I do as he says.
“Put this on,” he continues, throwing a small black box in my direction. I’m just quick enough to catch it, but I wish I hadn’t. I immediately know what’s inside, and it makes my heart shrivel up like a raisin.
“I... I...”
“I didn’t ask you to talk,” Dante snaps. “I told you to put the ring on.” He looks over to his guards like he’s considering ordering them to do something unspeakable to me. Luckily, that thought doesn’t seem to last long. He turns back to me with cold dead eyes. “Don’t ever let me see you without that ring on, understand?”
His twiggy finger points at me like a twisted wand. I just want to bite it off and watch him squirm as blood spurts from his new stump...
But then I’d never be able to see my baby boy again. So, without hardly a glance at the diamond, I slip it on my finger. My dried-up heart immediately sinks into my gut when I recognize the feel of it.
Dante seems to hone in on my pain. “What? You didn’t think I was going to get you a new one, did you? You’re hardly worth the effort...”
I caress the familiar engagement ring between my fingers; it’s the same one Angel got for me. That seems like a lifetime ago, but a comet trail of warmth falls from my chest at the memory of the good times I shared with my missing partner...
“We’re getting married,” Dante lashes, snapping me out of my sentimental daze. If he’s an expert at anything, it’s poking you when it hurts the most. The bastard. The only luck I’ve had with him over the past two years is that he’s been so busy that he barely has the time to torment me. But that also means he has to pick up the slack when he gets the chance.
“Why?” I ask, finally staring down at the glittering jewel on my finger. It shines so sadly in the afternoon sun. I haven’t seen it since Dante ripped it from my finger after Angel was exiled. Of course, the monster would regift it—a cruel reminder of what he’s taken from me; what he continues to take.
“What did I tell you about asking questions?” Dante spits, slamming a fist against the tabletop. I hardly flinch, I’m too lost in my memories to react.
Back when all of this started, Angel made it clear that he wasn’t proposing to me out of love, but out of convenience. He wanted to win the hearts of the people; he could have cared less about mine. But then everything changed... and then quickly changed again.
I never got my money, but I did get something even better, until it was cruelly ripped away from me.
I wonder if Dante is trying to do the same thing?
The thought nearly makes me laugh. If Dante wants to win over the public, he’s going to have a hell of a time. Angel may have been vicious, but he could also be charming beyond belief. There’s no charm in Dante’s cold dead eyes, there’s only cruelty, selfish cruelty.
And right now, those cruel eyes are plastered on me.
“So?” he teases, as if my opinion matters.
“What are you asking me?” I mumble, trying to play dumb. The longer I’m not engaged to Dante, the better, even if I can only buy myself a few more seconds.
“Idiot,” Dante snaps. He reaches across the table and rips the black box from in front of me. “As if I’d give you the choice. We will be wed, and soon—and you will walk down the aisle with a big fucking smile on your face, do you understand?”
My reflection is hidden by the brightness of the diamond on my finger. It’s probably for the best, I don’t want to see myself give into Dante like this, but he’s right, I don’t have any say in the matter. I’m his captive and one wrong move, one wrong word, even one wrong look, could mean my child growing up without a mother. He’s already missing a father...
I nod as subtly as I can manage and Dante jumps onto his feet. His thin shadow stretches out over the table, covering me in a cold chill. “Is that all?” I ask, trying to hide the derision from my voice. There’s no way I did a good job, but Dante already seems distracted by other matters. He hardly cares about me—to him, I’m just flesh to torture, a mind to tease, a weighty pawn to protect him from an exiled king. I’m the expendable shield that’s keeping away the older brother who always lurks just off in the shadows; the same older brother who no one has heard from in almost two years.
I’m sure Dante was expecting Angel to have made his play by now—hell, I know I was—but the longer he has to wait, the angrier he gets, and that anger is taken out on me.
Where the hell are you, Angel!?
It hurts to hope, and it feels shameful to beg, especially after all this time, but a primal part of me won’t stop wading out into the ether, hoping that I’ll be saved from drowning by the dark brooding prince that once plucked me from obscurity and gave me my son...
Dante limps off without answering my question. I don’t mind. I’d rather be rid of him. Plus, the sunshine feels nice on my skin.
Of course, that just means another thing to take away from me. My personal team of oversized guards are quick to ferry me back to my room after Dante has exited. The walk back feels so much heavier. The engagement ring on my finger might as well weigh a thousand pounds. Every time I look down at it, I keep expecting to see a lump of coal. Instead, I’m blinded by the brilliance. I hate that it reminds me of Angel. I know that’s what Dante wants; he may be too busy to properly torture me, but he’s an expert at psychological cruelty. It’s the one reason why he kept Angel alive in the first place, to torment him—even with all the risk involved, it’s abundantly clear that Dante gets off on the knowledge that people are suffering because of him.
The monster.
I’m shoved back inside my room and the door is slammed shut behind me. I wait until I hear the lock turn and the heavy footsteps march away, and then I race for the far corner of the large chamber.
My heart races as I take one last cautious look around to make sure there are no peeping eyes, then I dig my nails under the loose floorboard and gently unlatch it.
A new note waits for me there.