Meeting With James

Dante stepped into the restaurant and looked around the place. He walked further into the restaurant, his eyes set on the table at the farthest end of the restaurant.

James was seated at the table, an annoyed look on his face. Dante had just finished up a few things at office and had called James over to talk to him.

Luckily, James was willing to talk about things and they had chosen to meet up at a restaurant close to Dante’s company.

“Hey man.” Dante greeted as he pulled a chair for himself and sat down.

James, of course gave no response to Dante’s greetings.

“Why did you ask me to come here? What do you have to say to me after betraying me?” James asked and Dante chewed on the insides of his mouth.

“Should I start with an apology?” Dante asked.

“I thought the great Dante Romano is too big to apologize.” James huffed.

“I will apologize but only to a selected few.”

“Wow. I should definitely feel honoured to be part of the selected few.” James replied sarcastically.

“Look, James. I know I did you wrong, big time. I should not have had anything to do with Mireille but if you have ever fallen in love, you’d know that it is not something you can control.”

“Okay, so the issue here now is that I have never been in love with any woman before so I don’t know how it feels?” James sarcastic talk continued.

“Damnit” Dante cursed underneath his breath, a bit frustrated.

“That is not what I meant, James.” He gritted his teeth.

“Falling in love with Mireille wasn’t a decision I made with my brain, I made it with my heart.”

“I thought you were cold hearted, Dante. So you decided to warm that cold heart of yours up and put it to use with my sister, right?” He asked.

“Let me talk, James.” Dante groaned, not enjoying the way James was taking the conversation.

“Alright. Go on, talk.” James finally let him.

“It all just happened. We had sex a couple of times and trust me, I did not force Mireille into it. I have never forced a woman into having sex with me and I did not force Mireille too…”

“But you seduced her into it?” James asked, cutting Dante off.

“For fuck’s sake, I did not. I did not seduce her. She wanted me…” He took in a deep breath.

“As much as I wanted her. James, our love was a love waiting to happen. Perhaps we should have been together right from highschool and when we met each other this year, the chemistry was undeniable. I love Mireille and she loves me too.”

“She loves you? I believe that. But you love her?” James looked carefully at Dante and sighed, lowering his head.

“You have no reason to lie about your feelings for Mireille and I know she is special to you. Jeez.” James groaned, not being able to deny the fact that Dante loved his sister.

“But you are still Dante Romano. Fine, you know you are in love with her now but you can’t leave your nasty habits, can you? You love fucking a different woman every week. I would not watch Mireille get involved with a man who would cheat on her.” James said.

“The last thing I would do would be to cheat on Mireille. Mireille is the reason I rejected all of the girls you wanted me to have. She is the reason I locked myself up even after taking an aphrodisiac. I will never cheat on her, James. Trust me that I will never hurt Mireille.” Dante said to him, trying to convince James to give him his approval to be with Mireille.

With or without the approval, he would be with Mireille anyways but it would just be way better if it was with his approval. Mireille would feel better having her brother in support of her relationship.

“But you know what you are into, Dante. You know what we are into” James leaned closer to Dante, whispering.

“I will protect Mireille with my very last breath.” Dante said in response.

“And what if you are unable to protect her?” James asked and Dante swallowed.

“That would not happen. It would never happen.” Dante replied and James shook his head with a sadistic chuckle.

“Anything can happen, Dante. In this line of work, no one is totally safe. No matter how much money you have and how tight your security is, none of us can actually tell when we are going to be killed. Anything can happen, anyone can die. I don’t want such life for Mireille.”

“Anything can always happen. I agree but not when it comes to Mireille. I will protect her more than my very own life. I love Mireille a lot, James and I can’t do without her anymore.”

“Listen.” Dante took in a deep breath.

“I had it in mind to let go of Mireille initially for her safety but I have realized now that I can’t let go of her. I am addicted to her. She is the best thing that has ever happened in my messed up life.”

“Oh god, no” James shook his head and leaned back into his chair.

Hearing Dante speak about his feelings this way made it even more obvious that Dante really was never going to give up on Mireille no matter what he (James) said or did.

“Mireille isn’t entirely happy. She is with me and that makes her happy but she will never be entirely happy if you are not in her life too, James. Make your sister happy.” Dante said.

“I just want her to be safe. She is the only one I have and you are danger, Dante. It is… It’s hard for me to leave my only family with danger.”

“I will be her safest haven, James.” Dante tried harder to convince James.

For the next few seconds, James just stared at Dante whose eyes urged him to give him the permission to be with his sister.

“Dante.” James finally spoke up.

“Yes?” Dante replied almost eagerly.

“Promise me you will never hurt her.”

“I will never ever hurt her.”

“And if you do?” James asked.

“Put a bullet right through me the day I hurt Mireille. I am serious about this. I want to be killed by you the very day I turn into a beast like my father was.”

James looked a bit more satisfied.

“Fine. I will trust you this one time with my sister. Take care of her, Dante. Cherish her for me.”

“Heavens know I will.”