Vivian greeted her by the stairs as she passed them to go down to her room in the basement.
"Did you bewitch him the same way your mother did my husband?" She spat.
"Mother, no."
"Who are you calling mother? How many times have I told you not to call me mother? I am not your mother," she lashed out slapping her several times as she attempted to shield herself.
"I am sorry," she cried out.
"Move," Vivian ordered before shoving her down the stairs into the basement.

Tumbling down the stairs she twisted her wrist crying up out in pain as she tried to stop her fall somehow.
"See you in a couple of days," she laughed closing the door and locking it from the outside.

----

Two days later

Walking into The Daily News Dante scanned the floor hoping to see her but did not see the dark haired beauty that had filled his dreams the last two nights. He had been unable to sleep because each time he closed his eyes he saw her hurt filled expression.

"Sir what brings you here?" Mr Spencer said rushing out of his office.
"Bring Belle to me," he simply said.
"Umm. She hasn't been in for the past few days," he said as Dante looked at him with an intense gaze.

"Dillon have a business meeting set up between Vivian and I.
Tonight.
At their house," he said in a harsh tone.
"Yes sir," Dillon said pulling out his phone making the necessary arrangements.

------

Dinner

"Thank you for having me, my house is undergoing renovations I would have been honoured to have you as my guest."
"Do not worry yourself Mr Pince. Shall we; dinner is ready. We can discuss your proposal over a hearty meal," Vivian said being the perfect hostes.
He inclined his head in acknowledgement as his eyes searched the room for Belle.

Ringing a little bell several maids including Belle walked in with their plates. Their eyes met and as she saw him about to speak she shook her head no, fear clearly present in her eyes.

With a frown he watched her place a plate before him. His blood pressure skyrocketed when he saw her bandaged wrist and the angry bruise on her cheek which she had tried to conceal with makeup.
Having lost his appetite he barely touched his food making up an excuse of not feeling too well all of a sudden. Each time she came in with their next entrée she gave him a weak smile as his hand clenched around anything within his reach. Most of the time being the wine glass. She stood with the others against a wall waiting on them. Vivian had invited all of her children as they were involved in the business somehow. Their shipping company was a force to be reckoned  with. He wanted to buy some shares as well as offer them a safe haven for their money. Beth, Cynthia, Samuel and Dave, who paid less attention to what we where discussing as Vivian informed Dante on the company statistics.

After they were done with their meal Dante was still nursing his one glass of red wine keeping an eye on her. He noticed she looked pale and rather weak as she leaned against the wall for support only standing straight when Vivian looked her way.
"Bring us some hot beverages," Vivian said as they cleared the dishes.
Returning with a tray she gave her a cup of tea.
"What is this? I told you I only drink coffee," she spat throwing the contents of her cup onto her chest as Belle cried out in pain stepping away from her fanning her shirt frantically trying to cool the sting of the hot liquid. Wine spilled onto the table and his clothes as he shattered the glass in his hand. In one fluid movement he was in front of her.

"Get me a cold cloth now!" He growled at one of the maids who stood in shock as she ran out of the room.
"Your hand," she gasped forgetting about her pain as she looked at his bleeding hand. "Please come with me," she said pulling him to her room forgetting about its state as she fetched her small first aid kit from her bag.
He stood rigid looking around the room as he saw piles of old things lining one wall and a small bed on one side.
"Is this were you sleep?" He asked looking at her as she attended to his hand.
She didn't answer him. Her silence told him all he needed to know as a maid brought a bowl of water.
Cleaning his wound she wrapped his hand in a bandage very carefully; afraid to hurt him.

Taking her hand he pulled her out of the room. Looking at her he saw her skin was an angry red from the neck downward as he pulled her out of the house without another word taking her to the hospital.

-------

"When was the last time you had a proper meal?" The doctor asked.
She looked down playing with her fingers until she felt a hand underneath her chin lifting her head up.
"Two days ago," she said softly as the doctor looked at her wrist with a frown.
"I am going to rewrap your wrist its still a bit swollen. Your burns are nothing serious you will be fine my dear, just apply this medication. Sir please take care of you wife," she said with a frown as Dante gave her a slight nod looking at Belle.
After getting an injection, she was discharged only after they had taken a look at Dante's hand upon her insistence.
Relieved that they were minor burns he took her to his house rather than back to that hell hole. She fell asleep as they headed to his estate.

----------

"Good morning Miss," a young maid greeted her with a warm smile.
"Umm good morning. Where am I?"
"You are in my home," he said walking into the room with only a towel around his waist as water dripped down his body.
"Excuse me," the young maid said quickly leaving the room.
"How did I get here?" She asked panic appearing on her features.
"I brought you here. Now relax and get some rest," he said with a genuine smile taking her hand to examine her wrist.

----------

Walking into his kitchen he found her rummaging through his refrigerator.
"Don't you have any food in here besides water?" She said pointing out the numerous bottles.
He shook his head in repsonse. Huffing she said, "So what are we going to eat?"
"We can always order in," he said.
"Or we can go shopping for supplies then I can make you dinner," she beamed.
"In that?" He said stifling his laughter as she looked at herself to see she only had his shirt on which ran down to her knees.
"Well since I don't have any clothes I could just go like this," she said only for him to hand over a bag.
"Choose whatever you like," he said heading back to the room. A few minutes later he came back saying, "you have the room all to yourself."
"Dante may I ask. Who..who changed me out of my clothes?"
"Linda did. The young lady you saw when you woke up," he said.
"Oh. Okay. Thank you," she said with a shy smile."

