𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞

64|| Present

Celeste // August 3
•••

The atmosphere in Paradise was exactly the same even though there was a dead body laying outside.

Dante and I walked back into the crowd with his hand holding mine as the alcohol in my system distracted me from the busy surrounding.

He quickly exchanged some words with a man before he was handed a key and started walking me in the opposite direction of everyone else.

"You can stay here while I finish up upstairs, okay?" he says as he opens a door in a quiet hallway for me.

I don't smile at the fact that he got me a private room so I wouldn't have to interact with many strangers, because the thought of him going back to her extinguishes any sense of happiness on my face.

"I don't want you alone in a room with her."

He frowns, but then his face turns serious when he realizes that I am serious. "There are more people in the lounge, amore, and I promise you I'll stay at least five steps away from her," he says, before reaching to play with my hair, his eyes following its movements like it's mesmerizing. "You can come with me if you want, but I have to warn you that there're a lot of new people who'd definitely ask you questions."

I shake my head, my head's feeling heavy and so do my eyelids. The thought of engaging in conversation with strangers would send my brain into a short circuit.

"Do you want to stay here?"

I nod and he walks me inside. It seems to be a private stripper room, but there was no one here so the pole wasn't occupied. There's a small bar, a couch before the stage and two chairs to complete the seating arrangement. I happily crash down on the couch and right when I relax, my stomach makes an embarrassingly loud noise.

Dante frowns as if the sound of my growling organ personally offended him and takes my chin between his fingers to angle my head up at him. "Did you have dinner?"

No, I was too busy going over every possibility of what him being in his ex's club meant.

The follow-up growl from my stomach answers his question and with a disapproving look, he leaves the room.

I hear him locking the door from the outside and that's when I finally let myself relax.

•••

I'm sitting on the floor before the couch and in front of the coffee table, half asleep and with my mind on overdrive on what to eat first.

Dante had brought me nachos, French fries, a cheeseburger, breadsticks and a glass of strawberry lemonade. Where he'd gotten all of this was a mystery to me but I wasn't complaining.

Right when I took a first and very messy bite out of my cheeseburger, the door to my room opened.

My eyes stay focused on the movement as I pause mid bite, not bothering to look down as I feel the grease starting to trip down my fingers.

A woman enters the room. Big lips, tight face, sharp jaw and even sharper eyes - Natalia Marino.

She'd looked different than the picture of the news article that Celia had left in my room. Younger but in an older way, it was confusing.

"Hello, there," she says as she closes and locks the door behind her. "You must be Celeste."

I scan her for weapons or anything threatening and when I find none I refocus my priorities on my cheeseburger. I finish the bite and swallow.