, including my right to fuck whoever I wanted. That doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate my ability to fantasize.”

Cat didn’t blink a lash at his crass attitude. “And you were what, ready to give up having any kind of intimacy with anyone for this?”

“Yes. Is that such a surprise to you? Does the man I am scream unfaithful and foul to you?” 

“I never said that.” Cat shifted on her feet, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “Say in a decade or whenever, if you had found someone you loved, what of us then? Would you have remained faithful?”

“How can I find someone I love when I have no interest in being in love,
bella
?”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“To find love, you have to engage with a person on a level beyond sex. The only woman I have any kind of relationship with that I’m engaged in daily is you. We both know there’s no love here.

“Also, if you want to discuss questions not being answered, you still haven’t given a response to mine. What would you say if I asked you these same questions, Catrina? How would you feel to be bombarded and interrogated like this?”

“
Fine
. I would feel fine. My answer is no.”

Dante tensed. “No?”

“I realize my work puts my appearance on display in front of men. I’ve long since passed the point in my profession where I need to actually use my body to keep their attention, Dante. Men are little more than chess pieces I need to move across the board and that’s all. There has been no man to catch and keep my attention enough for me to break my focus from my game… or, there hadn’t been until you. What I told you on our wedding night still stands.”

“That I was the only one in a long while. Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, you already know. What else is there to wonder?”

An almost bitter quality coated his words when he asked, “Chess pieces, huh?”

“Every queen needs her king, Dante. Even on the chess board.”

“But he’s only there to protect her and if he dies, the game’s still on.”

“Maybe, but she doesn’t last long without him.” Cat waved at him. “Besides, I’ve never hidden my intentions from you.”

Not entirely
, she corrected silently.

“No, I guess you haven’t.” Dante’s arms uncrossed, his posture relaxing.

Cat smiled. “Before you go wading back into that crazy headspace of yours, I want you to know something.”

“What’s that?”

“I want you to do it again.”

“Do what, Catrina?”

“Kiss me. I want you to do it again, and I don’t want you to stop.”

Dante looked like he was chewing on the inside of his cheek, considering her words. “That’s what you want, huh?”

“That’s what I want, Dante.”

“Right now, kitten?”

“No, see, supper still needs to be eaten.”

She left him grumbling behind her.

A good wait wouldn’t kill him.

• • •

“Catrina?”

Cat’s head snapped up, but her husband was already swallowing another bite of her parmesan casserole. She waited until he was done before asking, “Yes?”

“I lied.”

“When?”

“Earlier.”

Cat decided to hear him out before reacting. “About what?”

“When you asked me if I had wanted to be with someone, I lied.”

“But you basically said you had thought about it,” she pointed out, confused. “I wouldn’t call that a lie.”

“It was a lie, kind of.”

As he spoke, Dante kept his head down. It put her off her game when she couldn’t gauge the reaction of the man she was speaking with, even if that man was her husband.

“What I said was that I had considered it, but I gave you the impression my thoughts were pointed in the direction of someone else.”

Cat swallowed hard, straightening in her chair. “What are you trying to tell me, Dante?”

Dante finally looked up at her, his green eyes blazing. “I thought about fucking someone. Often. Every damn day, Cat. Once she was in my head, she wouldn’t get the hell out, and I couldn’t possibly make up a fantasy about someone else when I already had her. I know how she tastes, the way she feels wrapped around my cock, and even how my name sounds in her mouth. Yes, I’ve thought about her a lot. So, I would say I lied.”

“But you said you had—” Cat’s words cut off when Dante arched his eyebrow. “Oh.”

“You,” he murmured. “I thought about fucking you.”

Jesus.

Cat’s air cut past her lips in a hiss. All of her body reacted to those words he spoke so innocently, even with their wicked nature. “Oh.”

Dante stood from the table and Cat jumped in her seat across from him, unsure of what he was doing. “I’m done eating, so I’m going to take a shower, kitten.”

A shower?

What?

She had plainly offered her body and bed to him, he spoke as though he surely fucking wanted her, and now he was going to shower. Sweet Christ, he kept using that damn pet name like he had on their wedding night. Why did he keep doing that? It did nothing to calm her unsettled heart or soothe the raging flood of desire.