----

Walking around the grocery store was never a dull moment as Dante scanned every food item she picked out with a frown reading the information.
"Lays, Doritos or popcorn?" She asked him as he looked over the different assortment of junk food.
"Doritos," he said as she placed two packets in the trolley moving forward as the second trolley took four packs of the chips they had just picked out as well as some Lays and popcorn.

He let her choose whatever she wanted giving a nod of approval. She looked much better than before and taking her hand he brushed his thumb over her knuckles in a soothing manner. She leaned into him as he led them out of the store leaving their supplies to be taken care of.

"Why are you buying all of that food," she asked as another car pulled up and people started packing away their groceries.
"Because I can," he simply said.
Shaking her head she sighed dropping the subject. Once they arrived back at his house she started preparing their meal whilst he took care of some phone calls.

A few minutes later she heard him shouting over the phone.
"What did I tell you to do! One simple thing you cannot do! You are useless," He growled throwing the phone making it shatter into pieces once it hit the wall.
He turned to see her standing by the door eyes wide in fear. Taking a deep breath he walked towards her, his movements like fluid despite his build stopping in front of her.

"Dinner is ready," she said softly as he took her hand in his.
Not releasing her hand she was forced to lead him towards the dining room. In front of him was a meal fit for a king.
"You did all this?" He said.
She only nodded her head yes waiting for him to sit down but was surprised when he went to pull out her chair. Passing him the lasagna dish she waited for him to dish out his food. He accepted the dish but placed it down looking at her and holding her gaze.
"Forgive me Belle," he said softly.
"Forgive you for what?" She spat.
"Being angry."
"Well you need to work on your attitude, because I don't think I can breathe in the same air which reeks of your pungent attitude. Remember that whoever you speak to, shout at, is also human and those words affect them," she said getting up heading to the kitchen.

He quickly followed her pulling her into his arms, careful not to hurt her wounds.
"Please don't be mad with me," he said. "I can't stand the thought of you being angry with me," he said in a lost voice.
"Just promise me, you will try to treat others better and not be quick to anger."
"I promise," he mumbled turning her around in his arms.
"Can we have dinner now, I am famished," she said giving him a warm smile.

"So what shall we have for desert?" She asked him a while later.
"Hmmm I will take care of desert," he said standing up once she was done pulling her into the kitchen.
Sitting across from him she watched as he prepared the custard in a small pot.
"You know your way around the  kitchen?"

"My mother wouldn't allow us to grow up not knowing how to sustain ourselves. Try taking care of two boys with a healthy appetite," he chuckled. The kitchen was her way of controlling us after misbehaving. We always helped her prepare our meals and felt accomplished every-time she told us whatever we had prepared that day was delicious," he said his features softening at the mention of his mother.
"What about you dad?"
He stopped stirring the custard for a minute. "My dad passed away when I was young. The only father figures we had were my dad's boss and his son."
"I'm sorry to hear about that."
"What happened to your parents?"
"I don't know my mom, she abandoned me by my dad's office. My father died a few years back. For 24 years of my life I have never really had a friend in that house except for my grandfather. It's been a while since I have seen him though."

"Well you have me now," he said with a dazzling smile that had her smiling in return.
Placing a bowl of custard in front of her. He sat down beside her not touching his own bowl as she sampled hers first.
"This is very good," she moaned.
"Well it should be, or else the company would be closed by now," he said as she rolled her eyes making him laugh.

------

"We need to go," he said barging into her room at the crack of dawn.
"Go where?" She said wiping sleep from her eyes.
"I'll tell you on the way," he said before turning to leave the room.
He came back a few minutes later wearing a sweater that hugged his body nicely and dark jeans.

The next hour was spent in the car as he drove them to an unknown location only to pull up onto private property noticing several men patrolling the area.
"Umm. Dante can I ask you something?"
"Of course tigrotto (little tiger)."
"What exactly do you do for a living?"
"I am a banker. More like I and my brother own Zoler banks," he said.
"That's an odd name."
"It's a combination of our parents' names, Zoe and Tyler."
"That's very sweet," she said with a smile as she turned to focus on where they were going.

Pulling up to a large house she was at a loss of words as she came face to face with blooming flowers that brightened the front very well. He helped her out of the car as they were greeted by the young lady from his previous house.
"Welcome to Rosewood manor," he said just as Linda came out of the house. "Is everything prepared Linda?" He asked.
"Yes sir. Mom has been fussing about returning to work but I told her I have everything under control," she chuckled.
"Send her my love and tell her to rest to her hearts content. I didn't send her on vacation for nothing," he said as we walked into the house.

"I will show you to your room then you can explore the house. Linda will stay with you. If you need anything call me using this phone," he said handing her a phone as he opened a door that revealed her room.
"This is beautiful," she said in awe before turning to face him. "Why did you call me trigotto?"
"Because you are my little tiger. You might seem meek to anyone else, but I know you hide your claws very well," he said in amusement as she looked at him with a frown. "I must leave now. This place is safe, no one knows of your location so don't worry about Vivian finding you," he said in reassurance after seeing the fear in her eyes.

"When I get back there is something I need to discuss with you," he said before turning to leave.