Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4) (16 page)

Her eyes went to the car clock. 11:29
p.m. flashed in red. Realising it was too late to see her dad, she started up
the engine, intent on seeing Dante instead. He also needed to know what Saul
had done to her, especially with Josie now knowing, her cousin untrustworthy
when it came to keeping secrets. She just wished she hadn’t kept it from him,
although she knew why. She felt ashamed of what Saul had done to her, and had
even questioned why he’d assaulted her, at times wondering whether she’d led
him on. But deep down she knew she hadn’t. Although he was undoubtedly
attractive, she didn’t want him, Dante her one and only. Plus, the man scared
her, his demeanour too intense and overwhelming. She just wanted him to leave
her alone, never coming near her again. If he’d done that she might’ve kept it
a secret, but now, he’d left her with no other option than to ask for Dante’s
help, the Ratas’ form of justice fast and hard.

She headed for Dante’s new home,
arriving in the expensive suburb of Herne Bay half an hour later. The houses were
grand, all of them worth millions of dollars, the view of the Waitemata Harbour
and its bridge adding to their value. Expensive cars filled the driveways,
money lining the streets, only her old Volkswagen looking out of place...

No, there was a much older car than hers—or
at least it looked it. It was parked under a street light in front of Dante’s
two-storied home, only the rust holding it together. The exterior was scraped
and dented, the vehicle in even worse condition than the wrecks parked on her
front lawn. And Beth knew who it belonged to.

Kara.

Beth parked her car behind the piece of
junk and flipped the vanity mirror down, checking her reflection. Her eyes were
bloodshot from crying, while she had dark shadows under them from lack of
sleep, both her nightmares and pregnancy pulling a number on her. Even though
it was night, she grabbed a pair of sunglasses and slipped them on, not wanting
Kara to see any sign of weakness, which would be like blood to a piranha for
the bitch in stilettos.

Grabbing her handbag, Beth got out of
the car and entered Dante’s ... no, Jade’s property, because all Dante owned
was the bullet-ridden Holden sitting in front of Jade’s red Ferrari. Dante’s
boss and flatmate was a successful music producer, with houses all around the
world, no doubt as expensive as the two-storey mansion before her. She headed
up the footpath, angry to find Kara knocking on the front door.

“Jade!” the blonde bitch hollered, her
Slavic accent strong. “You can’t keep me from seeing Dante! Let me in, you limp-dick
little bastard!”

“Can’t you get a hint?” Beth said,
coming to a stop behind her. “Dante doesn’t wanna see you.”

Kara’s head shot around, her eyes
locking onto Beth. As usual, she was dressed like a hooker. Her painted on
leopard-print dress barely covered her breasts and arse, while her stilettos added
to the image, their six-inch heels making her bare legs look longer than they
were.

“No, this is Jade’s doin’,” Kara
snapped, “not to mention yours. Dante chose me, yet you’re using your pregnancy
to get him back. Well, he promised he would never leave me, so get lost, you
husband stealing witch.”

“He doesn’t even remember marrying you.
You got him blotto, so it can’t be legal.”

Kara pointed a long fingernail at Beth.
“He’s still my husband.”

“Then why did he promise me he wouldn’t
see you again?”

“You’re lying!”

“Ask him, then.”

Kara shook her head vigorously. “No. He
said no matter what he wouldn’t leave me.”

Beth placed a hand on her stomach,
drawing Kara’s attention to it. “He won’t choose you over his own child—
no
matter what
.”

“NO!” Kara turned to the door and
started banging on it, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Dante! If you’re in
there, come out before I break this fucking door down, you dirty, rotten,
lying, cheating bastard!”

She continued banging on it until the
door finally opened. Dante appeared in front of them, looking like he’d just
woken up, his black hair all over the place. He was wearing a T-shirt and boxers,
along with some large bandages on his legs, covering his knife cuts.

