Chapter 78

~KYOMI~

I opened my eyes and winced at the sharp pain in my head. It took me a while to adjust to the brightness of the room. 

I froze as memories barged into my mind. 

Dante! 

He'd gotten shot because of me! 

I felt my body begin to shake at the reminder as I started to frantically search the empty room in hopes of finding him near me. 

"DANTE!" I cried. "DANTE!" I tried again as I felt my heart beat increase. It was beating so fast that the blood was thrumming loudly against my ear. 

My body started to panic when I got no response and I curled myself into a ball on the bed. "DANTEEE!" I screamed. 

The door flew open with a bang and everything went completely still for me. Time seemed to stop moving in that second. 

Dante Clarke was standing in front of me with widened eyes. His hair was in a mess, there were dark circles under his eyes. But more than any of that, he was okay. He was okay!

Before I could stop myself, I climbed out of the bed and ran to him. I threw my arms around him and Dante held onto my waist to keep us both balanced. 

I felt the tears pouring out of me in great waves, flowing like an uncontrollable river. 

"You're okay," I whispered. "Oh thank God you're okay." 

Dante who was gently rubbing my back with one hand while smoothing my hair with his other went completely still at my words. He gently pulled back from me and stared into my eyes. "Is that why you were calling for me? You thought something had happened to me?"

His gaze softened and he gently wiped the tears away from my face. "You don't have to worry about me Kyomi. I'm absolutely fine. You're the one I'm worried about." 

I peered up at him. He was worried about me? 

"You fainted on me. . . I've been restless waiting for you to wake up." His face turned serious all of a sudden and he looked like he was in emotional pain. "I'm sorry that I put your life in danger . . . I did not expect those men to be there. Rest ȧssured they've been dealt with accordingly." 

"I don't care about any of that." I told him. "I'm just happy that you're okay. That's all that matters to me Dante."

He shook his head. "Let's get you back to bed, tell me what you want to eat. Anything, just name it."

"I'm not hungry." I said as I sat back down on the bed. 

Dante knelt on the ground in front of me. "Kyomi I—"

He paused and swallowed. He looked like he was searching his mind for the right words or either he was trying to build up the courage to say whatever it was that he wanted to. 

"There is something I want to discuss with you." 

"What is it?" 

His eyes looked surprised that I was willing to talk to him but he quickly hid his surprise and focused on my face. 

"I know what I did in the past was wrong. Believe me I've regretted it every single day since I saw the hurt in your eyes." He confessed. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness nor do I deserve another chance to prove to you that I'm not the same man that I was before I got to know you. But please just this once, please just tell me that I haven't completely blown this thing between us. Please give me just this one chance."

I didn't know what to say to that. I also never expected him to say those words to me. I wanted to give him that chance, I really did. But I also remembered the hurt I felt when I realized everything was a lie and the reason behind what he did. I knew that if he hurt me again, I wouldn't be able to handle the pain this time. 

But I also couldn't deny that Dante had risked his life for me. Even though I was still hurt with everything he'd done in the past, I couldn't stay mad at him after what had happened to us in the forest. 

I could give him this once chance . . . Once we took things slowly this time. It was for my own good. This time I had to take precautions to protect myself. 

"Alright," I whispered. "Let's start over. . . As friends."

He quirked a brow, "as friends?" He asked. "We're married Kyomi—"

"I'm scared of getting hurt again Dante. You have no idea what I've felt in the past. I need to protect myself this time. I want to take things slowly. We can get to know each other better, the way it should have been done in the first place."

I nodded. 

It was absurd to be calling us friends when we were married to each other. Lord knows how much I wanted it to be so much more than that. But that was precisely why I needed to take things slowly. When Dante came into my life, he'd managed to turn it upside down without even trying hard. I knew how easy it was to get all mixed up in him. 

I needed to do this for me. I knew now that I didn't want to throw him out of my life, as long as I learnt to trust him again, maybe we could stand a chance. 

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~DANTE~

I was happy that Kyomi was finally giving me another chance. If I'd known a gunshot wound would have helped, I'd have gotten shot way more sooner than this. 

But at the back of my mind there was still a tiny little detail that didn't want to leave. Elizabeth was back? I felt nothing but hatred for that girl but I couldn't deny the fact that I still wanted answers. Answers that could finally give me the closure that I wanted. She'd left without any explanations. One minute we were in love and the next she was gone. 

I'd spent days in bars, drinking to get over her. Then I'd started sleeping with other women, my way of getting back at her for what she'd done to me. I soon realized that she didn't care about any of that, if she did, she would have never left me. 

I shook that thought out of my head. I wouldn't let Elizabeth risk what I had with Kyomi. I was still in her bad side. Now it was my time to prove to her that I wouldn't mess up again. In order to do that, I had to keep Elizabeth far away from us.