Dante's Amour

Chapter 4- Grenade

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Chapter 4

“Hey, I am Ruston, nice to meet ya. Are you Diana’s brother?” Ruston asked hopefully.

“Go in the house Diana,” Dante said to her in such a deadly tone that she almost complied.

“Dante, what the hell are you doing here?” Diana asked. This is exactly what she was talking about; coddling her.

“Go in the house,” he said finally looking at her. Diana was outraged at the condescending tone that Dante used as he dismissed her.

“No, you need to leave,” Diana said. Ruston pulled her closer to him as if he were trying to shield her from Dante’s anger. This seemed to cause a fury inside of Dante as he took a step forward to grab Diana. Ruston stepped in between Dante and Diana.

“Don’t even think about it,” Ruston warned Dante.

“Get your ass in the house Diana,” Dante yelled at her as he once again stepped closer to where Ruston and his chest were nearly touching. Panic began to grip Diana as she saw the two men so enraged. She pushed that anxiety down as she put a hand on each of their chests and pushed. Although, both men were imminently immensely stronger than she they allowed her to push them apart. Ruston looked at her questioningly as Dante glared at her.

“Dante, I am a grown woman on a date and Ruston is a nice man. You need to go home and I will call you tomorrow. I think after your moronic display here I owe Ruston an explanation,” she told Dante, Ruston looked between the two in confusion.

“You don’t owe him a damn thing, you just met him tonight!” Dante said emphatically. “You don’t even know if he is safe to be around, do you know that he was arrested two years ago for assault?” Dante asked her. Diana turned to Ruston.

“What were you arrested for doing?” she asked embarrassed, but needing confirmation.

“A man was being rough with a woman at the Lucky Dawg Bar and I knocked his ass out, I can demonstrate if you would like?” he said while looking at Dante the whole time. Diana breathed a sigh of relief and then felt terrible for letting Dante put doubts in her head. Diana turned to Dante with a raised eyebrow.

“Go or I will never speak to you again,” Diana presaged Dante. Dante looked as if he were contemplating that. He started to walk away but then turned back to Ruston. Dante grabbed Ruston’s tshirt in an iron grasp pulling Ruston to him.

“If you so much as look at her wrong and I find out, I will kill you, gladly,” Dante told him in a dangerously low whisper.  Letting go of Ruston roughly, Dante turned to Diana. He leaned down to her placing his hands on her shoulders. “Be careful and you know I am only a phone call away,” Dante told her and then leaned in to kiss her cheek. He turned to glare at Ruston once more and strode off into the night. Diana was a little shaken at the kiss on her cheek and took a deep breath before she turned back to Ruston.

“Was he your brother…I mean I’ve seen some overbearing and overprotective brothers before but damn he is an damn idiot,” Ruston told her laughing as he reached out to take her hand again. Diana shook her head.

“Actually, I think I should explain or try to explain some things to you. Let’s go inside though,” Diana told him as she pulled him up the steps to her door.

“Wait,” he said. Diana turned to ask him why, but he pulled her to him and lightly brushed his lips across hers. She stiffened slightly but quickly relaxed. Ruston pulled away from her smiling. Diana was standing in shock as he then pulled her to the door. She quickly regained her bearings and opened the door. When they both had a glass of wine in hand Diana began.

“This is a little weird I guess or actually I don’t know if it is, but I realize this is only a blind date and I may never see you again. Sorry, I am rambling aren’t I?” Diana said shakily.

“Actually, yes I know this is a blind date but I would like to see ya again if that sounds good to you little lady,” he said winking. Diana laughed and nodded.

“Anyway, um well Dante is not my brother,” Diana started.

“Ex?” Ruston questioned. Diana shook her head.

“No, he is just a friend but he kind of helped nurse me back to health from my physical and emotional wounds. You see, Dante is a cop and that is how we met. He was the one to find me after…after I had been assaulted, assaulted pretty badly. He has taken on the role of my protector since,” she said and took another breath to settle her nerves.

“I think he is in love with you after that display out there, honey,” Ruston told her flatly.

“No, I can assure you he is definitely not in love with me. He has had eons of time since the incident and he has never done more than what you saw out there a few minutes ago. I will admit I had a huge crush on him for some time, but I think it was maybe a hero worship thing because of the incident,” she told him. He nodded to her indicating that he understood what she was saying and that it did make sense.

“Are you in love with him? You seem like an amazing woman; smart, giving, caring, and genuine. He has to see that and I am not so sure darlin’ that his actions tonight were about protection as much as possession. Personally, I would like to rearrange his face, but I didn’t want to ruin our night. Just be careful because I think maybe there is more going on at least for him than what he has told you. Now, let’s stop talking about that jackass and get back to our date. You are still mine for…3 hours,” he told her as he looked at the clock. He scooted closer to her wrapping his arm around her and pulled her into him as they continued to talk. Diana felt more normal tonight than she has since the day she was raped and left for dead. Ruston didn’t look at her as a victim and he didn’t push her for information about her assault, he just took the information she gave him and moved past it and back to her. They sat and talked for hours about little things; her favorite color, her favorite foods, her family when she was growing up and she in turn asked him all the same. She found out that his favorite color is purple, he loves spaghetti with garlic bread, and he had a wonderful childhood in Texas before moving to Tennessee, where he currently lives and practices law. She also found out that his parents still live in Texas on the family ranch, which he will inherit and stop practicing law to run when his father retires.

“Dad laughed when I told him I wanted to be a lawyer. He wished me luck and told me to sow my wild oats before coming home. He said he had no doubt about me being smart enough to be a lawyer but he was afraid my southern twang would be a hindrance in a big city, but it actually is a big asset because people hear me talk and assume I am a dumb redneck. It allows me to lull them into a false sense of superiority and then I nail them,” he told her. She found him fascinating and she found his twang very attractive. His hand was tracing small circles on her upper arm where his hand rested against her. She leaned into him and brushed her lips along his strong jaw. His jaw tensed and she feared she had done something wrong.

“Lord, woman your killing me,” he groaned out as he pulled her face to his and kissed her fiercely. His passion ignited her own and she matched his intensity. His hands danced over her; down her arms and wound around her waist pulling her over on his lap. A big boom tore them apart and they both looked around for where the sound came from. They ran out of the house and saw that the neighbors all had done the same, most of them in their pajamas looking for the cause of the one loud boom.

Dante sat in the woods behind the homes watching as all of the people scattered out of their homes. How dare that southern hick paw all over Diana, she should be respected not treated like a piece of meat. Dante put his binoculars back in his work bag and started walking through the woods back to his car. If he got caught using a flash grenade he would probably lose his job, he thought.

Multiple police cruisers pulled up into the cul-de-sac and began taking peoples’ stories. Ruston looked down at Diana.

“Would you like for me to stay with you? I don’t want you here by yourself if you are going to be scared. If…If you would be more comfortable I could call one of friends to come stay with you instead,” Ruston said awkwardly. Diana smiled seeing him nervous for the first time instead of his macho bravado. 

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