PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 23

“I should go to bed,” I say to Giselle. We have been quiet for about ten minutes now. I was reading the comments in today’s post with Dante. I am loving the love I am getting. I can imagine if all this was hate, I would have long deleted all my accounts. The time is now eleven fifty-two. I should go to bed. I don’t know when Dante is coming, and I am not going to wait for him. He said he would love to find me in his bed, not find me still asleep.

“I’m going to bed, G…” I pause when I notice that she is fast asleep. She didn’t wash off her makeup, and her skin is going to punish her for that in the morning. I also don’t want to wake her up, so I cover her up and leave the room.

When we got here, I introduced Giselle to Anne, then Anne had someone prepare a room for Giselle. I don’t know why they didn’t let her use the room I used the first time I was here. Anne said that one is not for guests.

‘You are lucky I am a mature adult now. I would have come there and shown you what happens when one messes with those I love.’ I send a test to James. I cannot believe he has been playing my sister for ten years.

I make my way to Dante’s bedroom, our bedroom. I am starting to get used to the house. I know which room is which. I think getting lost earlier helped me know the place better. I walk into the bedroom, take off my jumpsuit and hop into the shower. After showering, I look for something to wear in Dante’s closet. I pick out a black tee, put it on and go back to the room.

The room feels bigger when Dante is not around. I get under the covers and sigh heavily. Is this how my nights will be? No cuddles before bed. I quickly sit up when I hear the door open.

“You are still up,” Dante says, after closing the door.

I have never been so excited to see a man in my life. He is just in time to put me to sleep. I get out of bed and walk toward him with a lot of excitement. The excitement in me dies down when I see the lipstick stain on his tee. He is wearing a white T-shirt. How did he not see that someone left a lipstick stain on this t-shirt?

“Hi,” I turn around in front of him and go back to bed. He was out there hugging women with pink lipstick while I was here wishing he was with me.

“What happened?” Dante asks as I get into bed.

“What happened with what?”

He sits on the bed on my side, but I face the other direction. “Just a second ago, you looked happy to see me; now you are acting like I did something.”

“Did you do something?”

He answers, “I don’t know, you tell me. I was happy to come home to my woman; now I feel like I did something.”

“Goodnight, Dante Lyon.”

“What are you even angry at, Jade?” he asks. I ignore him and cover my head. “Jade, what happened?”

I ignore him. I don’t want to talk because I feel like I will snap at him. Dante leaves the room – I think he is going to shower. I close my eyes and try to ignore all the thoughts in my head. Does he have another woman? Am I his cover life so that he can sleep around? Did he cancel plans with me so that he could be with another woman?

My heart is heavy. As much as the past few days have been lovely and I experienced the greatest joy, this makes my heart heavy. It hurts how much I have fallen in love with this man. If the thought of him being with another woman hurts me so much, what am I going to do if he one day looks me in the eye and tells me he will never love me? I feel the tears burning my eyes. Oh my God, I am crying for a man. Is this how much I have fallen in love? I sniffle, wiping the tears under the blankets, but they keep pouring.

“Jade!” I hear Dante’s voice. “Are you crying?”

“No, my sinuses are acting up.”

“You don’t have sinus problems,” he pulls the blankets off me. He is wearing black shorts only. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

For the first time, Dante Lyon shows emotions; he shows concern. His gaze meets mine, and I feel the weight in my heart lifting a little. He wipes off the tears on my face with his thumbs. Now I feel stupid, I am crying because I saw a lipstick stain on my man. Why do I even care so much for a man who hasn’t even told me he loves me?

When I look down, Dante lifts my face and makes me face him. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s stupid.”

“I still want to know,” he insists, still wiping the tears off my face. At this point, I think the alcohol that I had is making me this emotional.

“You had a lipstick stain on your shirt. Were you with another woman?”

Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he says, “I didn’t realise I had lipstick stain on my t-shirt. I don’t know where I got that from. I bumped into a lot of people at the club. But lipstick stain or not, you are the only woman I am romantically involved with. I don’t do one-night stands or random hook-ups.”

“You are not cheating on me?”

“Do you think I would invite you into my life only to cheat on you? I’m not that heartless, Jade Marshal,” he says. His voice is soft yet firm.

“Swear on your mother.”

“My dead mother?” he asks. I am sure he loved his mother and wouldn’t lie on her. “My mother is dead, the dead don’t do anything but swear on her. You are the only one.”

“Next time, don’t come home with lipstick stains.”

“I will make sure to double-check myself before coming into the house,” he says. His eyes soften a little when he says, “I didn’t know you cared so much that you would even cry.”

“I also didn’t realise I am in too deep like this.”

He leans and chastely kisses me on the side of the mouth, “I will try and make sure today doesn’t repeat itself.”

“That would be lovely.”

He kisses me again, this time deepening the kiss. He moves closer until he is hovering over me. “You can worry about everything else separating us, but cheating will not be one of them.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

He kisses me and makes love to me – I fall asleep immediately after. I dream about Dante and me getting married and living happily ever after.

Dante shaking me away wakes me up.

“Good morning,” I yawn, sitting up.

“Good morning, I asked Anne to dish breakfast for you,” says Dante, placing the tray of food on my lap. I look at the wall clock, it’s now ten am. Dante must have switched off my morning alarm.

“Breakfast in bed, lovely.”

“I also would like to apologise for last night. I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he says. He sounds sincere.

“Last night I was a little drunk. I overreacted.”

He says, “You reacted way better than I would have. I would have k*lled someone if you had come home with something that shows you were with another man.”

“Now, who has a temper between you and me? Maybe I should hide the guns.”

His phone rings. He tells me that he will get it while I eat my fruit salad, then we shower together. Why do I get a feeling he enjoys showering with me? While checking my messages, someone calls me via Messenger. I decline the call and view the person’s account. The account was created years ago, yet the person has never posted anything. They go by the username Clark. The person calls again, but I decline the call. They call again; I decline. They call again, and this time I answer.

Me: Can you stop calling me?

Clark: Good morning, Jade Marshal.

I recognise the voice, but I don’t know where I know it from.

Me: Who are you?

Clark: I have broken ribs because of you. You should know me.

Me: What are you talking about? I don’t even know you.

Clark: It’s Ric, Alaric from the club.

Me: Oh, you… I had forgotten about you.

Clark: You owe me a date and to cover my medical bills. I cannot feel my body because of you.

Me: Maybe you should stop bothering me to avoid getting hurt again.

I hang up, and he calls again. I hang up and block him this time. I have no interest in talking to him. Dante walks back into the room.

He says, “Giselle said to say hi. She is now having breakfast.”

“What time did she wake up? I hope she is not bothering the helpers.”

Dante sits on the bed and says, “She is allowed to bother them. They get paid so they can be bothered.”

My phone rings, it’s a name I don’t recognise calling me on Messenger. I hang up and put my phone down.

“We can go bath,” I say to Dante.

My phone rings again, and I decline the call. Dante asks, “Who is that?”

“That guy from the club found me on Messenger. I forgot his name, Clark something. He is being a pain in the stomach. Let’s go bath.”