Girl I Know

Over the next few days, Melody kept making excuses not to see Dante. She would claim she was either too tired or that she had school. For the most part he would leave her alone, but there were times when he would just show up at her door unexpected.

Today she was finally alone and she chose to stay in bed and catch up on some sleep. She groaned when her cell phone rang and when she reached for it she looked down at the caller ID. She was thankful it wasn’t Dante.

“Hello”

“You sound tired, did I wake you?” It was Blade on the other end of the phone.

“No, I am still in bed, but I was awake”

“Melody, everyone has been wondering about you. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine” she lied.

“If you’re fine then meet me and Lyric for lunch today”

She closed her eyes knowing that Dante would have a field day if he found out that she went to lunch with him. She sat up and looked down at the bruises on her legs. “I was planning on staying in today”

“Melody, either you come to us or we come to you”

She let out a defeated sigh “Fine, where and when should I meet you?”

“at the diner at 12”

“Ok fine.” She glanced at the clock that said it was already 10:45

When they hung up she got up off the bed and went over to her closet to look for something to wear that would hide her legs. She opted for a pair of jeans and t-shirt. She used her make-up to cover any other visible bruises.

After taking out her flat iron she fixed her hair and applied some make up to her face to try and hide the weariness. When she was finally satisfied with her appearance she put her shoes on and headed for her car.

She got to the diner right on time and found Blade and Lyric already sitting at a table. Blade waived her over and when she reached the table she sat in the booth next to Lyric.

“So, where the hell have you been?” Lyric asked.

“College and work take up a lot of my time”

“You can’t make time for your family?” Lyric put his arm around her shoulder and waited for her to answer.

She sighed, “I have just been really busy, sorry” she was agitated and he backed off.

“Melody, we didn’t ask you to lunch because you’ve been busy, we asked you to lunch because we think Dante is hurting you” It was Blade who made the accusation.

“I don’t know what you are talking about” she lied with a shaky voice.

“The bruise I saw on your shoulder and the ace bandage that Seven saw you wearing on your wrist? How about the shit fit that he threw in Starbucks because you were taking too long?”

“You don’t know what you are talking about, everything is fine”

“Is it?” Lyric asked and she had a hard time Lying to him. He was just like his father in the intimidating sense.

“I didn’t come here to be interrogated. I’m going home” She picked up her purse and walked out of the diner. Blade followed after her and caught up to her by her car in the parking lot.

“Melody” he called out her name and she turned around to face him.

“What do you want?”

“We’re only trying to help,” he said

“I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m fine” she swore and opened her car door.

“Ok fine, but you better swear to me right now that if he hurts you you’ll pick up your phone and call me. Hell, if you don’t want to call me then call Lyric”

“Fine” she huffed and sat down in the driver’s seat. “I need to close my door” she was annoyed and he was standing in the way of her closing the door.

“Mel, I wont think twice about telling your father”

“Whatever” she just rolled her eyes and closed the door. He stepped back and watched her drive away.

He knew something wasn’t right it was easy to see that she was scared. Too scared to tell him what was really going on and he wasn’t going to take her word for it that she was fine. Lyric’s wedding was tomorrow and he would get it out of her then and if she refused to tell him, then he would go and have a little chat with her father about dear old Dante.

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Later that night…..

Melody’s Point of view

It couldn’t have been a more perfect night. Granted Dante was here with me, but this was the Dante that I couldn’t get enough of. The one who offered to show me the “S” on his chest on our first date. I was beginning to wonder if he had a Jekyll and Hyde complex because it was like Dante was two different people and from one day to the next, I never knew which one was going to show up at my front door.

We had a quiet dinner on the deck. Dante cooked and even made dessert. After dinner we sat and watched the sun set on the beach before going back inside to watch a movie. He made the entire night all about me and all the words he spoke were sweet as candy. I wished that the old Dante were back for good.

I was lying on my stomach extremely content with the way the night had played out. He was on his side propped up on his elbow running his finger up the bare skin of my back.
His touch was so gentle it made me shiver.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked me just before pressing his lips to shoulder.

“Just wishing we could freeze time and stay in this moment” I wasn’t lying, I liked being treated like a princess and to say I was being spoiled was an understatement. When his lips trailed over my back I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“It can always be like this if you want it to” he whispered against my skin and his hot breath sent tingles up my spine. The man could teach a class on seduction.

“Yes” I whispered back earning a low chuckle from him in response.

“I came by earlier and you weren’t here. I thought you were staying in today”
Fuck my life. I knew it was too good to be true. His lips moved up to my neck and then to my ear. “Where were you, Melody?” he whispered.

“You must have come by when I went for coffee” his fingerers had tangled themselves in my hair and I could feel his cold eyes on me.

“I waited 20 minutes for you, it doesn’t take more than 10 to go get coffee”

“I stopped at the bank and the post office.” I was so lying and hoped like hell he would believe me and keep the bad side of him at bay.

“I want to believe you,” he said letting my hair go and fall back down on the pillow. I turned over onto my back and looked him dead in his eyes.

“I’m telling you the truth”

He looked down into my eyes and I tried not to flinch when he moved his hand up to my face and traced my jaw line with his fingers. “I believe you” he smiled and I let go of the breath that I was holding on to. “Now, where were we?” he grinned just before bringing his lips to mine. The night started out amazing and when he touched me I didn’t want him to stop, but now there was something about the way he was touching me that was making my skin crawl.