Entangled

Enlightened

It's an amazing thing; the human heart. Knowing the mechanics of the organ, do you consider how it beats; how it pumps blood through your body? What about how every other internal organ depends wholly upon the continued success of that one singular function? Granted, it's an overall combined effort, but without that one pulsing body part, everything else fails. But, the heart... not so much in the literal sense; it has the capacity for limitless amounts of love. Humans have the ability to open themselves up for an entire world of affection, passion... devotion. Yet, the heart is capable of withstanding unimaginable pain, failure... devastation at the loss of that love. The heart; it can beat with fevered tenacity at the onset of anxiety or fear. Conversely, it could stop dead in its tracks.

My heart is a fucking mess. Right now, the damn thing can't seem to make up its mind what it wants to do. As Dante's voice echoes through the room, it flows around me, reverberates through me. Shockwaves shudder through my body and my traitorous heart seizes right up – along with the rest of me. My vocal cords refuse to respond to my directive as all the emotion I've got in me – swirling around Dante – that I've been desperately trying to eradicate, bowls into me; sucking the captured breath from my body and rocketing my petrified heart into a frenzied explosion of percussion. The sound nearly drowns out the terrified wailing in my head, screaming for escape while simultaneously aching for his touch. Crippling pain crashes down on me, coalescing with the joy trying to worm its way in, dulling the beat until a slow bass is all that remains.

My eyes hungrily track Dante's tentative stride as he slowly crosses the room; they close briefly as he lowers himself to his knees in front of me. Oh, Geeze! Fuck. Who can resist a man on his knees? His fingers close over my nervously twitching hands; drawing my attention back as warring emotions urge me to pull away; silently delighting in the warmth of his skin.

"Do not touch her!" Gio shouts from the doorway.

My body jumps at the sound of his booming demand, instinctively jerking my hands away from Dante. Irrational guilt flashes through me, burning my cheeks. Dante's injured regard doubles the raw shame washing over me and I have to swallow down a bout of unnecessary tears. What the hell is wrong with me?

The slight tightening of Dante's jaw is the only indication that he's annoyed by Gio's intrusion. As he stands, Dante backs away from me. Raising his palms in acquiescence, Dante sends Gio a compliant glance before returning his intensely painful gaze back on me.

"Francesca." Gio's voice is demanding; questioning me. "Would you like me to sit with you?"

Even though his words were directed at me, his eyes never left Dante and I get the feeling none of that was really meant for me at all. Dante shoots me a pleading look that breaks my heart a little bit. My eyes dart back over to Gio, only to find that he's pinning me with that same imploring expression. They're going to tear me apart; these two.

"Um –" I start to decline Gio's offer, but I'm not sure why. Do I really need to be alone with Dante?

Dante clears his throat, "Frankie, you know me." The rest of his argument remains unspoken.

"You shut the fuck up!" Gio growls, "Francesca?"

"It's alright, Gio." I whisper; suddenly finding it difficult to speak, "I'll be okay."

Gio remains rooted to the doorway for several beats before he turns and stomps off down the hall; leaving the door opened.

"Thank you." Dante's words pull me back in.

"I didn't do it for you." I tell him monotonously.

"Okay. I get that." He says, dropping his head and returning to kneel in front of me. "I. Am. So. Fucking. Sorry. Frankie."

Six words. That's all it takes to wrench Niagara Falls from my eye sockets.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you." He repeats, "But, I didn't do it."

My eyes snap up to his, searching his face. Hope flares bright, swelling up within me and I find myself desperately praying that he's telling me the truth, even though I know how impossible that is.

"I refused, Frankie." At my questioning look, he continues, "They ordered me to eliminate you, but I refused."

He was ordered to kill me. Wow. Hearing it spoken aloud is... it's just... wow.

"Instead, they contracted someone else... well, it was me. But, not me. It was me from another dimension. An earlier time. They lied to him; told him that he needed to remove you before you were able to kill him. That was never any part of the timeline, but he had no reason to question them."

Something about the way he says it – and the look in his stunning blue eyes – makes me believe every word. Or, maybe it's just my own selfish desires pushing me to grasp onto any little ray of hope I can wrap my fingers around.

"Them?" I ask, "The people you work for?"

"Used to." He corrects, "When I discovered what they'd done, I ceased contact."

I mull that over a bit, "So this company or whatever, they contract kill people... and, they're just going to let you quit?"

"Not exactly." He says quietly.

"Not. Exactly?" I repeat, panic spiking.

"No." That's all he offers.

How does someone hide from people who have unlimited access to time itself? Hell, they could just as easily go back and change some tiny little thing and make him forget me, too. Frigid chills shimmy down my spine with the thought of having him forget me. Just like everyone else. Then... probably kill me.

"Everything will be okay, Frankie." Dante whispers, brushing his knuckles down my jawline.

An entirely different kind of tremor shivers through me at his touch and my eyelids involuntarily flutter shut.

"Please don't worry." Hot breath fans out across my face moments before his lips press softly against my forehead. The contact fogs my mind as a flurry of butterflies instantly take flight in my belly.

"Motherfucker!" Suddenly, thin air occupies the space in front of me and the sickening clap of fists connecting with skin breaks out around the room, "I told you not to fucking touch her, asshole!"

Gio's fist barrels down on Dante; fury painting his features. Dante's surprise doesn't delay his reaction by much and the two are quickly parrying off, blow for blow. The strength behind each hit should have already knocked them both out.

The ear-splitting scream that bounces off the walls does nothing to distract the brawl. So, I launch myself into the fray – like an idiot – desperate to break them apart. With one poorly planned step, I place my face directly into the path of Gio's encroaching elbow as he rears back for another blow. Pain explodes behind my eye as my head snaps back on my shoulders and I slam against the wall. My now throbbing body slides down to the floor as starbursts explode in front of me, like twinkling fireflies. Blinking does nothing to stave off the weirdness fogging my head. I shake myself just as two bloodied ¬and slightly blurry faces appear right in front of me.

"You dumb fuck! You fucking hit her!" Gio shouts.

"You hit her, idiot." Dante says dismissively.

Then, he touches my cheek and I'm positive my eye nearly popped out from the slight pressure. He winces and pulls his hand back.

"Are you okay, Tesoro?" Dante asks quietly.

I nod in response, immediately regretting the move when giant boulders begin crashing back and forth around in my skull.

Gio barks something from behind Dante, but he sounds like he's talking through a wall and I can't make out the words. Dante launches something back at him from over his shoulder, but his voice is equally muddled, belying my waning consciousness. Willing my eyes to remain open proves to be an impossible task as darkness enfolds me in its grasp and my world falls away.

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