ADELINE'S POV
Liam moved back to his place last night and although I miss having his company around my house, he's back together with Naomi now and they have a lot of catching up to do. I'm not going to be one of those weird female best friends and stop him from spending time with his girlfriend.
I'm genuinely happy for him and the fact that he's back together with Naomi. He looks happier now and I love that for him. He even managed to forget about the fact that he lost a client.
However, I'm not going to lie and say I don't feel a little bit lonely now that he's gone. I was happy and thought maybe I would invite Dante over but the idiot ghosted me. He fucking ghosted me and then missed our therapy session yesterday.
I don't even know why I feel so hurt but a part of me is attached to him already and I almost hate myself for it. I've been so out of touch with a man's attention that the little I received from Dante made me a little bit clingy. When Liam told me he saw Dante in a club yesterday, my heart literally fell to my stomach as betrayal washed over me.
I fought the urge to call him last night but I guess I'm stupid and it did nothing to ease the pain in my heart. As he sits in front of me right now, in my office, the tension between both of us can basically be seen with the naked eyes. I'm mad at him and he knows it.
I hate how handsome he looks. I hate how calm and composed he looks while I'm seated here, dying inside and hating myself for letting him get under my skin.
"Did you think about the diagnosis I gave you last time Mr. Russo?" I question. I avoid his eyes and flip my hair over my shoulder. I purposefully wore my hair down today because I know he likes it, but I'm not letting him come anywhere near it.
"It was a great diagnosis to make me reflect on certain aspects about my life." He answers, his voice low as he watches me with a tilt of his head. His hand on chin as he checks me out. I hate him.
"Do you have issues accepting the truth Mr. Russo? Confrontation? Stuff like that?" I ask as I write in my notebook.
"On the contrary, I know how to face my problems head on." He answers simply.
"I'm sure you do." I smile at him, but it doesn't reach my eyes. "But I meant on an emotional level. You seem to face what's outside of you pretty well but what about what's inside. Like the resentment, the guilt, the self-hate, lack of the ability to forgive. Do you have problems facing those?"
He frowns and my heart beats. I always get scared when I touch sore spots in his emotions that he doesn't want to talk about. Scared because I don't know what I'll find out. This is a person who has spent his entire life making sure he goes unseen. He has a lot of money from working online all by himself. He doesn't trust anyone and he basically doesn't have any friends or family. He's like a ghost.
It makes me think whatever happened to him and his sister was so terrible that he basically decided to be an outcast in the world.
"Not everything or everyone deserves forgiveness." He's evading my question and it irritates me. I'm normally more patient with my patients but clearly, Dante is not just any patient to me. He's the man capable of occupying my mind, the man who's capable of turning my life upside down, the man capable of hurting me.
"Do you not think you deserve forgiveness? For what happened to her? Don't you think you deserve to come to the conclusion that what happened to her was not your fault and forgive yourself for it? Aren't you tired of beating yourself up for it? All that hate in your heart won't bring her back."
We both know I'm talking about his sister. I know I'm crossing a line but if I'm ever going to find out exactly what's wrong with him and help him, then obviously I'll have to cross a few lines. I know you never recover from the death of a loved one, but it's not healthy living your entire life blaming yourself for it.
"You don't know what happened." He states.
"Enlighten me then Mr. Russo. You can't run from it forever. Sooner or later, you'll have to talk to me about it because I'm certain that's the root of your problem." I say, my voice strong but my eyes are soft and pleading. He pushes his chair backwards aggressively and abruptly stands up. I startle in fear as I look up at him. He looks angry and hurt, but he doesn't look like his anger is directed at me. He crunches his nose as his lips twitch in anger.
He has that evil look in his eyes again, a murderous look and I immediately regret going too far. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth.
He scoffs and rubs his hands over his face. "I think I should leave." He says and starts walking towards the door. My eyes widen and I don't know what gets into me as I leave my seat quickly.
I run towards him and place my hand on his wrist. He tenses once our skins come in contact.
"Please don't go. I went too far. I'm sorry." I say quickly because the thought of him leaving hurt and angry like this sends a thousand nails through my heart and I've missed him so much these past few days. I'm not even ashamed of the fact that he has completely taken over my mind, that going a few days without seeing him creates a void in my life that only he can fill.
Maybe part of the reason I kept pushing was to make him mad, to hurt him like he hurt me. But ignoring me for a few days is not the same thing as insensitively bringing up his dead sister. If I want him to open up to me, I have to take this slow. For him to react the way he just did means what happened to his sister was no small issue and the wounds are still fresh.
I was petty.
"I've missed you, Dante." I say in a soft voice and that makes him turn around. All the anger disappears from his eyes and posture, as his blue and brown eyes stare back at me. His gaze softens and he turns around completely, placing his hands around my waist and pulling me close to him.
"I'm so sorry Addie. I'm sorry I didn't reply to your messages. I was busy with work I promise and I was negligent. It'll never happen again. Please don't hate me." His voice is soft and pleading as he hugs me flush against his chest. His arms are so big as he wraps them around me in a protective and warm hug.
As I breathe in his cologne and feel his hands around me, I suddenly forget why I was even angry in the first place. I sigh softly against his chest as he tightens his arms around me.
"God, you drive me so crazy Adeline." He says, pulls back and then slams his lips on mine. He immediately shoves his tongue inside my mouth and I let him in fully, smiling and giggling when he picks me up and places me on my ass on my office table. He continues kissing me, hungrily and desperately, as if we've been apart for centuries and I'm the only solid thing in the world.
He breaks the kiss and his eyes are needing, lovely, soft. I could stare in them forever.
"You wore your hair how I like it. Have I ever told you how beautiful your hair is? Mmh?" He places a kiss on my forehead and breathes me in. We're supposed to be fake dating but being with a man has never felt so real, so right. He told me he wouldn't have to pretend and I think I'm starting to believe him and right now, I don't think Dante and I are fake dating.
It's all real and excitement settles in my chest when I realize I wouldn't even have to lie about my family about he and I.
"I was worried when you didn't reply me. Let me know when you're busy next time, will you?" I say with a frown and he gets down on his knees making me giggle like a teenager. He gently takes of my shoes, keeping eye contact with me. He caresses my feet and places a kiss on each of my toes before speaking again.
"It'll never happen again." He whispers, and then he fucks me hard against my office table.