My Stepbrother Wants Me-Chapter 149: You Amaze Me

Catherine’s POV

"You look even prettier than what I saw last night."

Dante stood frozen for a beat too long, his eyes dragging over me from head to toe as if he were trying to reconcile the girl standing in his hallway with the one he’d seen at the gala. His gaze stayed on my face with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

"You better stop looking at me like that," I said, breaking the silence. I reached out and poked my finger against the center of his bare, hard chest. It felt like prodding a statue. "Or I might actually melt, Mr. Dante."

I didn’t wait outside any longer, else he would leave me at the door. I pushed past him, my shoulder brushing his arm, and stepped into the center of his room.

He reacted quickly, shutting the door with a firm click that seemed to seal the rest of the world away. He walked hurriedly to catch up with me, coming to a stop just behind my shoulder. In the reflection of the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the opposite wall, I saw him run a hand through his dark, messy hair. He looked uncharacteristically nervous and I found it really cute.

"Uhm.. please Don’t be mad about the room," he muttered, glancing at a discarded shirt on the floor and a stack of books on the nightstand. "It’s a bit of a mess. I wasn’t expecting company, especially not you. If I had know—-"

I smirked, catching his eye in the mirror. I turned around to face him, crossing my arms over my chest and cutting him off. "It’s fine, Dante. I understand. Boys will always be boys, right? A little chaos is part of the package."

Dante stopped fidgeting. His expression shifted, his brows pulling together in a serious line. He looked at me with a sudden, sharp clarity.

"No," he said, his voice dropping into a deeper, firmer register. "Boys will not always be boys. That’s a sad excuse for pathetic behavior, Catherine. Disorderliness has nothing to do with being a boy. It’s just laziness, and I’m usually better than this."

I looked at him, feeling momentarily transfixed. Most of the men I had come across used that phrase as a shield for every mistake they made. Hearing him reject the excuse so bluntly felt like a jolt to my system. Indeed, Dante was truly impressive. Beneath his handsomeness, he had a mentality that was so attractive too, a mentality that complimented his good looks and hotness.

"Wow," I muttered, the word escaping before I could stop it. "You always know what to say."

The music was still playing in the background, vibrating through the floor. The track shifted, the smooth, melodic intro of the Selena Gomez verse on "Calm Down" filling the room. I felt a blush creep up my neck. I loved this song. It was the kind of music that made you want to forget your name and your problems.

"Do you have any idea that you amaze me?" I whispered, looking up at him. "With your words, your music, and..."

I trailed off, the compliment dying in my throat as I realized how close he was standing. I didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, I let the rhythm of the song take over. I started to sway my hips, my body moving instinctively to the beat. I wasn’t thinking about Julian or the Foundation or the mess at the mansion. I was just moving. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"And what?" Dante asked. He moved closer, his presence looming over me, his eyes dark and focused on my lips. He looked like he badly wanted me to finish.

I didn’t answer. I reached up and placed my index finger against his lips, silencing him. I saw his pupils dilate at the touch. I turned around, my back to him, and whined my waist to the music, letting the rhythm dictate my movements.

I felt his hands move. His palms were warm and calloused as they settled firmly on my hips. A low, shaky breath escaped my lips, and I swallowed hard, leaning back slightly into his touch. The contact was electric. He didn’t pull me closer, but the way he held me was steady and certain. It made my heart hammer against my ribs.

We continued dancing like that, a slow, grounded movement in the center of the quiet room. The world outside didn’t exist. There were no Vaughns here. No Lucy. No lies.

Dante leaned down, his face pressing close to the side of my head. His breath was hot against my ear as he whispered, "You amaze me too, Catherine. You have just shown me yet again, another side of you that I didn’t think you’d possess. You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?"

I felt a surge of confidence I hadn’t felt in years. I turned around in the circle of his arms, looking up at him with a flirty, challenging light in my eyes. I reached up and tapped the tip of his nose with my finger.

"Get ready to find more sides of me, Dante," I said, my voice barely a whisper over the music. "You’ve barely scratched the surface."

He didn’t pull away. If anything, his grip on my hips tightened, and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me again. It felt like I actually wanted him to. I wanted to see if the fire from the gala was still there, or if I had imagined it.

"I plan to, hopefully your brothers don’t knock me out for it."

I let out a low laugh, tugging his ear. "Don’t be silly."

"I’m not. Did you not see the two of them yesterday? One was ready to beat me up and the other was going to use his eyes to fry me if he had magical powers."

He was right and that was the reason I came here to see him. Gabriel and Julian were really mean to him and it was all because he wanted to help me out.

"I’m really sorry about all that happened last night."