But he was cute and had flirted with me, so I decided to focus my energy on him. Our flirtation fizzled out, but I was determined to regain his attention. If I didn’t have someone else, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist Dante.
And Dante turned out to be pretty irresistible.
We were in his nightclub, dancing to a playlist that Dante had arranged himself. Someone had sprayed neon glow paint all over the stone walls, and there were comfortable benches set up with tables. The club even had a bar in one corner where everyone just helped themselves. I stayed away from the alcohol, because Dante had a predatory look in his eyes and I needed to keep my wits about me.
I sat down on a bench, pretending to ignore Salvatore the way he was ignoring me. He was talking to two women who appeared to be models, and they chain-smoked in a corner while looking bored by everything.
He was shunning me because of what I’d told him. Kat planned on staying a virgin until she got married, and for some reason I’d made the Lord a promise while she was in the hospital that if He would make her better, I’d do the same thing. I would give up my one-night stands and cheating boyfriends and become celibate. In that moment I would have promised anything if it had meant she would recover. In hindsight it might have been a bit rash, but it was a promise I planned on keeping. Or, at least, trying to keep. We were leaving Monterra in a little less than two weeks, and I didn’t want to sleep with a man I’d never see again. I was tired of random hookups. Tired of how gross and used they made me feel.
And his rejection bruised my pride. I wasn’t used to men not paying me any attention. I sat there, feeling sorry for myself, but not willing to change my mind to make some boy like me. If all he wanted was someone to sleep with, he could get one of those underfed bimbos instead. I’d move on. As if he could read my mind, Dante came and sat next to me. Like he had somehow sensed my vulnerability from across the room.
“Interesting nightclub,” I told him as he completely invaded my personal space. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You don’t have one in your dungeon?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t have a dungeon.”
“Really? How strange,” he teased as he lifted his cup to his lips. His very kissable lips, by the way. I made myself look away. I could feel him, almost touching me but not quite, a delicious heat emanating from his body.
I should have made him go away. Instead, I asked, “Why did you create all this?”
He shrugged. “If we go out, our security details have to go out with us. If we do it here, then we don’t take anyone away from their families.”
My heart did a funny little flip. That was extraordinarily thoughtful and sweet. I was about to tell him so, when I stopped myself. I was supposed to be keeping my distance and not encouraging him.
So I stayed quiet, listening to the music, watching but not watching Salvatore.
“I don’t know why you’re making this effort. He’s not worth it. And this will never work with him.” He put one of his arms along the back of the bench, right behind me. His very strong, masculine arm. The one that had felt so nice wrapped around me earlier at the ski slope.
“Work with who?” I forced myself to ask.
“Salvatore. You’re pretending to ignore him. He only wants what he can’t have.”
“That’s true of most men.” Had everyone in the room guessed what I was up to? That I was trying to get Salvatore’s attention?
“He’s worse than most. I don’t know why you want to be with someone like him, but since you do, I have an idea.”
Somehow he managed to get even closer to me. “You should kiss me, and that will make him crazy. He’s always been jealous of me and my brothers. He’s the two hundred seventy-sixth person in line for the throne, and I think he’s been trying to figure out how to kill two hundred seventy-five people without getting caught.”
My body thought this was a fantastic idea, as I was already leaning toward him, face tilted up. My brain tried to run interference, but I made it be quiet. I refused to poll my heart on the matter.