Chapter 5 : Secrets

Morning light cut through the curtains like knives.

I woke up alone.

The bed was cold. Dante’s side was empty, but his pillow still smelled like cedarwood and rain.

My legs were shaking when I stood. The torn dress was still on me. A reminder.

I splashed water on my face and pulled on the black silk robe hanging in the closet. His robe. It swallowed me.

The penthouse was too quiet.

I moved down the hall, bare feet silent on the rug, until I heard voices behind the double doors of Dante’s study.

“...no sign of him past the docks, Boss,” a man said.

Lorenzo.

I pressed myself against the wall next to the cracked door.

“Then he had help,” Dante’s voice came through, calm and deadly. “A man doesn’t disappear from my building unless someone in my house is incompetent. Or a traitor.”

“Marco Rossi’s men were near the perimeter last night,” Lorenzo said. “Could be a scout.”

A pause.

“There’s something else,” Lorenzo added, quieter. “You’ve never kept a woman who talked to you like she did last night. Yet she’s still in your bed.”

My stomach dropped.

“Elena is an investment,” Dante said. Low. Dangerous. “How I manage my assets isn’t your concern. Double the search. If Julian Mercer is in my city, I want him.”

Julian was alive.

Relief hit me so hard my knees almost gave out.

But then Lorenzo said a name that froze me.

“Marco Rossi.”

My blood turned to ice.

Leo.

Three weeks ago. Visitation room. Orange jumpsuit. Scared eyes.

_"Elena, you can’t trust anyone,"_ Leo had whispered through the glass. _"But someone’s watching me in here."_

_"Who?"_

_"Marco."_

Marco Rossi. Dante’s enemy. The monster who ran the rival syndicate.

_"He’s using you, Leo,"_ I’d hissed. _"He’ll kill you."_

_"No,"_ Leo said, and for the first time he didn’t look scared. He looked... safe. _"He keeps me safe. In his private block. No one touches me."_

My brother. In bed with Dante’s worst enemy.

And Julian had been running messages between them. That’s why he was on my balcony. Not to save me. To warn me.

“Elena.”

The word cut through my thoughts.

I hadn’t heard the doors open.

Dante stood in the doorway. Suit perfect. Eyes stormy. Lorenzo behind him, watching me like a hawk.

Caught.

“Eavesdropping is dangerous for a captive bird,” Dante said, stepping toward me.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping,” I lied, gripping the belt of the robe. “I was looking for you. Wanted to know if your dogs killed my friend.”

Dante stopped in front of me. Close.

His hand came up and wrapped around the back of my neck. Same spot as last night. Thumb pressed under my jaw.

“He escaped,” he murmured. “For now.”

My breath caught.

“But if he comes near my house again,” Dante continued, breath hot on my lips, “I’ll put him down. And you’ll watch.”

“Then do it,” I snapped, even though my heart was pounding. “He’s not yours to threaten.”

Dante’s eyes narrowed. “No?”

“No. You don’t own me.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “We’ll see about that tonight.”

He let go and turned to Lorenzo. “Car. Now. We’re going out.”

“Where?” I asked.

Dante looked at me over his shoulder. “To show my wife her new reality.”

---

The car was silent. Armored. Black.

Dante sat next to me, scrolling through his phone. Lorenzo drove. Two other guards in the front.

I stared out the window, trying to breathe.

Docks. Warehouses. Graffiti. This was Rossi territory.

My hands were fists in my lap.

“Relax,” Dante said without looking up. “You look like you’re about to bolt.”

“Maybe I am.”

He finally looked at me. “Try it and I’ll chain you to the bed.”

I glared. “You’re obsessed.”

“I’m thorough.”

The car stopped in front of a massive warehouse. Rossi’s tag was spray-painted on the wall.

Dante got out first. Guards fanned out.

He held the door open for me. “Come.”

Inside was worse. Blood on the floor. Chairs overturned. And in the center, tied to a metal chair, was a man I didn’t recognize. Beaten bad.

Dante walked up to him slowly.

“Where’s Mercer?” Dante asked.

The man spat blood. “Fuck you.”

Dante sighed. Pulled out his gun. Not the silenced one. The loud one.

“Wrong answer.”

_Bang._

The sound echoed and I flinched. The man slumped.

I covered my mouth, bile rising.

Dante turned to me. No remorse. Just watching.

“This is what happens to people who lie to me, Elena,” he said quietly. “This is what happens to people who hide things from me.”

“Stop,” I whispered.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

I shook my head. Too fast.

Dante’s eyes sharpened. He knew.

He walked to me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me close. “Last chance. Who’s Julian running messages for?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.”

His grip tightened. Not enough to bruise. Just enough to hurt.

“Lorenzo,” Dante said, not looking away from me. “Search her phone.”

Panic. “You can’t—”

“I can.”

Lorenzo took my phone from my robe pocket before I could stop him.

Dante leaned in. “If I find one text from Mercer. One. I’m going to assume you’re working with Rossi.”

“I’m not.”

“Then you have nothing to hide.”

Lorenzo unlocked it. Scrolled.

My heart was hammering. I’d deleted Julian’s texts. Hadn’t I?

Lorenzo held up the phone. “Clean, Boss. Nothing from the last 24 hours.”

Dante didn’t let go of me. “Interesting.”

“What?”

“You’re either very good at covering your tracks... or you’re telling the truth.”

He dropped my wrist.

“Let’s go.”

Back in the car, no one spoke.

Dante kept staring at me. Like he was trying to see through my skin.

Finally he spoke. “You’re scared. But not of me.”

I didn’t answer.

“Who are you protecting, Elena?”

I looked out the window. “No one.”

He was quiet for a long time. Then: “Fine. But tonight, you sleep with me. And tomorrow, we’re having dinner with my father.”

My head snapped to him. “Your father?”

“The Don emeritus,” Dante said. “He wants to meet the girl I married to settle a debt. You’ll smile. You’ll be perfect. Or I’ll assume you have something to hide.”

The car pulled into the garage.

Dante got out and held the door for me.

As we walked to the elevator, my phone buzzed in Lorenzo’s hand.

Lorenzo looked at the screen. Frowned.

He showed it to Dante.

Unknown number.

> _We have your brother. If you want him alive, come alone. - M_

Dante’s face went completely blank.

He looked at me.

And I knew.

Marco had Leo.

And he just invited Dante to a war.