𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞

63|| Watch & See

Celeste // August 3
•••

A strong arm wraps around my legs, stabilizing me on his shoulder as a hand firmly holds my dress down. The man carrying me through Paradise smells and feels familiar – Dante.

But why is he carrying me to the back exit?

The world seems weird this way.

As if everyone's hanging on the ceiling.

But the ceiling is the floor.

Or is the floor the ceiling?

I have no idea how-

I'm set on my feet again and instantly a hard body pushes into my back. When I realize it's Dante instead of Stephen I lean against him and grab his wrist to move his arm around my body.

I missed his warmth.

I look up, my head resting against a rapidly beating heart as I smile. "Hi, baby."

He meets my eyes but not my smile and it's only then that I notice the expression on his face.

It had taken me some time to be able to identify Dante's ways of displaying emotions – or better said, the lack thereof – but now I've gotten pretty good at it I think.

Right now he's angry. No – furious.

Like the stone cold type of anger. The controlled icy feeling that would make his muscles tense, his jaw tick and his eyes darken.

"You are angry," I say, slightly excited that I concluded that so quickly. But then my excitement washes away when Stephen's painful grunt sounds from the ground. "Oh.. you are angry."

I shake my head, turning towards him while my hand finds stability for my body when I lay it on his shoulder. He must've came to the wrong conclusion.  

I would never touch another man like that, or a woman, or anyone for that matter. I wanted him and only him. And if I couldn't have him I'd prick needles through every inch of my skin so it could never be touched again.

"I told him no," I explain. "I tried to push him away, I swear, I-"

"I know what you were trying to do, Celeste." He spins me around so I'm pushed against his front again. He leans down and moves my hair to the side, allowing me to feel his breath on the shell of my ear. "And I also know what he was trying to do."

I take in the sight before me. We were at the poorly lit back entrance and the bouncers and smoking employees that would normally be here had all gone inside.

Stephen's laying on the dirty stone tiles, his hand rubbing his shoulder and his face twisted in fear and confusion.

I squirm in discomfort, wanting nothing more than to either lay in my bed or rip Natalia Marino's face off. In response to the slight movements, Dante's hand closes around my throat, squeezing ones in warning and I have to fight not to make a sound.

The cool night air brings some clarity to my spinning brain and when I see Dante's other hand holding a gun appear before me, I realize where this is heading.

I feel a little bad for Stephen. He bought me drinks and told me stories about his car and now he hurt his shoulder. I mean, yes he did ignore my no, but maybe he didn't hear me? Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my signals?

I look away, not wanting to see the soon to be dead man anymore. But the hand on my throat moves up to my jaw, gripping it roughly as he moves my head back to Stephen.

"No, no," Dante says, his voice dark. "You're going to watch and see what I'll do to people who touch you without your permission."

"Hey- hey man," Stephen stutters when Dante angles the gun at him. "I didn't know, okay? I didn't know she was yours. She said she didn't have a boyfriend. How was I supposed to know-"