24

Dante's POV:

"Is everything okay, Mr Fontaine?" Mrs Leon asked as she extended a link handkerchief to me. She gestured to my brow.

"Thank you," I took the handkerchief from her and dabbed my brow. It came off dotted with blood. "I'm fine, everything is fine. And you don't have to call me Mr Fontaine."

"You're smiling." Mrs Leon clicked her tongue.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Something most wonderful happened today. I just can't help it."

Oh yes, how do I begin to tell her? All I wanted, was to comfort Morgan. She was in pain, she was crying. Even though she tried to hide it from me, I saw the tear marks on her cheeks. I saw her red eyes.

All I wanted to do, was hug her. An innocent hug.

But no. Wrong move.

"Does that explain why you're smiling like a fool in my office? Where is your partner? Didn't you both have a meeting with me today?"

"Come on auntie, don't be so mean to your favorite nephew."

She rolled her eyes. "May heavens save me from you!"

I smiled. "Don't worry, my partner wasn't feeling too well today. A bit of an emergency. Unfortunately, I'd have to plead your forgiveness."

"Again." She spat.

"Again."

My mind drifted back to Morgan and a smile lit on my face. She hasn't changed, still with her tough girl act even though she was falling apart. Her punching me in the face was nothing, if anything I expected her to do far worse damage.

But still....I thought about the encounter she had with Sabrina that made her so sad she had to break down in tears.

What did that wench say to her?

"Dante!" Mrs Leon snapped, pulling my attention to her. I snapped our of my dark thoughts and looked at her. "Goodness! Did she hit you so hard your brain rattled?!"

"Maybe."

"The trip has already been planned. And if you know what's best for you, miss this one too."

I got to my feet. "I can't miss this one, what will my partner think of me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You never take anything seriously."

"That's because I'm with you, my darling auntie."

Her face softened for a moment, the fine lines relaxed. Then she put on her mask and shooed me away.

Mrs Leon Kingsheart. A distant relative of my father. She wasn't actually my aunt, I just grew to call her that. She singlehandedly built an empire that traded diamonds from the ground up . Her name was unique to, Leon. From the stories my father told, her father had been expecting a boy. Surprised, they had a girl. The old man was adamant about the name he had chosen — Leon. And so it stuck.

She's the one person that knows me, even more than my own mother. But sometimes that didn't mean much to her. I still had to book appointments and stick to time if I wanted to see her.

"Dante," Mrs Leon called as I turned to the door.

"Yes, you majesty?" I answered .

She had a solemn look on her face that wiped all traces of a smile from my face. "This girl, are you sure about what you're doing?"

The air in the spacious office suddenly felt suffocating. The weight of her question hung in the air, she didn't need to elaborate. She didn't need to add anything else. I fully understood what she meant.

"I've been quiet for four years now," I said, "longer than that, even,"

"Still, are you making the right choice? If all you said is true,"

"I can take care of it ." I said. "Have faith in me to fix this."

"You should have done the fixing four years ago."

Her words struck a tender part of my heart that was still healing. I must have made a face, because her expression changed .

"I didn't mean it like that," She said, her tone soft.

"It's fine if you did, I don't mind. You spoke the truth. The best time was four years ago. But at least I have to try now,"

She huffed. "Don't end up dead. I won't firgive you for it."

"Morgan won't kill me," I laughed. "But on second thought she might kill me,"

"I wasn't talking about Morgan." She said. I got her meaning loud and clear.

***

I had barely made it out of the office building before my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. My expression turned sour as I saw the caller ID.

"What?" I snapped

"Where are you? I made lunch reservations for us at that place you like."

"Nova, you can have lunch by yourself. I have business to attend to."

"Does that business involve your ex?"

What exactly is she playing at right now. "And how would that be any of your concern?"

"I'm only curious baby, and you know it "

"Leave me alone, Nova."

"But what's the fun in that huh? Come on, I want to see you. Just once."

I ended the call and put the phone back into my pocket. Mrs Leon's words hung around my neck like a stone weight.

Four years to late. Many more years behind.

Morgan's face flashed in my mind's eyes. Her red eyes, her lip trembling as she did her best not to cry.

Perhaps this is all a bad idea. Especially with that vulture hovering around her.

But it's because of that vulture that I must persist. I won't stop till I make everything right again.