OLEANDER
"Hi, Older brother," Celina grinned, walking over to Dante. He grunted, eyes thinned on hers.
She turned to me and mouthed. "Good luck." Then slipped out of the room.
I believed I really needed that luck she was wishing me, even though she was my enemy's sister. The door shut with a soft click, and Dante walked away from it, towards me.
"Stay away from me," I whispered, scrambling to pick up the dagger. Even though I had failed the first time to kill him with it, maybe I wouldn't this time around. He was still in his shirt, stained with blood. And well, totally fine like before.
Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that the wound from the dagger didn't affect him much. He was a monster, and as far as I could tell, they rarely felt pain. They were the ones who inflicted pain on their victims. For instance, Riley. Another monster as inhuman as Dante was.
He paused in his tracks, tilting his head to the side as he observed me. "What's going through that head of yours?"
"How to plunge this dagger into your black heart, bleeding you dry and watching you draw out your last breath," I answered coldly, without missing a beat.
Dante tipped his head backward, chuckling darkly. He walked over to the bed, sitting with his legs spread wide apart. Then looked back at me, his eyes dancing with amusement. "You have a better sense of humour than your father."
Another insult to my face after he had murdered him in cold blood.
"What did he ever do to you?" I asked the questions that'd been swirling in my head. "He begged you for mercy…"
"The same way I begged him," he cut me off smoothly. He leaned towards the table, took the cigar he had left in the ashtray, and lit it. He took a drag, shutting his eyes as he savoured, before puffing it out.
How could he be so nonchalant about life? Seeing him act this carefree after his evil deed once again ignited a pain I couldn't hold back.
"You killed my six brothers!" I snapped. "What possibly could they all have done to you to warrant such a fate?!"
Such a nasty fate. Bile rose in my throat, and I forcefully shoved down the vomit surging upward as the images of my brother's entrails scattered all over the floor of the living room flashed in my mind.
"I don't know how you can live with yourself after what you did," I spat.
"You're right," he gave a mock shudder, eyes twinkling with a delight that turned my stomach. "I can barely live with myself right now."
"You want to know why?"
I didn't care to know. So, I stared at him with as much disgust as I could muster. He answered me anyway.
"The daughter of my enemy is still alive. I vowed never to rest until his generation is erased." He murmured.
I felt sick to my stomach. He had no remorse. Dante had a black heart. I wondered whether he had adopted the name 'Black' because of his heartlessness. I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.
"Come here, Oleander." He pointed to the space in front of him.
"No," I said.
Dante turned his head, and his eyes lazily swept over me. "No?"
"No," I affirmed, jutting out my chin. "You have to drag me away from here yourself."
For a while, Dante stared at me, his expression unreadable. Then he nodded, smiling. "Very well."
I relaxed only for three seconds when he dipped his hand into his pocket, brought out his gun, and trained it on me. My heart jumped to my throat, my pulse quickened, and I stared at him with wide eyes. Was he really going to shoot me?
"Come here, Oleander," he mumbled, his voice warning.
"I told you my name is Ivy."
Dante pressed hard on the trigger, and two bullets flew out of the gun directly towards me. I gasped, freezing in shock.
The bullets hit the wall above my head, breaking through it. My body vibrated, my ears rang, and a cloud of smoke briefly hovered above me.
"I warned you to stop correcting me, love." He said in a calm voice that frightened the fuck out of me. "You humans never listen."
Why do good people die, yet the wicked ones remain in this world? I asked silently.
"Come," he beckoned me over with his gun. I didn't know when I started walking towards him. I believed it was the fear of not knowing what he would do to me.
I stood in front of him, a shivering mess. He smirked like he enjoyed how afraid I was becoming of him. I thought he wouldn't do anything sadistic as he had done, until he spoke.
"Strip."
"What?" I stuttered.
Dante sucked in a deep breath, eyes narrowed on me. "I'm not a very patient man, Oleander. When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it without questioning me."
I clenched my teeth, shaking my head. "I…I can't."
I was still in my leggings and sweatshirt. I never had a choice about changing my outfit, but I preferred to be in it right now rather than stand bare in front of him.
"You can't?" He murmured.
I shook my head, tears hot at the corner of my eyes. I wrapped my arms around myself, swallowing thickly.
"Just let me go, okay? I'll run away as far away from you as you want me. Just set me free," I pleaded, a single tear dropping down my cheek. But that didn't even faze him. It must look like I was performing in a drama to him.
Dante snickered. "It's too late, mio tesoro."
My heart jumped as a soft knock sounded on the door. I turned around, breathing out a relieved sigh as two beautiful women stepped in. His maids, I presumed, were in matching knee-length black dresses with white aprons tied around their waists and hair pulled back in tight ponytails.
"Undress her."
The relief left me in a rush as he said that.
"Sì, signore." They answered in unison.
My eyes darted back and forth, frantically as they began to approach me. There was nowhere to run to.
"Please," I begged the women, but they both stared at me with pity.
"We'll be gentle, Miss." one assured me, clasping both my hands behind me, enough to hold me down but not to hurt. Also, she was surprisingly strong, even though I tried to struggle against her. Her grip remained unyielding.
They managed to undress me after a while, and I stood bare in front of Dante, his eyes appraising me like I was some prized art on display.
I shivered under his scrutiny, folding my arms across my chest. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough hand to hide my most private part.
The corner of his lips twitched. He pointed to something behind me, saying,
"Put her in that dress, glam her up, I have an important business to attend to."