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Secrets

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Chapter 30: Secrets (Dante's POV)

That night, after looking at the barbaric painting that was revealed to the audience, I didn't have the courage to take Anastasia down there. Her mind had been all over the place these past few days, I didn't want to add more to it, so after busying her with a police officer, I followed the second officer down into the basement. 

Neither one of us could take more than one step into the room. I couldn't help but grimace in disgust as I scanned the room from the doorway. "Jesus fuck," I muttered under my breath, running a hand across my mouth. 

The walls were covered in blood with pools of it spilled on the floor while the chair Adeline's body was strapped into was placed right in the middle, facing the door for anyone who walked in to see. There was so much blood, more than I'd ever seen at any crime scene. Her body was left in a state that was so inhumane it was indescribable. 

"Forensics are on their way," the officer said, keeping his back to the room while I took a look, hoping to find something, perhaps a clue left behind for Anastasia and me. 

As I leaned past the doorway to look at the corner wall, my eyes went straight to the camera set up in the corner. A tripod held the old VHS camera with its red light still blinking red. 

Mere moments later, forensic officers arrived and began investigating the room while we stood in the doorway. "Get me that note," I told one of the investigators as I nodded toward the post-it note stuck onto the tripod. 

The note read: 

'Seems like you're having a hard time tracking me down, Mr Rossi. I thought I'd help you out.' 

A frustrated breath left me as I cursed under my breath. "I want that camera and all the footage it holds. Untouched, do you understand?" I told the officer. 

He nodded sharply once. "We'll have it sent to the FBI headquarters tomorrow morning after checking for prints. You and Ms Vitalio can leave if you'd like, sir. Tonight's murder is rather... I don't think it's a place for a lady to be." 

My lady was more than capable of handling a crime scene, even as gruesome as this, but I couldn't disagree simply because she had too much going on within her mind. As her partner in this case, I wanted to do whatever I could to help her out, even if it meant keeping her away from the crime scene. 

Heading back upstairs, I found her waiting in the corner, leaning her shoulder against a pillar. 

Spotting me, she stood upright, her arms falling to her sides from where they were crossed against her chest. "How bad is it?" she asked knowingly. 

"Bad," I exhaled. "You're not going down there, Anastasia." 

An argument was sitting at the tip of her tongue but she swallowed it down with a sigh. "Find anything?" 

"A note and a VHS camera." 

Her eyes widened. "The killer filmed it?" she asked in shock. 

I nodded in confirmation. A breath of disbelief escaped her as she turned and began pacing. As she moved away from me, I caught her wrist. "Let's get out of here." 

Hesitation flickered in her eyes. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we stay while they investigate?" 

"I think you've had enough on your plate this week." 

"I'm not going to use my personal life as an excuse," she replied with a pointed gaze. 

"I'm not telling you to," I replied, "I just think we've had it for tonight. More than we can handle at once. Let me take you home, Mia Cara." 

Her resolve slowly melted away as she nodded in agreement and I walked us out, driving to her apartment. 

The conversation that was left unfinished before everything took a turn tonight didn't leave my mind. In fact, it played on a loop until we finally reached her place. She was right in saying our deal was that things between us would remain strictly physical. But my response hadn't been impulsive or something reckless I'd said in the moment. 

I'd been thinking and overthinking about her for weeks, especially in the past three days after she showed up at my apartment. 

These feelings weren't new to me, I'd lived through them once a year ago. Deja vu hadn't hit me this hard until now. I'd craved her just like this back then. I started wanting more than what our physical relationship was offering and just when I was about to take a step further, everything collapsed. I lost my job after having no choice but to go underground. I'd lost her too. 

I spent the past year pacifying my thoughts and willing myself to keep a distance from Anastasia if I ever saw her again. I reminded myself why we were a terrible idea in the first place. But it didn't matter what I did because I spent that year in agony, wondering what could have been if I hadn't shut her out and lost her. 

History was here, repeating itself. The decision I had made last time might have been better for both of us objectively but it left me fucking miserable. I had to know if she felt the same way. More than that, I simply had to have her. 

