| Glass & Sorrows | 18+ |

Chapter 28 - Crimson Rage

- Dante - 

I leaned over the pool table, lining up the cue ball for an easy shot into the corner pocket. Fred was standing off to the side, rambling on about his latest conquest, a chick who'd apparently thrown a fit when he kicked her out after a one-night stand. Classic Fred, always talking too much, but it was part of his charm. He was good company when I needed a distraction, though right now, I couldn't care less about whatever drama he was rattling on about.

My mind wasn't in this room—it was back in the penthouse. Last night, I'd been convinced Wendy was sneaking out again. She had a habit of wandering off, trying to escape something, though I couldn't tell if it was me, herself, or whatever demons haunted her past. The moment I heard footsteps, I'd been ready to stop her, but when I walked into the living room, what I saw wasn't at all what I expected.

There she was, curled up on the couch, fully absorbed in a children's movie. Tangled, of all things. Her eyes were glued to the screen, like she hadn't a care in the world. It should've been funny, almost ridiculous, but instead, I found it...amusing. Maybe even cute? Somewhere in that strange space in between.

I'd stood there, watching her for a moment, trying to figure out what to make of it. Was this her way of coping? Trying to push the nightmares out of her mind by getting lost in something so innocent? I didn't know, but I'd felt something unfamiliar tug at me—concern. Genuine concern. And when she mentioned her brother, that feeling deepened. There was something about the way she said it, like she'd been carrying that weight for a long time, something unresolved, painful.

She had tried to be kind to me, to open up. And hell, she even offered to be a shoulder for me to lean on—like I'd ever take her up on that. But still, she didn't have to do any of that. Then there was the carnival two days ago... She took me there for my birthday, and that was the first time in years I didn't feel pure anger on that day. Instead, I'd felt...almost vulnerable, like she was digging into some part of me I kept buried. And the weirdest part? I didn't stop her.

She'd fallen asleep on the couch at some point, and instead of heading to bed, I stayed. Watched the entire damn movie, start to finish. Not because I cared about it or enjoyed the story—I didn't—but because I enjoyed being in her presence. The way she looked so peaceful when she slept, her body relaxed like the weight of the world had been lifted off her for just that moment. It did something to me, seeing her like that.

"—so then, she throws a bottle at me, can you believe that? After I tell her to leave?" Fred's voice cut through my thoughts like a hammer on glass, jerking me back to the present.

I blinked, realizing I hadn't heard a damn thing he'd said in the past five minutes. "What?"

Fred shot me a grin. "You're off in space again, man. Thinking about a girl? Or, wait—the girl?"

I shot him a look that could freeze over hell. "I'm thinking about how to make my next shot, Fred. Try shutting up for two seconds, would you?"

Fred chuckled, clearly not buying it, but he backed off. "Sure, sure. But man, I'm telling you, you need to deal with that tension you've got with her. It's all over your face."

I didn't respond. I just lined up the next shot and slammed the ball into the pocket, the thunk of it hitting home giving me a momentary distraction. Fred kept talking, but I wasn't really listening. My mind was already back in the penthouse, on Wendy, on the way she looked so peaceful, so damn fragile when she slept.

And then, there was the other part. The part of me that felt a dangerous mix of protectiveness and vulnerability toward her. A part of me that I wasn't sure I wanted to face.