His eyes zeroed in on Kara. “What the
fuckin’ hell are you doin’? You can’t come here, banging on my fuckin’ door in
the middle of the night, yelling your head off like some banshee bitch in heat.
This is Herne Bay, not Claydon; the cops will be called for this shit—”

Kara shoved him, making him stumble back.
“You lied to me!”

“What are you on about?” he said,
righting himself.

Kara pointed at Beth’s stomach as she entered
the house. “That! You can’t go back on your word just because you don’t know
how to use condoms.”

Grimacing, Dante brought a hand to his
head. “Stop shouting.”

“Not until I squeeze the truth out of
you. Are you purposely avoiding me so you can be with her, even after you
promised you wouldn’t leave me?”

Dante breathed out, looking stricken. “I
didn’t know Beth wuz pregnant when I made that promise.”

“You still made it.”

“And now I hafta break it, cos there’s
no way in hell I’m lettin’ another man raise my child.”

“She has no man, other than you, and
you’re
my
husband.”

“Our marriage isn’t legal, you got me
shitfaced drunk.”

“It
is
legal, it’s on file, plus
you said you wanted to be married to me when you were stone-cold sober.”

“I also want to raise my child.”

Kara let out a frustrated yell. “You
wouldn’t have this problem is you’d just used protection. For all you know, I
could be pregnant too.”

Dante’s face dropped. “Are you?”

Beth cut in fast, “She said
could
,
not
is
.”

Kara’s head spun around like the demon
child from
The Exorcist
, her eyes locking onto Beth. “This is between me
and Dante, so keep out of it!”

“I’m involved too.”

“That’s the problem! And you’re only
here because you’re blackmailing him.”

“I am not!”

“Oh, yes you are.” Kara pointed at
Beth’s stomach. “You’re using your child to blackmail Dante into staying with
you.” She sneered at her. “Back in Bosnia, do you know what my uncle used to do
to people who tried to blackmail him? He killed them, like I should kill you.”

Dante grabbed Kara’s arm. “Don’t you
dare touch her!”

Kara pulled free, her eyes spitting
venom at Dante. “I said I
should
but I won’t, because it’s still your
child in there.” Her sneer returned. “By the way, there are probably numerous
children out there with your DNA, especially with the way you bareback every
bitch in town.”

“I’ve only gone bare with you, Beth, and
Lavinia; you know that.”

“I clearly know nothing, because your
word means shit, not to mention you’re a bloody pisshead. You wouldn’t even remember
half the women you’ve fucked, let alone whether you’ve used protection.”

“Don’t be a bitch.”

“No, you need to be told some home
truths, Dante Rata. You can’t keep doing whatever the hell you like without understanding
the consequences. You’re almost twenty-four, for Christ’s sake, not some
pre-teen who doesn’t know how babies are made. Use a fucking condom the next
time you screw another bitch or she’ll screw you for child support, because you
can’t play happy families with every cunt you knock up.”

“I
don’t
have any other children
and I’m not gonna cheat on Beth.”

“You already did, you fucked me.”

Beth cut in, “That wuzn’t cheating, he
wuz dating the both of us at the same time—which we all agreed upon.”

Kara turned to face her. “I also recall him
saying he wouldn’t have sex with either of us, which you’re conveniently
forgetting so you don’t lose him again. Guess old dogs
can
learn new
tricks if they want a bone bad enough, and Dante’s bone is
real
tasty.”

Beth glared at her, wondering what on
earth Dante saw in the vulgar bitch.

Kara returned the glare a hundredfold, her
beauty twisting into pure hate. “Yes, you’ve learned all right, it’s just a
matter of whether you continue using your head instead of your heart, because
I’m sure you know that Dante enjoys fucking me more than you.”

“
Kara
,” Dante said, his tone a
warning.

She turned her glare on him. “
Da
,
that’s my name, while yours is
dirt
. You need to stop promising people things
you can’t carry through on.” She grabbed her chest. “You break hearts, you
selfish sonofabitch—
my
heart. I don’t deserve this treatment. I did
things for you I wouldn’t do for anyone else.”

