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Puzzle

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Chapter 39: Puzzle (Anastasia's POV)

Despite being asleep, a sense of restlessness woke me up at some point in the middle of the night. Groaning in annoyance and mumbling Dante's name, I rolled over to face him, hating the absence of his touch as I slept. 

When I turned around and my hand reached for him, all I felt beneath my fingers was the cold sheet and an empty pillow. My eyes snapped open almost instantly with a frown settling on my lips. Taking in a breath, I moved to sit up and ran a hand through my hair as I scanned the room. 

I paused for a minute, waiting to hear a sound from the bathroom. When I didn't, I called out for him. "Dante?" A beat of silence passed and then another. As I returned to a state of complete consciousness, it started to feel like something was incredibly wrong. Lifting his pillow, I checked for his gun and found it in place. 

If he'd left, for whatever reason, he would have taken it... 

"What the fuck?" I mumbled, stumbling out of bed in haste as I hid his gun and grabbed my own, along with my cell phone and key card. Swiping the satin robe I tossed over the chain earlier, I shoved it on and ran, sprinting down the hall and to the elevator. "God, please, please, please..." I muttered repeatedly, praying he was safe. 

When I stepped out into the lobby, it was unsurprisingly deserted. Not a person in sight, not even at the front desk. 

I looked around frantically as I tightened my robe and then ran to the main revolving doors, inhaling sharply as a chilly breeze nipped at my skin upon stepping outside. "Where are you?" I asked silently, ignoring the tremor of my hands. I kept looking, searching for him, any sight of him but to no avail. 

When several minutes passed, I began to panic. 

What if something happened to him? What if someone hurt him? Took him? What if he... Images of the worst scenarios began flashing behind my eyes. 

Turning to my right, I contemplated running down the street to look for him. Blinking past the tears in my eyes, I threw my head back and stared at the sky. "Please let him be safe," I whispered. I was just about to take my first step when I heard my name. 

"Anastasia?" 

Spinning around with bated breath, I finally found him. 

Surprise washed over his face as he took me in, quickly closing the distance between us with a few wide strides. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, taking my arms and waist. 

"Where the hell were you?!" I snapped immediately, giving him a hard shove. "Do you have any idea how terrified I was, waking up to an empty bed with no sign of where you had gone!" 

He realized. "Baby—" 

"I was scared, Dante!" I quickly wiped a stray tear with the back of my hand. "I thought something... something..." I trailed off into a huff. 

"I'm right here," he said softly, pulling me in. "I'm okay." He held me, and this time, I let him. 

"You didn't even take your gun," I whispered, holding onto him tightly. "Where did you go?" 

A sigh of relief escaped me as he gave me a tight squeeze. "Nowhere," he whispered into my hair before lightly kissing the top of my head as he placed a palm on the back of my head. "I'm right here," he repeated. 

Inhaling deeply to calm myself and my shaky hands, I pulled back to look at him. "What happened?" 

Pausing, he scanned our surroundings. "Let's go back upstairs first." 

I shot him an exasperated look. 

"Look, baby, you're standing out here in the middle of the night wearing silk pajamas and a robe." 

"So?" I snapped. 

"So, you're going to catch a cold." 

I folded my arms across my chest. "Is that the problem?" 

He let out a breath before stepping closer and dipping down to my ear. "You either do as I say, or I'm throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you upstairs myself, Anastasia," he whispered. 

I blinked before clearing my throat as he stared down at me. 

Lifting his brows, he waited. "What's it going to be?" 

Sighing in frustration, I turned around and marched back inside, leading us back to our room. "Tell me," I demanded, throwing everything on the bed and turning to face him, arms folded once again. "What happened?" 

He settled at the foot of the bed and stared up at me. "I got a call. Unknown number, no one said anything over the phone. But then this..." He retrieved a note from his pocket. "Was slipped under our door." 

I scanned the message. "Was it Ethan?" I asked knowingly. 

He nodded. "It was." 

My eyes widened. "You met him?" 

"I did," he breathed out, "in the flesh." 

