Read Online Dante's Way by Marie Rochelle - Free Book Online Page A

off in one of his fits, Liam could be gone for days and he usually ended up being the one who found his way back to her.
    Since her day was already ruined, Amara decided to visit one of her favorite haunting spots where she generally ended up making a couple of bucks. Hopefully, she would at least get enough money to buy something to eat from one of the vendors near the beach. None of them cared if she came around as long as she had money in her pocket to buy some food.
    Getting off the park bench, Amara walked back across the grass. She knew of a short cut to get to her destination so she wouldn’t be unlucky enough again to run into Griffin. If she never saw him or Dante again it wouldn’t bother her in the least. They were trouble waiting to happen for her.
     
    ****
     
    “How did you let her get away from you?” Dante asked, watching Griffin as he fixed himself a drink. “I mean she isn’t that big. All you had to do was get her back here and I could have done the rest.”
    “I can’t help it if she’s fast. I mean she was fine until I brought up your name. You really scare the hell out of that kid and, honestly, I can’t blame her.” Griffin took a sip of his drink and relaxed his back against the bar. “I mean you were going to toss her into jail. Homeless kids fear the mere idea of being locked up by the cops.”
    Dante hated the fact Griffin was telling him the truth. “I bet if I talked to her she would see I didn’t mean her any harm.” His stubborn streak was kicking in, and the thought of throwing in the towel hadn’t even crossed his mind.
    “You shouldn’t try to bother her anymore. I think it would be for the best if you left her alone.” Griffin tossed back the drink and then placed the empty glass on the counter. “Look, what you are trying to do is really nice but you need to let it go. Focus your attention back on the bar. I can’t keep working the extra hours here for you. She doesn’t want any help from either one of us. Just forget about it.”
    He knew he had been putting more work on Griffin and Caleb than usual, but he wasn’t aware of how bad it had gotten for his buddy. As troubled as he was about the young girl living on the streets, Dante wasn’t about to let his business suffer from lack of attention.
    If it was meant for him to help her than everything he tried would have worked out better. So, as of now the search for the homeless kid was over. His total focus would be back entirely on his first love which was his bar.
    “You’re right. I’m done trying to make amends for how I acted that night. I can’t force anyone to accept my help who clearly doesn’t want or need it.”
    Resting his elbows on the bar counter, Griffin leaned forward looking him directly in the eye. “I’m not sure if she would even listen to you.”
    “I can’t disagree with you on that,” Dante admitted. “I wasn’t the nicest guy to her. This is why I’m not going to focus my time on the past but the upcoming pool tournament because I want it to be a huge success.”
    “Damn, now that’s what I’m talking about,” Griffin shouted, slapping his hand on the top of the bar. “I was hoping you would snap out of this save the girl attitude of yours. You might have been too harsh on her, but you shouldn’t spend all this time trying to fix it.”
    “I know and I’m done with it. I won’t spend any more time thinking about her,” Dante said, sitting down on a bar stool. “Have you heard back yet from the last two teams wanting to sign up?”
    Griffin shook his head. “No, they’re supposed to get back with me later on in the week. One team is coming from Florida and the other one is from New York. I’ve heard both of them are highly competitive. If they actually show up, we should make a shitload of money.”
    At first, Dante wasn’t too excited about holding this competition when Caleb and Griffin suggested it to him a few weeks ago. Instead of agreeing on the spot, he spent