Chapter 38
Dante's POV — After She Leaves
The click of the door was soft, almost nothing, yet it echoed in Dante's chest like a final blow.
Auri slipped out of the room so quietly he almost thought he imagined her being there at all. The faint warmth she left on the bed beside him still clung to the sheets. Her scent—light, sweet, familiar—hovered in the air, disarming him more than any battlefield, any confrontation, any nightmare ever had.
Dante sat there, elbows on his knees, hands tangled in his hair.
What are you doing? he scolded himself.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Not with her.
Not again.
He wasn't the type to lose control. He wasn't the type to feel anything this deeply. He'd trained himself to avoid attachment, to refuse softness, to reject anything that made him vulnerable.
But Auri—
Auri had cracked something open inside him without even trying.
The way she calmed him earlier.
The way her fingers brushed his hair.
The way she whispered "I'm here" even though she owed him nothing.
And the way she looked when she fell asleep beside him…
Dante swallowed hard, heart tightening.
He had memorized her face without permission—her eyelashes resting lightly on her cheeks, her lips soft, her breathing steady. She looked peaceful. Safe. And for the first time in years, he had felt safe too.
And that was the problem.
He stood up abruptly, pacing the room like a caged animal.
He needed distance. He needed logic.
He needed to get himself together before he ruined everything.
Because if he slipped…
If he let anything show…
If he reached for her again—
He might never let go.
And she…
She deserved someone who wasn't carrying a storm inside him.
But the thought of Adrian flashed in his mind, uninvited, unwelcome.
Adrian—who had loved her openly.
Adrian—who was gentle and warm.
Adrian—who Auri trusted deeply.
A sharp, unexpected jealousy surged through Dante's chest like fire.
He clenched his jaw, whispering under his breath,
"Damn it."
He wasn't supposed to care.
Yet when Auri gently said she was going out to get some air, Dante had to fight the impulse to pull her back and ask her not to leave.
He wanted her here.
With him.
But what right did he have?
Dante pressed a palm over his chest, frustrated with how hard his heart was beating.
"This is getting dangerous," he murmured.
Because wanting her was one thing.
Needing her was another.
And he was starting to need her in ways he couldn't control.
Auri's POV — Alone, Thinking
Auri stepped into the hallway, the air cooler than she expected, grounding her. She leaned her back against the wall, closing her eyes as her heart thumped unevenly.
Being next to Dante in that bed…
Comforting him…
Seeing him vulnerable…
It changed something inside her.
She was supposed to check on him.
Make sure he was okay.
Just help as a friend.
But when she saw him asleep—his usually guarded face soft, his features relaxed, the shadows under his eyes clearer—Auri felt something inside her fall deeper than she intended.
It scared her.
Not because she didn't want Dante.
But because she did.
So much.
Maybe too much.
She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to process everything happening so fast.
Her heart felt full and heavy at the same time.
Adrian's words from the day before echoed in her mind:
"When he hurts you, I'll come back for you."
She hated that she had caused him pain.
But she also knew her heart wasn't confused.
It was simply… changing.
She inhaled shakily.
Dante made her feel things she couldn't explain—intensity, warmth, fear, excitement. He was complex and difficult, but also gentle in ways he didn't know how to express.
And what scared her the most was that she wanted to understand all of him.
She brushed a hand over her chest, feeling the rapid beat beneath her palm.
"Why is this happening…" she whispered, half to herself, half to the quiet corridor.
She didn't know where they stood.
She didn't know what Dante felt.
She didn't even know what would happen tomorrow.
But she knew one thing:
When she looked at him earlier—
when she held him—
when she whispered that she was there—
she meant every word.
Maybe that was enough for now.
Maybe it wasn't.
But she couldn't deny it anymore.
She was falling for him.
And she could only hope...