"Did he hurt you?" 

"What?" he chuckled dryly. 

"Did he try?" I rushed forward, sitting beside him. Tossing the note behind me, I took his face between my hands. "Let me see you. Are you hurt anywhere?" I moved his face left, right, up, down, every goddamn direction. "Did he have a weapon?" Lifting his shirt, I ran my fingers down his abdomen. 

Before my inspection went further south, he gripped my hand gently and tugged his shirt back down. "Are you just feeling me up, Ms Vitalio?" he smirked. 

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. "I'm being serious, Dante." 

"I find that hard to believe," he teased. "But no. He didn't have any weapons. He... wanted to talk to me." For the next several minutes, Dante filled me in on his conversation with Ethan. By the end of it, I didn't know what to think or believe. 

My brows furrowed in confusion as I met Dante's eyes. "Do you believe him? I mean... Do you think he's telling the truth?" 

He shook his head slowly, "I don't know anymore, Anastasia. Looking at him, talking to him, it sounded real to me. But we can't ignore the possibility that it's a trick. It would be convenient. If he gets caught, he'll plead insanity." 

"But if he is telling the truth then... it's likely he isn't even aware of the severity of his actions." 

"He isn't, from the sound of it," Dante replied, "to him, killing people is just a way to quiet that voice in his head. The question is, does that voice even really exist?" 

I nodded slowly. "It could be a lie he's making up to get a lesser sentence. But don't you think running away would be easier than putting up an act? Why bother making up such a story? If he wanted to, he could disappear and never get caught." 

"That's why I'm questioning it. He could be telling the truth. The worst part is we have no way to get to him. All we can do is wait... Again," he sighed in annoyance. 

I fell into thought while fighting the exhaustion and sleep that threatened to take over. "What if he is telling the truth and we can't get to him or he can't ask for help in time?" I mumbled. "What if he just... snaps? Gives in?" 

Dante held my gaze. "There's nothing I fear more than that," he whispered. 

"Why?" I asked hesitantly. "Are you scared he's going to hurt someone? Himself?" 

"No," he shook his head, "I'm scared he's going to hurt you." We sat still for several seconds. "That's the urge he keeps fighting," he added quietly. "And the thought of it terrifies me. If I fail to help him now that he's asked me... He could hurt you, and that would fucking kill me, baby." 

"Dante—" 

"I wouldn't care anymore, Anastasia. I would beat that guy bloody if he so much as touches you. I'd kill him with my bare hands, fucking burn him alive. I don't care how troubled he is." 

My heart doubled in size hearing his words. "Dante..." 

"I swear to the fucking Gods, even the ones I've never believed in my entire life, there's nothing I wouldn't do, no line I wouldn't cross to get to you, to keep you safe. I'd die for you." 

"Don't say that," I whispered, lifting a hand to his cheek. 

He turned in time, pressing a kiss to my palm. "I mean it," he replied, staring at me. 

"This is just another part of the puzzle," I told him, "it's work, and that's how we should approach it." It was all I could say to soothe our situation. 

This wasn't just another part of the puzzle because it was linked to an incredibly painful, deep, and dark past that belonged to Ethan and somehow bled into our pasts too. 

"We'll figure it out," I said, repeating his words to him, "we always do, right?" 

He exhaled, "Come here." I leaned in, my lips meeting his halfway. 

"Let's go to bed," I mumbled against his lips before pulling away. "We have to head back to the city early tomorrow, hmm?" 

Slipping into the sheets once again, sleep came easier, feeling his body against mine. But the thoughts of Ethan's story were still plaguing my mind. 

Was he being honest? Or was it just another web of lies he created as deception? There was only one way to find out: Tracking him down.

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Chapter 39

Just wanted to let ya'll know, there will be a bit of a time jump in the next chapter. Almost a month or so

Any guesses as to what's going to happen?

BTW, if you didn't see the announcement, I've FINALLY started teasing the next book in this series over on my Instagram, so go check that out for the aesthetics of Kai and Rose, the tropes, and the title of the next book 💋

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