He’s Leaving

“How does that taste?” Dante asked, peering into her face, his right hand resting on her thigh as she ate.

“Oh my! Oh my! This tastes so good” Mireille shut her eyes, chewing on the delicacy.

“It’s perfect, right?” Dante asked and Mireille nodded, her eyes still shut.

“It is very much perfect, just like the man who made it” she complimented him and Dante’s brows arched.

“Did I just hear you admit that I am truly perfect?” He was a bit surprised that Mireille would admit to him being perfect.

Mireille opened her eyes and met with his sharp gaze. She felt her stomach tightening, just looking into his grey eyes.

“I… I just said that. Don’t take it too seriously” she said and quickly looked away from his mesmerising eyes.

“But Dante…” Mireille called and Dante refocused his attention on her.

“Did you really have to kill those men?” Mireille asked and Dante let out a puff of oxygen from his mouth.

“I don’t want anyone hurting my princess” Dante replied.

“Alright. Fine. You care about me but you can be a bit more gentle about it, alright? You could have handed them over to the police station. You did not have to turn a murderer because of me”

Dante lowered his head with a quite nonchalant smirk.

Because of her? She had no idea since when he had become a murderer.

“Princess” he raised his head.

“There are some people who should not be toyed with. And believe it or not, Dante Romano is one of them and you are too”

“Why? How did I become one of them?”

“Because you are the closest woman to Dante Romano” Dante replied and Mireille felt her heart pump harder in reaction to his words.

She was the closest woman to him! Did that mean that if ever Dante was going to settle down with a woman, that woman would be her?

“Closest woman?” She chuckled, trying to hide the blush that had appeared on her cheeks.

“We will be over soon” Mireille whispered in addition, a part of her hoping that Dante would hold her hand and tell her that they will never be over.

Dante gulped down hard, hating to be reminded that he would have to let go of the one woman he loved soon.

“It doesn’t matter if we will be over soon or not. You are the closest woman to Dante Romano”

“Fine but can you not do that for me again, Dante? Can you not kill someone on my behalf again? I… It makes me feel guilty. For the first two nights, I could see the bloody head of the man you killed with the vase. I felt like…” She sucked in a deep breath.

“I felt like I was the one who killed him” she completed her words and Dante got up on his feet.

He moved a step closer to Mireille and pulled her in to hug him. Mireille wrapped her hands around his waist and rested her face on his abs.

“I am sorry, Princess.” Dante apologized. For sure, he was not apologizing for killing anyone on her behalf. He was apologizing for letting her see it and having it haunt her nights.

“Dante” Mireille called and raised her face to look up at him.

“Promise me you will never kill another person on my behalf again” she requested and Dante gulped down.

He hated making a promise he knew he would not fulfill to his Princess.

“Is that what you want?” He stared deeper into her eyes as if searching for exactly what she wanted.

“Yes, Dante. That exactly is what I want. Promise me”

“Fine. I promise you I won’t” Dante made an empty promise and a smile spread Mireille’s lips. She hugged him again, happily.

“Thank you” Mireille thanked him. For Mireille now, he was the man she wanted to be with the most.

The only thing she had disliked about him was what he had just promised her he would never do again. Her heart swelled with joy and she hugged him even tighter with her heart carrying a hope that Dante also loved her.

Dante ran his hands gently through her hair, patting her hair as she held him close in the warm hug.

‘I am sorry, Princess but I can’t keep that promise. The best I can do is to ensure you never see me kill someone else so it doesn’t have to haunt your nights and make you sleepless. I will do anything and everything to keep you safe and anyone who poses as a harm to you in any way will be killed instantly’ Dante said inwardly.

He slowly pulled away from the hug, kissed Mireille’s forehead and then cupped her face in his hands, staring at her face carefully.

“Get back to eating. You need to eat well so you can find enough strength to hold onto the headboard tonight” he said to her, his words accompanied by a small smirk that made Mireille’s cheeks heat up with a blush.

“That expression… Master loves it” he raised her face a bit more and kissed her lips shortly, tasting the dish from her mouth.

Dante pulled away and squinted his eyes as he stood up straight.

“I do cook really well. I have to be in my study for now, though” Dante added and walked a few steps away but suddenly stopped and turned back to face Mireille who had been staring at his retreating figure earlier.

“Have I told you I will be traveling in three days?” He asked and Mireille’s brows furrowed.

“Traveling? You told me nothing about that” she shot up from her chair.

“Oh damn… I thought I did already. I will be traveling out in three days”

“For how many days?” Mireille asked, walking up to him.

“Not days…”

“Then a day?” Mireille cut him off and Dante chuckled.

“Might be a week but two weeks at most” he rubbed his temple as he watched her demeanour change totally.

“Two weeks??”

“Yeah. It’s a job that will take quite a lot of time. It might take just a week though, depending on how it goes”

“We have just little time left together and you are going to travel out?” Mireille asked.

“I won’t leave if I had an option”

“Can I tag along then? You said it’s a job. You need your secretary since it is a job, right? You will need me around and…”

“You will have to stay back this time around, Princess. You can’t tag along”

“But it is a job and you have to…”

“Princess” he cut her off, his voice thickening.

“You can not tag along. I won’t be needing your assistance over there so you stay back here”

“What if….”

“My men would be all around and they would ensure that no negative ifs occur to you so you do not have anything to worry about and if you have any issue, you only have to place a call across to me and I will have it settled instantly.”

“And on my way back….” He pressed his lips into a thin line.

“I will be meeting with James and we will be coming back home together”

Mireille’s eyes turned sad. What he just said meant she did not even have weeks with him. All she had left with him was these three days before his travel. Once James got back, it would all be over but she did not want that anymore. She did not want it to be over at all. She loved him now and wished they could remain like this, forever.

Mireille could not tell if Dante still wanted them to part ways once James was back or not. His eyes seemed to give away very little information.

“Fine! Travel alone and come back with James, Mr. Dante Romano.” She turned to storm off but Dante grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

“Where to?”

“To my room”

“Principessa” he groaned and picked her up in his arms.

“Drop me, Dante!” She yelled at him but Dante only dropped her back on her chair.

He patted her hair, ignoring the annoyed look on her face.

“Be a good girl and have your meal” his thumb caressed her lower lip.

Mireille’s body calmed at even that slight touch of his thumb on her lips. She watched him get back on his feet and leave the dinning room.

Mireille’s lips quivered as soon as he was gone, her shoulders drooping.

“Am I… Am I really just going to watch Dante leave me forever?”