Fatal Pursuit

venticinque/veinticinco

"Eat your dinner baby, it's getting cold." Dante said, shoveling the last bits of his food into his mouth.

I pushed my vegetables around, "I'm not hungry..."

"You have to eat something. You barely ate today."

I sighed deeply, my face resting in my palm, "I just don't have an appetite right now."

"Angel," he scoops up my plate, taking it to the counter, "I don't know what more I can say to you. He lied to you, love."

"I just can't believe it. After everything he told me...it just doesn't add up."

He turned to me, "What doesn't add up exactly? Think about it. You said that he told you that you were all he could think about while he was gone, right? Are you really surprised that his goons got a branding that's an homage to your name?"

"I know, I know. I just- I don't know how to feel, I don't know what to do."

"Here's what you're going to do." he said as he prepared me a new plate, "You're going to eat your food, you're going to go to bed, and you're going to try to move on. I know it won't happen overnight but obsessing over it isn't going to make what he did make more sense. He literally lied about being the son of a multi-billionaire to impress you. Imagine what else he's lied to you about." he placed the fresh plate down in front of me.

"I know what you're saying but I think there's something else going on. It's all just too... I don't know! I just need to talk to him."

Dante's face dropped into a scowl, "If you contact that boy, we're done. I'm dead serious."

"Dante!"

"No! Dante nothing! Do you know how much I've sacrificed? I've given up so fucking much, too much, to lead the life I live, to have the career I have, to live in this country, to have you." his eyes began to water with angry tears that he quickly blinked away, "I've given up my life, my family, my comfort, my mental health, my dignity." he looked straight into me as he said dignity and I looked away.

"No more, Infinity. I'm tired of being selfless and disregarded all the time. I'm going to be selfish for once. I'm not going to throw away everything I've built since I was a child over Ignacio. Do you understand the danger you will put both of us in if you try to reach out to him? Are you willing to go to jail for this? Die for this?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"If you see him again and you so much as wave at him, I'm gone. I put that on my mother's grave."

"But, Dante-"

"I'm not going to say it again... now eat your goddamn food."

༄

My alarm clocked stared at me: 03:34

I look over at Dante's sleeping body on the opposite side of the bed. His head resting on his arms, his shirtless back rising and falling as he breathed deeply. It was the first time that he's ever slept in bed with me without cuddling me or touching me in some way.

I felt like I had lost him even though he was lying right there.

I don't know how I managed to fuck everything up so badly...

But still, I feel like something isn't right.

I need to talk to Ignacio. Even if it's all true, I need to hear it from his mouth. I want him to face me, to face his lies.

I searched every corner of the internet to find the truth. I hunched over in the bed, tucked under the blanket reading article after article, watching videos on mute about conspiracy theories related to the group that Ignacio was in. But hardly any of them mentioned the brandings and the ones that did just passed it off as a symbol of membership. Others couldn't make sense of it or would make completely outlandish hypotheses founded in nonsense.

I know there's an answer to all of this. There's gotta be an explanation whether it be good or bad, I just want to know.

Author's Note

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