3 - CLAUSTROPHOBIC RIDE

The image of his slow, mocking smile stayed burned into my retinas for the rest of the night.

I spent the next four hours shaking hands, nodding at board members, and pretending my father hadn't just dropped a bomb on my career. I played the perfect host. I didn't let a single ounce of frustration show on my face.

By the time the valets started pulling cars around, my head was throbbing. I just wanted the quiet of my own backseat.

I stepped out from under the heavy canvas awning into the cool night air. A light rain had started to fall, slicking the cobblestone drive. My assistant, Greer, was already standing by the open door of my black town car holding an umbrella.

"The merger documents are prepped for tomorrow," she said as I approached.

"Send them to my tablet," I told her, keeping my voice low. "Cancel my eight o'clock meeting."

"Done."

I reached for the door handle.

"Levi. Hold on."

I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, letting out a slow breath before turning around.

Harlan was walking down the steps. He didn't have an umbrella, but he didn't seem to care about the drizzle dampening his tuxedo. Dante was walking a few paces behind him. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and looked bored out of his mind.

"I'm heading home, Father," I said. "It's late."

"You can send your driver away," Harlan said. He gestured to the massive stretch limousine idling just behind my car. "You're riding with us."

"I have a lot of emails to review," I lied smoothly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"The emails can wait." Harlan stopped in front of me. "Your brother doesn't have a ride back to the estate. You two need to bond before tomorrow morning anyway."

"He drove himself here," I pointed out. "I saw his car blocking the lane."

"I had the valets take it to the garage," Harlan said. He didn't leave room for an argument. "Get in the limo, Levi."

I looked past my father. Dante was watching me, his dark eyes catching the ambient light of the porch lamps. He wasn't smiling anymore, but the challenge was still right there in his posture. He wanted to see if I would actually disobey Harlan in public.

I could have argued. I could have made a scene. But Harlan wanted an audience, and several straggling investors were still lingering near the glass doors of the foyer.

"Fine," I said.

I nodded to Greer. She shut my car door and my driver pulled away, leaving me standing in the rain with the two men I despised most.

Harlan took the rear-facing seat inside the limo. I slid into the long bench seat facing forward. I expected Dante to sit next to Harlan.

Instead, Dante climbed in and dropped onto the leather seat right beside me.

The heavy door shut, sealing us in. The sound of the rain was instantly muted to a dull tap against the tinted glass. The privacy partition between us and the driver was already rolled up, leaving the back cabin completely isolated.

It was a spacious car. It was designed to comfortably seat six adults. But the second Dante sat down, the oxygen in the cabin seemed to vanish.

"Helene is staying at the hotel tonight with some of her out-of-town guests," Harlan announced, pouring himself a drink from the crystal decanter in the center console. "I have an early flight to Tokyo. You boys will have the estate to yourselves for the weekend."

"Great," Dante muttered.

Harlan took a sip of his scotch. "I expect a smooth transition on Monday. No drama."

"There won't be any," I said, staring out the window at the passing streetlights.

"See that there isn't."

Harlan spent the next ten minutes looking at his phone. The silence in the car was suffocating. I kept my gaze fixed firmly on the rain streaking across the glass.

I could smell him. Dante.

It wasn't cologne. It was something heavier. Smoke and leather. It filled the confined space of the limo, clinging to the expensive upholstery and settling into my lungs. It made my skin run hot. I hated it. I hated that I noticed it at all.

The limo took a sharp turn onto the highway on-ramp.

Dante didn't bother bracing himself. His weight shifted with the momentum of the car, and his shoulder bumped hard against mine.

A raw, electric jolt flared up my arm.

I flinched away, my muscles locking tight. I pressed myself closer to the door, putting an extra inch of space between us.

Dante glanced at me. He didn't apologize.

Two minutes later, the driver took another curve. Dante's knee brushed against my leg.

I turned my head and glared at him. "Sit still."

"It's a moving car, Levi," Dante said lazily. "Physics."

"You have three feet of space on your left. Use it."

"I'm comfortable right here."

Harlan didn't even look up from his screen. "Stop bickering like children."

I set my jaw and looked back out the window. My pulse was hammering in my throat. I tried to focus on the rhythmic thumping of the windshield wipers, but all I could focus on was the heat radiating off Dante's body.

The limo slowed down, pulling into the private terminal of the airport.

"I'll see you both next week," Harlan said, grabbing his briefcase.

