There was an uncomfortable silence before anyone spoke. The news settled and Green spoke again, "Pearce I didn't mean...what I meant..."
"It's okay. He's a monster. I wish I'd figured that out earlier."
"Pearce I hate to put you in this situation but..." Gibson coughed.
I slowly shook my head, I knew what he meant. He wanted me to explain how we met and got married.
"I met him in 3rd year of University. My father and his father were friends. I came from an Italian family and my dad wanted me to marry someone Italian. Dante and I, hit it off pretty quickly, he was 28 and wanted to settle down. We started dating for real and after a few months we got married," I said.
"During that time what did you think his job was?" Green asked.
"He told me he manufactured weapons for the military and other interested party," I replied.
"Did you ever look into his job?"
"Yes I was curious. So I looked into his job and it seemed legit. He had the paper work and contracts. My father also corroborated Dante's business."
"Nothing ever made you suspicious? Bodyguards?"
"They were there to protect me because in his line of business it gets dangerous. I was skeptical but I still believed him."
"Did you ever love him?"
"I did."
I looked up and the screen showed a picture of Dante and me at our wedding. Dante had his arms around my waist. We were both smiling and looked like we were in love. That was a long time ago.
"Did you ever know about his side businesses?" Green pressed.
"No," I firmly stated. "I didn't. But I should've noticed. When the police would hover around our house he'd chalk it up to harassment or some other excuse. I was too engrossed in law school and I was too in love and too naive to notice what was really going on."
"When did you find out about his business?" Ross crossed his arms over his chest. He had a pissed expression on his face. I bit my lip. I had some explaining to do. Ross and I had been friends for some time, actually since law school, keeping Dante from him wasn't a mistake it was a choice. But Ross was my best friend.
"We were in DC when I had break from university," I continued. "That was the first time he had taken me on a business trip. I was there when him and his client I assumed were talking about a deal. I only heard bits and pieces about moving something, something about girls and Mexico. Then the pieces started to fall into place. They were smuggling girls out of Mexico."
"What did you do?" Vivian whispered.
"At first I didn't want to believe it then reality kicked in," I looked up. "The first thing I did was go through his luggage, I don't know why but...in his suitcase I found a ledger, a book where he wrote down lists of names, places and dates."
"I grabbed the book and was about to leave when one of his men caught me. He told me to go, get far away as possible and leave the book behind. And I ran. I told Dante I was going shopping. I got into a car and I drove until I found the FBI headquarters."
I was on the brink of tears. I sniffed and wiped them away with the back of my hand.
"We can stop," Gibson said. He placed a hand on my shoulder and checked his watch. "It's getting late. We'll regroup in the morning and discuss what to do."
It was only me and Jake left in the room. Jake busied himself by packing up his gear.
"Listen I'm sorry about pushing you earlier," I apologized. "I didn't mean to. Really."
"Hey it's all good," Jake smiled. "This was important."
"Let me help you pack up as a sign of forgiveness."
"That's the least you could...."
I smiled.
"You have a nice smile," Jake cocked his head to the side.
"Well Dante took out all the smiles out of me."
"You really loved him?"
"I did. He wasn't a monster to me. He treated me like any wife would've wanted to be treated: romantic dinners, trips, exquisite jewelry...I could go on. I just wish I had noticed the real him."
"I think we mask the things we don't want to see in our loved ones. I think we're too afraid of what's under the mask."
There was a pause then Jake spoke again.
"Why did you want to join the FBI? I mean part of you had to know he wasn't coming back."
"I knew he wasn't coming back. I didn't join to find him. I joined to find Alessandra DeNiro."
"Who's Alessandra?"
"My niece. She was 13 when she went missing. It was the night before Dante and I were going to DC she got into a fight with my brother, her dad and was coming over to my house to stay. She never came. It's been 5 years. I always suspected Dante had something to do with it. She was a teen and ripe for sex trade. It's disgusting."
"What did you do after the FBI raided your penthouse and Dante was gone?"
"I went back to Boston. I finished law school at Harvard. Came back to DC. Changed my last name from DeNiro to Hudson and the rest is history."
"Did you get ever go back to Boston to see your family?"
"No not even when I went back. Part of me blamed myself for what happened to Alessandra and part of me didn't want to see the look on my family's faces."
"What are you going to do after you catch him?"
"First let me catch him."
As I got to the parking lot I found, Ross leaning against my car door. His arms folded over his chest, same pissed expression on his face.
"Hey," I said, unlocking my car.
"Don't 'hey' me," he insisted.
"What?"
"You failed to mention that you were married...to a DRUG LORD."
"Jared I've known you since Law School but there are something things, some personal things I like to keep personal."
"That's not a good enough explanation."
"You'll understand, soon."
I opened the door of my apartment and dropped the keys in the little bowl in the kitchen. My German Shepherd, Max raised his head as he saw me. Max was the only thing linking me to my life Dante. Max was a wedding present form Dante.
I sat down on my sofa and kicked off my shoes. I didn't bother turning on the lights. I sat in the dark with moonlight pouring through window as a source of light. Tears came like a stream. As I wiped them away more tears came out.
I've waited five years to catch Dante. Now that I'm this close I wasn't having second thoughts...I was conflicted. I was mad I married a criminal. I was angry that I was fooled by him. I was furious that he kidnapped Alessandra. But I was heartbroken that he left me. That he didn't say goodbye.
The silk sheets covering my body felt smooth and slippery. I pushed in deeper refusing to wake up.
"Time to get up Bella," Dante's voice cooed in my ear.
"No five more minutes."
"Okay five minutes."
A smile spread across my mouth as I shifted to my other side. Dante was propped up on one elbow, staring at me. His black brown hair which was usually slicked back was messy. His blue grey looked more grey. He was shirtless and had grin on his face.
He leaned down to kiss me and I didn't stop. His kiss gave my body energy and I was fully awake. We broke apart but when I looked up I didn't see it. It was as if the glass dividing reality and love shattered and all I had was hatred for him.
We were still in bed but there was a gun in my hand. It was pointed at Dante.
"Pearce put down the gun," Dante whispered.
My hands quavered. Don't give into his words.
"No."
"You don't want to kill me."
Of course I wanted to kill him he ruined my life. He caused me pain and misery.
"I want to kill you. You're a criminal and you don't deserve to live."
"Pearce you love me and I love you. Think about you don't want to kill me."
"I...I...I..."
I did love him, I couldn't kill him. I lowered the gun. Dante placed his hand on top of mines, then his eyes bore into my eyes.
He took Alessandra, he took your life and now you end his. "I want to."
My hands were swift and my fingers were around the trigger. I pressed down on the trigger and a loud bang echoed through the room.
I woke with a start. I was lying on the sofa with arms hanging out. I was still in my clothes from last night that reeked of beer and tequila. I stretched my legs and just for a moment I smiled. I smiled recalling my dream, the look on Dante's face as I put a bullet on his chest.