Revenge Wears Red Lipstick-Chapter 139: Trust

"You should have been careful," Dante hissed under his breath as he led her towards the chair, but Eva wasn’t having it.

She pulled her hand from his.

"I told you...don’t touch me."

Dante stared at her, her cold gaze meeting his. If it were other times, perhaps, he would have listened. But not this time. She was hurt and needed to stop the bleeding.

He grabbed her hand forcefully and pushed her down onto the chair. Then he knelt to inspect the cut. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Don’t you listen? I said not to touch me!" Eva attempted to pull her hand away once again, but Dante held it tightly.

"We need to clean the cut," he said, searching for a piece of cloth. Then his gaze landed on her dress. "Mind if I cut a piece of this?" He didn’t wait for her answer, however, and went with what came to mind.

Eva heard the tearing sound of her dress, and her cheeks turned to a rosy hue.

Her dress barely touched her knees. Because of the tear, her legs were even more bare and the dress almost reached her mid-thigh.

"I’ll do it myself," she insisted, attempting to grab the long piece of fabric from Dante’s hand but he was quick with his reflex, making it impossible for her to snatch it from him.

"I’ll do it," he said, deadpan this time around.

Eva had a feeling this would drag out if she insisted so she just let him do it.

Dante tied the fabric right where the cut is. "Once we get out of here, you should get this checked at a pharmacy. That iron was rusted and could leave you infected."

There was so much warmth marred in his tone, it felt like they were back to the way they used to be. When they’d confessed their feelings for the first time after the Whisper of Silk fashion show.

It felt like they were reliving that same moment in their life.

Meanwhile, the entire time, Dante was trying not to look at Eva’s legs. Because of her short dress, he could easily make contact with her skin. He avoided it, but his eyes went down to it all the time.

As soon as he was done, he stepped away.

Eva caressed the handiwork with a curt, "Thank you." She stood up and walked back to the crowbar, picking it up and trying to unjam the door.

But she winced once again because this time, the crowbar made contact with the spot where she’d cut her hand earlier.

"Can you stop already?" Dante demanded, snatching the crowbar from her and throwing it away. "You’re only going to hurt yourself."

"I don’t mind. As long as I can get away from you," she said, ready to go pick up the crowbar but Dante blocked her path, sandwiching her between him and the door.

"And why’s that? Can’t you stand being so close to me? Are you that disgusted with me, Eva?" He almost yelled.

Yelling was the wrong thing to do at that moment, but the fact that she couldn’t stand his presence irritated him to the core.

"Dante, get away from me," she said, her scowl evident on his face.

"Why? Are you afraid you won’t hate me as much as you think you do?" He demanded.

Eva’s lips thinned. She instinctively pulled her arm to her chest, a habit she’d recently developed after Mr. De Rossi shot her, missing an inch to her heart.

"I would never hurt you, Eva," he pleaded, holding her hand that was crossed against her chest.

"Then why did you betray me?" She questioned, tears welling in her eyes. She tried to sniffle them back in but they continued to pool like an uncontrollable flood. "Why didn’t you tell me that you knew the person behind my parents’ deaths? You told me I could trust you. You made me a promise, Dante!"

Before she could stop herself, she punched his chest, but her hands felt so weak that it probably didn’t have any impact on him.

"You told me you would be the last person to betray me," she added, tears streaming down her face. "You made me a promise!"

She punched him a few more times, while Dante simply endured it while his heart shattered like a piece of glass.

"Tell me," said Eva, wiping her tears away. "Why did you do it? What do you mean by you had no choice?"

She stared at him with hope in her eyes. The hope was that he had a good enough reason.

It took a moment before Dante replied.

"I’ll tell you everything soon enough. This is my battle, and I’m going to make sure I take down my father before he ruins everyone else’s lives around him," he promised. He cupped her cheeks and stared into her caramel brown eyes. They were still filled with tears. It hurt to see her cry. He wiped her tears with his thumb with a small smile plastered on his lips. "This will all be over soon. After all, we can remarry and start a family together."

’Remarry and start a family together?’ Eva thought. That plan was supposed to sound disgusting, but she found herself longing for something like that, with Dante.

"I just need you to trust me," he added. "I know it’s not right asking for that since I’ve already shattered your trust once, but I promise to do the right things from now on and make my father pay for every crime that he has committed."

Eva found herself believing him before she could stop herself.

"Just this once, Dante. I’ll give you my trust, but if you betray me ever again...." She trailed off, her gaze turning sharp. "I promise to kill you myself."

Instead of feeling scared, that threat brought a smile to his lips instead.

**

The sun seeped through the window, casting an eerie golden light on the couple who were sleeping on the floor.

Dante fluttered his eyes open, a big frown on his face as he tried to make out where he was until he remembered the previous night and everything that had occurred.

He glanced down at Eva who was snuggled so comfortably on his shoulder with his suit jacket covering her body.

He pulled out his phone to text the time.

It was just 6:20 am.

Today was the day he was finally getting Rhea out of his father’s grasp.

He was supposed to be at the hideout, making preparations with Rico and Mylo. But he could listen to Eva’s soft snores forever without caring about anything else.

Eva suddenly fluttered her eyes open and made eye contact with him.

They just stared at each other, no one making a sound.

"Good morning," Dante said.

His last two words made her heart skip a beat. They weren’t officially back together yet. They’d just kissed and made a promise to trust him a little.

"Good morning," she greeted back, quickly sitting up but Dante held her still.

Eva couldn’t believe how much she’d missed him. It’s been over a year, which is a very long time considering when you’re not with your lover.

"Dante..." She struggled to sit up but Dante had his hand wrapped around her waist.

"Come on, just a little peck on the lips and I’ll let you go," he said.

Eva narrowed her eyes at him, but it seemed he wasn’t letting her go easily at all.

She leaned, ready to give him a peck but the door suddenly sprang open with a gasp.

Two heads swiveled towards the door and found a few members carrying chairs and decorations that had been used for the charity event.

They were the staff members they’d been waiting for since last night.

Eva stood up with the kind of speed she didn’t think she had, her head lowered as she grabbed her things and exited the storage room without a word.

Dante glared at the staff members whose heads were also lowered and left. They were very much aware that they’d interrupted a special moment for the couple.

"Isn’t that Evangeline Montclair? The top model?"

"And that’s her ex-husband, Dante De Rossi?"

"Are they back together or what?"

The huge hall was empty now as the place was getting cleaned up. And thankfully, Jay wasn’t still snooping around, waiting to catch her.

When Eva reached outside, she found Ryan waiting for her. She’d texted him the previous night, telling him about her predicament. So it was understandable that he was there to make sure that she was safe.

"Thank God you’re alright," he said as he wrapped his arms around her for a hug.

However, when he saw the man standing right behind her, his body froze.

"What are you doing here?" Ryan questioned, pulling Eva to stand right behind him.

Eva hadn’t told him about Dante being the one who helped her last night.

Dante’s eyes darkened when he saw Ryan hugging Eva, and now, the man was questioning him like a suspect, standing at a crime scene.

"I bet you’re only here to finish what your father started," Ryan accused.