Chapter 6 - The Lesson of Silence
675 Words
At this point, I really want to go back into my room and cry out my frustration, but it seems like Dante has other plans. He follows me to the door and doesn’t say a word. He shoves me inside the room, then kicks the door shut so aggressively, making the click of the latch sound like a guillotine.
"I... I’m sorry," I stammer, backing away from him until I have no space left to move. "I tried. He’s just… he’s really terrifying."
Dante raises an eyebrow… he doesn’t look like he cares about whatever excuses I have. He starts to undo the cuffs of his shirt, with his eyes fixated on mine. I am so nervous, it feels like he’s staring straight into my soul. I catch a weird look on his face... like the mischievous look of a child who was about to break a toy he was tired of playing with.
"Terrifying?" he repeats with a really low voice. "My father is a dying old man. If you can’t look him in the eye without shivering like a kicked dog, how are you going to look at the people who actually wish to cut your throat?"
He throws his cufflinks on the nightstand, and the landing causes a sharp clink that makes me flinch.
"I told you to keep your mouth shut and your head up. Instead, you begged to go home. You made us both look weak. What is wrong with you Selene?"
He is right in front of me now. He’s not touching me, but I can feel the heat coming off his body. He smells like the wine he drank at dinner, mixed with some sort of dark, spicy scent.
"Please, Dante… I’m just a waitress. I don't belong here."
"You belong where I put you," he snaps. He reaches out, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in the strands of hair that escaped my bun. He pulls my head back until I’m forced to look up at him, leaving my throat exposed and raw. "If you can’t learn to control your mouth, I’ll have to find a better use for it."
He presses his thumb hard against my bottom lip, pulling it down. The moment is so intense that I can feel his heart beating steady and fast through his palm. And my own heart? It feels like it’s about to jump out of my chest.
"You’re a Donovan asset," he mumbles, his face dropping until his lips are brushing against my ear. "And right now, you’re a malfunctioning one. I don't like things that don't work, Selene."
He pushes me down onto the bed. I want to fight him, but I can’t. I just lay back, staring up at him with wide, watery eyes. Now he’s on top of me, his hands pinning my wrists to the mattress. He isn’t even trying to be gentle.
"Tonight, you’re going to stay in this room with no lights, no company, no nothing. You’re going to sit in the dark and think about what happens to “princesses” who do not follow orders."
He leans down, his mouth hovering just an inch from mine. For a second, I’m thinking he is going to kiss me… maybe I want him to, just to break the suffocating tension, but he just sneers.
"Go to sleep, Selene. And pray I’m in a better mood by six AM."
He gets up, adjusts his shirt, and walks out, locking the door from the outside.
I curl into a ball on top of the covers, the darkness of the room swallowing me whole. I reach for my boot to feel the outline of the burner phone, and I breathe in a sigh of relief… it is still there. This phone is my only lifeline. And as I lay in bed thinking about the way Dante’s hand felt on my neck, I realize that I am more afraid of him than the people I am supposed to be working for……
- Writer
