Chapter 17 Alone

• Dante POV
• I move further into the apartment, scooping up our little dog, the one I gave her. Little Bear wags his tail lazily, content in my arms. My guess is she’s gone to see Lucy. It makes sense; no one wants to be alone on their birthday. And yet, here I am, ensuring she’ll never truly be alone again.
• I walk toward her bed and notice a book lying on the nightstand—Sick for Them. A smirk tugs at my lips. She has a taste for dark things, darker than she lets on. I flip to the page where I last left off, getting lost in the story, just like I always do when I’m here. Sitting on her bed, reading her books—hours melt away while she’s out living her life, oblivious to how intertwined our worlds have become.