His angry expression dropped. “I’m
sorry—”

She waved a hand up in the air, cutting
him off. “I don’t want your empty apologies.”

“No, I truly am
sorry. I love
you, Kara, I just can’t be with you anymore,” he said, looking pained. “I can’t
risk Beth hooking up with someone else. I won’t allow another man to raise my
child.”

“Has this got to do with your
stepfather?”

“Yes.”

“Not all men are like him, so get over
it.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“No, it’s not! You think your life is hard?
I’ve lived through a fucking war!” She indicated to his bandaged legs. “While you
cause half your problems yourself, you weak-willed bastard.”

Dante’s face turned vicious. “My
stepfather murdered my mother, raped my brother, and beat me to a fuckin’ pulp,
so don’t you dare talk to me about havin’ it easier than you!”

“You forget that my father was murdered
too, shot down before my own eyes. Not only that, I didn’t just watch someone
get raped,
I
got raped—numerous times. Do you even have a clue about
what happens to young, unprotected girls during war? They don’t get fucking
handouts like you, pretty boy; they get passed around like pieces of meat. That
happened to me, yet you don’t see me whinging and whining like a little bitch.”

“Cos you’re a big bitch!”

“Ooh, we’ve progressed to childish name
calling now. I remember this; you always did bite back when I dented your ego.
Well, how big is your ego now that Jade’s paying for everything? Are you still
prostituting yourself for him?”

His eyes widened. “I’m not a whore! That
wuz a one-time thing and you know it.”

“I don’t get the luxury of doing things
one
time.
While you’ve been sleeping in a nice warm bed, getting Jade to pay
for everything, I’ve been sleeping in my shitty car, having to suck ugly cock
just to eat. So get off your fucking high-horse and grow some balls!”

Dante started hollering at her in
Croatian, completely losing his shit. She screamed back and shoved him. He
grabbed her wrists as she went to shove him again. She struggled against him, shouting
at him to let her go. She finally jerked free and pushed him into a staircase
balustrade.

“Get away from him!” Beth hollered.

Kara spun around and went for her
without warning, the woman no longer looking sane. Beth quickly backed up as Dante
grabbed Kara in a bear hug, yanking her away from Beth. Kara stomped on his
foot. Yelling out in pain, he let go of her and grabbed it. Kara spun around
and knocked him backwards. His right foot went out from under him, sending him
crashing to the floor. His head connected with the bottom of the staircase, a
loud crack audible. Both Kara and Beth screamed at the same time. Kara dropped to
her knees in front of Dante’s unmoving form and felt for his pulse, her
relieved cry giving Beth hope.

“Is he alive?” Beth asked, dropping down
next to them.

“Yes. Now call an ambulance!”

Beth pulled out her mobile from her handbag,
her hand shaking like crazy. With her eyes still on Dante, she dialled the emergency
number as Kara leaned over him, pulling Dante into her arms.

“Don’t move him!” Beth snapped. “You
could worsen his injury.” A voice came over the line, asking what her emergency
was. She quickly rattled off what had happened along with the address, hanging
up several seconds later.

A yell ripped through the air, drawing
her attention to the second floor. Jade was standing at the top of the
staircase, dressed in pyjamas. He pulled off some earmuffs and flew down the
staircase. “What happened?!”

Not answering him, Kara continued to
cling onto Dante.

Jade’s eyes shot to Beth, his face
stricken. “Is he dead?”

“No, he’s unconscious.”

Jade let out a relieved cry. “Has an
ambulance been called?”

Beth nodded.

“What the hell happened?”

“Kara knocked Dante back. He fell and banged
his head on the staircase.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt my
dragi
,”
Kara said, rocking Dante back and forth in her arms. “I love him with all my
heart. I’d die for him.” Her eyes went to Beth. “I’d also kill for him.”