Dante leaned his head back to stare up at the ceiling, trying to keep control over his reactions to Rory. Had he looked for her? Of course he had, but when Rory didn't want to be found, there was nothing to be done about it. Dante had given up the search after six months or so, choosing to move on with his life, as opposed to sulking about his loss. He could tell that he had hit a nerve with her, as he was so good at doing. Her instant anger gave him pause though, as he tried to puzzle out what nerve he might have hit. Rory had an anger problem, much as he did, yet she normally didn't strike out at him as she was now. Maybe three years had changed her more than he'd imagined. On the other hand, maybe she hadn't changed at all and had hoped Dante had stayed much as he was before.<br/><br/>With a slight shake of his head, he got slowly to his feet and turned to face Rory, his steps taking him closer to her, even as she snapped at him. “I loved you with everything I was Rory. Are you seriously questioning if I searched for you? I have more loyalty than that... not that you'd understand what loyalty means. Once a stray, always a stray, yeah?” His tone had grown icy and flat as he closed the space between them. “If anyone has a right to be pissed off right now, it's me. Not only did you abandon me three years ago and leave me to clean up your fucking mess... you show back up, without a word, by breaking into my house. You would have found what you wanted and left without a word again, had I not shown back up. I'm tempted to put your ass outside right now and not help you.”<br/><br/>As he stepped closer to her, he put his right hand to her brest plate and pushed her against the wall behind her, his voice low and amber eyes locked on her features. “Against my better judgement, maybe out of a last ditch hope that you'll show me that I made a mistake in moving on, I'll help you find what you're searching for.” Placing his left hand on the wall beside her head, he leaned down and spoke quietly in her ear. “Don't make me regret helping you Rory. I'm not the same man I used to be. After you left, I had to forget my morals and harden myself. You may not like me anymore Rory... much as it pains me to say.” Dante fell silent and pulled away from her, dropping his hand from her chest and giving her a bit of space. “You know doll... as much as you piss me off, and as much as you hurt me... it's good to know you're alive and mostly well. I'm sorry that you only want something from me now though. Deep down... I had always hoped that you'd show up one day and grace me with a smile and become a part of my life again. Fairy tales don't exist though. Not these days.”<br/><br/>With a heavy sigh, Dante turned from her, though her scent remained, wreaking havoc in his mind, playing with his emotions. “I've got good news and bad news. I do recall the piece you described... but it's not here. I sold it to Ansel nearly two years ago. He still has it... but we will have to hurry to go get it. Hopefully his wife hasn't shown up at their home yet.” Glancing over his shoulder with a smirk curling the edges of his lips, he offered her a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. “You couldn't have chosen a better night to show up. I paid him a visit earlier this evening... so he's not in a position to deny us what you want.” Turning from her, he moved to grab his docker's clutch, pausing a moment to strap it back on, then snagged his suit coat and shrugged it on. “If you've got nothing else to say, let's get this over with. As I said earlier, I've got some work to take care of once we are done.”<br/><br/>Dante turned to look at her as he finished speaking, a crestfallen look in his amber eyes. “Is this really all you came back for Rory? Just to find a lost artifact of yours?” Chewing lightly on his lower lip, his eyes focused on her features, he waited for her to speak her piece of follow him to his car so they could head to Ansel's and retrieve her precious artifact.