Page 27 of Bound By A Promise
Rushing past Sergio, I sprinted toward my bedroom. The home where I’d lived all my life was but a blur. Once inside my bedroom, I slammed the door and turned the lock. I wasn’t under the misconception that a simple knob lock would keep my father or his guards out of my room if they wanted in. I just hoped the lock would be respected.
“Cat” —emotions bubbled in my voice— “do you know?”
“Are you alone?”
I froze and my chest seized at the sound of the baritone tenor, the one I immediately recognized. As I tried to form words, the dam broke on my emotions, tears spilling from my eyes and my voice cracking as I uttered his name. “Dante?”
“I wanted to talk to you before you were given the news.”
My temples throbbed from the concoction of emotions. “Papá just told me. I don’t want to marry Rei. I want…”
“The next word better beme. You want me.”
I nodded despite the fact he couldn’t see me. “It is you, Dante. I want you.”
“Tell me that’s your honest reply, and I’ll move heaven and earth to make you mine.”
Closing my eyes to the familiarity of my pink-painted walls as well as the pictures and posters I loved, more tears cascaded down my cheeks. “I never thought I wanted to marry, not until you.”
“This isn’t over, Camila. Not by a long shot.”
My hands trembled as I held tight to the phone, sat on the end of my bed, and lay back, staring up at the slowly whirling ceiling fan. “Papá said it was set” —I didn’t want to say it aloud— “with Rei.”
“Fuck, I wish I was with you in California. This is a mistake. I had both Jorge’s and Dario’s approval.”
“You did?” I sat up. “What happened? How did this go so wrong?”
“I don’t know. I agreed to all the stipulations.”
“Stipulations?”
“Mostly that you could continue working on your degree. I don’t want to stop your dream.”
“Right now,” I said, “it feels like my dream has been ripped away.”
“Will you trust me?”
“I want to.”
“I’ll make this right.”
“What can I do? I told my parents I’m” —did I want to admit this?— “I’m in love with someone else. Not Rei. They didn’t care.”
Before Dante could respond, an explosion of voices erupted at his end of the call. Holding my breath, I waited.
“Dante?”
“Camila, it’s me.”
The sound of my sister’s voice caused a smile to come to my lips. “Cat. Can you help us?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Why didn’t I tell her?
I didn’t tell her or anyone because Dante was my impossible dream. A man so incredibly handsome, simply looking his direction caused my core to twist and my panties to dampen. A man with the edge of danger who was also kind and funny. When he looked at me, I felt like I was all he could see, his whole world, despite the Mafia’s demands on his time.
Even my thoughts were insufficient to describe the way he made me feel. From the first time I saw him, the night before Cat and Dario’s wedding, I was enamored. After my first visit to Kansas City, I was awestruck. However, it was after our first kiss, after I shamelessly rubbed against his body made of hard muscles that I knew my heart had made its choice.