He didn't wait for a response. The driver opened the door, and Harlan stepped out into the rain. The door slammed shut. The engine rumbled as the limo pulled away from the curb, heading back toward the main estate.

Now it was just the two of us.

The tension in the car spiked the second Harlan was gone. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, pretending to read a quarterly report. I just needed something to stare at so I didn't have to look at him.

"He's a warm guy," Dante said into the quiet car.

I didn't answer.

"Does he ever actually talk to you, or does he just issue commands?"

I scrolled down on my screen. "I don't discuss my father with outsiders."

"I'm not an outsider anymore. I'm the VP of Operations."

"A title he handed you," I said without looking up. "You didn't earn it."

Dante shifted in his seat. The leather creaked. He turned his body slightly so he was facing me. I could feel him studying me in the dim, shifting light of the streetlamps outside.

"You're wound so tight it's a miracle you haven't snapped your own neck," Dante said.

"I am trying to work."

"You're staring at a blank screen."

My thumb froze over the display. He was right. The phone had gone to sleep a minute ago, leaving me staring at my own dark reflection.

I clicked the screen on. "Mind your own business."

"You don't even know how to act like a normal person, do you?" Dante asked. He sounded genuinely curious, which just made me angrier. "You wear the suit, you say the lines. What do you actually do when you aren't kissing Harlan's ass?"

"I run a company."

"You run his company. What do you do for yourself?"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Do you even have a life? Friends? A girlfriend?" Dante laughed softly. "No, definitely no girlfriend. You probably give them a performance review after dinner."

I locked my phone and slipped it into my jacket pocket. "If you think you can provoke me, you are wasting your time."

"I'm just trying to figure out how someone gets this empty." Dante leaned back against the seat, stretching his long legs out. His shoe bumped against mine again. "I guess it makes sense. Look at your role model."

"Don't."

"My mom sure knows how to pick them. She found a guy who treats his family like a stock portfolio."

"Your mother is a gold digger who secured a pension. Don't pretend this is some great tragedy for her."

"At least she's alive enough to play the game," Dante shot back.

I went perfectly still.

"What did you say?" I asked softly.

Dante didn't back down. He was looking for the crack in the armor, and he just found it.

"I said, at least she knows how to survive. What did your mother do? Roll over and let Harlan walk all over her until she died? Guess the first wife didn't leave much of a legacy. Just a trust fund and a son who acts like a robot."

The insult hit me right in the chest.

My mother hadn't just rolled over. She had been systematically broken down, piece by piece, until there was nothing left. She died quietly because Harlan demanded silence.

I had spent my entire life building walls so no one could ever do that to me. I was untouchable. I was in control.

But the second Dante brought her up, the control vanished.

I didn't think. I just moved.

I dropped the corporate mask entirely. I twisted in my seat and leaned directly into his space, grabbing the lapels of his suit jacket with both hands. I shoved him back against the window.

Dante didn't even try to stop me.

"Listen to me very carefully," I said. My voice wasn't flat anymore. It was shaking with rage.

Our faces were inches apart. I could see the faint stubble on his jaw. I could see the dark, dangerous gleam in his eyes. The scent of smoke and leather was so thick I could taste it on my tongue.

"You think you are playing a game," I hissed. "You think you can walk into my building tomorrow and act like you belong there. You don't. You are a stray dog Harlan brought in for entertainment."

I tightened my grip on his jacket, pulling him a fraction of an inch closer just to make sure he heard every single word.

"If you mention my mother again," I warned, "I will dismantle you. If you step out of line at the office, I will ruin your reputation. I will humiliate you in front of the board, and I will make sure you walk out of Cross Industries with absolutely nothing."

I expected him to push me away. I expected him to throw a punch. He was a volatile guy who liked to solve problems with his fists.

Instead, Dante just looked at me.

He didn't flinch. He didn't blink. His eyes dropped to my mouth for a split second before snapping back up to meet my gaze.

A slow, heavy heat started building in the narrow space between us. It wasn't just anger anymore. It was something else. Something dense and suffocating that made the hair on my arms stand up.

My heart started hammering against my ribs, hard and fast. I suddenly realized how close we were. I could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt.

I tried to let go of his jacket. I needed to pull back and put distance between us.

But before I could move, Dante shifted.

He didn't push me away. He leaned in closer.

He completely erased the last few inches of space between us, tilting his head until his mouth was right next to my ear.

"You aren't going to ruin me, Levi," Dante whispered. His voice was gravelly and low, sending a violent shiver straight down my spine. "I'm going to take everything you think you own."