Bound By Four

Chapter 17

Elara's hand froze over the plate rack,her breath catching in her throat. Her gaze turned to Dante slowly, a question dancing in her eyes. She remained silent for a moment hoping that she had heard him wrong or he'd clarify what he meant by what he had said. Those words had felt like a freshly sharpened blade cutting through her skin.

“W–What? I… what do you mean?” She stammered not knowing how to respond to his wild accusation.

Dante repeated in the same cold voice he had used before, like a predator waiting for the right time to pounce. “What do you want with my brothers? Is our family name all you're after? Do you want money? Is your f*****g salary not enough for you? Or… or maybe your life is so miserable that you can't get anyone to f**k you so you leech onto the slightest bit of attention.”

It felt as though he had struck a bat to her chest knocking the air from her lung in one rush. Her eyes stung hot. She was very close to breaking down in front of him. Before she could realise what she was about to do her hand flew across his cheek, smearing soap suds across his skin with the sharp sting of her palm.

The sound of the slap echoed against the tiled walls but the other Blackwood brothers in the living room were too busy to have heard it.

Dante’s head snapped slightly to the side because of the force she had put into slapping him,his jaw tightening.

Elara’s voice shook, but not from fear. From anger. “I didn't mean to slap you but… you have no right to speak to me the way you just did. Don't ever talk to me that way!”

He turned his head back towards her slowly,his cheeks still wet,his dark eyes narrowing on her with something unreadable dancing on his face. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them stopping only when they were dangerously close.

“What way? How should I speak to you? Should I talk to you like a queen or what?” He asked in a deliberately low voice as if he was testing her courage.

Elara's heart pounded in her chest so fast and loud that she could hear it in her ear but she was going to let him intimidate her. She broke their gaze to keep the plate in her hand gently on the sink before meeting his eyes again, squaring her shoulders. She was mad but she was broke too so she couldn't afford damaging an item here as everything was probably too expensive.

“You can't just assume what someone wants or does.” She responded in a firm voice. “You can't talk to me like I'm pathetic just because you think you're better than I am. Everything isn't about you and you have to put that in your twisted head. You can't always be the centre of attention.”

“I know people like you. I know what people like you do. You find every way to leech onto the slightest evidence of power”

For a moment, neither of them said anything or moved an inch. Their eyes clashed in a silent battle like fire and Ice.

“Cat got your tongue? Huh?” He asked a smirk tugging at his lips even though he didn't look even the slightest bit amused. “Why are you even here? What are you…”

“Shut the f**k up! Just because you're used to doing something with a motive or people around you always have a motive behind everything they do doesn't mean that everyone in the world is like that. I don't have a motive” she said,her voice coming out in a rush.

“Yea, right” he scoffed, turning towards the dishes as he continued as if nothing had happened. “You sound very believable.”

Then she exhaled, shaking her head. “This is stupid. What am I even doing? You know what? You're absolutely right. I have no freaking idea what I'm doing here. This…” she gestured around at the dishes,the walls,his brothers on the other side of the walls, “...this was just a silly mistake. I shouldn't have let Lucian talk me into all of this.”

She untied the apron struggling a bit before tearing it off her body. Then she wiped her soapy hands against the fabric and spun on her heel to leave.

She had only taken two steps away when his hand shot out, stopping her in her tracks.

His long fingers curled firmly but not tightly around her wrist preventing her from moving even a single inch.

Elara tensed up,her gaze flickering to where his hand curled around her wrist then back up to him, confusion swirling in her bloodshot eyes.

“Dante…” her voice was a warning, soft but trembling. “What are you doing?”

His jaw tightened and loosened as he tried to figure out how to respond. Then he said,his voice quieter than before coming out almost roughly. “You don't have to go. I shouldn't…” he inhaled deeply before continuing. “...I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm sorry about that. I don't know what got into me”

She could see the conflicting emotion on his face and most importantly she could see that he truly meant it when he had said he was sorry. She had known from the moment she saw him that there was something bothering him and she wished she could help him.

Elara’s chest rose and fell sharply. Even though she was no longer angry at him,she still didn't let her guard down. Slowly,she stopped pulling her wrist away, relaxing as she let him hold her before turning back around to face him fully.

“It's fine. I forgive” she whispered,her voice steadier now. “And I'm sorry I slapped you. I shouldn't have done that but I…”

Before she could complete what she was about to say,his lips crashed against hers, swallowing her words.