In all my life, I'd never been so desperate for anything. I'd never wanted anything as bad as I wanted Anastasia. 

The front door shut behind me as I followed her inside and up to her bedroom. Kicking her heels off to the side, she turned to face me as she took her necklace off, dropping it on her nightstand. "Could you help me with the dress?" she asked. 

I approached her, each footstep growing heavier until I stopped at her back. Her breath hitched the moment my finger brushed her skin and I tried ignoring the way it made my heart stop. I began undoing the small buttons that went from her lower back to her tailbone slowly, taking my sweet time. 

Tonight, I had a million thoughts swarming my head. I felt unsure of my actions. I began wondering if it would be wrong to touch her or kiss her when I craved her so desperately, so carnally, even if she didn't feel the same way. 

My body was acting on my desires before I could convince myself otherwise and when I felt the last button snap undone between my fingers, I took a step closer and placed a soft, tentative kiss on her shoulder. 

She sighed my name like it was a prayer and I nearly dropped to my knees right there. 

"Tell me to stop," I whispered against her skin as I trailed kisses up her neck. "Please, Anastasia, tell me to stop." I was fucking begging her to stop me as if it was my last chance to back out. Because it was. If she didn't stop me tonight, there was no returning. I couldn't hold back any longer. 

"Dante," she breathed shakily, barely suppressing a moan. 

"Do you have any idea," I asked, my lips grazing her ear, "what it is that you fucking do to me?" I was tired of touching her and holding her in a way one held a person when they couldn't quite have them. I wanted to touch her, taste her, kiss her, hold her, but I wanted to do everything knowing she was mine just as I was hers. 

"You drive me crazy, Anastasia," I told her, teasing one strap down her shoulder. "I don't think you understand how much..." I left a kiss just below her ear. "How badly I want you," I said, tugging her straps lower. 

"Dante—" 

"I'm beyond desire, Anastasia. I'm desperate. It's not your body I want." A small sigh escaped her as I pulled away and took her waist, spinning her around to face me. "It's you," I said. "I want it all. Your heart, your mind, your body." 

With her breaths heavy and her eyes dancing with surprise, she stared at me. 

"It sounds selfish, doesn't it?" I asked. 

"Maybe," she answered hesitantly. 

"Perhaps it is," I agreed, "but I can't be bothered. Fuck, I want you more. I want to know your mind as well as I know your body, Anastasia. I want to know your heart. As much as I love to hear you moaning my name, it's not enough. I want to hear you tell me you want me and if I'm lucky enough and this universe allows me, I want to hear you tell me you fucking love me someday. Because God knows I'd thank my stars if you did." 

"I... Dante, I..." 

"Can you find it in yourself to trust me with your secrets, Anastasia? Because I know I could trust you with mine." 

"Do you really mean that?" she asked, stepping closer and grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. "If I asked, would you tell me your secrets?" she whispered. "Every question I never got to ask, will you answer it?" She held my gaze. "If I asked about your scars... would you answer it?" 

I didn't even have to think about it. If breaking my walls down meant it would bring us closer, I would do it blindly, I would do it a hundred times over. "I would," I told her. "If I asked about your stories," I paused, "and the past that haunts you... would you?" 

She nodded slowly. "I would." 

"I would never hold it against you," I reassured her. "It scares you too, doesn't it? If people know, they'll use it as a weapon." 

"It does," she admitted, "it terrifies me." 

"It terrifies me too," I whispered. 

"I won't," she replied, "I'll never use your scars against you. Any of them." 

"If I ever thought you would, I wouldn't be here, Mia Cara. You trust me?" I asked, tucking her hair behind her ear as my lips brushed against hers. 

For the first time that night, a smile graced her lips, and everything was suddenly worth it. "I trust you," she chuckled softly just before I kept that smile for myself, stealing it with a kiss. 

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Chapter 30

Double-update surprise!!

I wasn't planning on it lol but the writer-brain was braining

next ch: movies

just wait for the fucking plot twist...