Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The North Bridge Ambush

The armored SUV tore through the rainy streets of the city like a silent predator.

Inside, the air was thick with the scent of gun oil and Dante’s heavy cologne. He sat across from me, his long legs taking up most of the space. He was cleaning a sleek, black handgun, his movements rhythmic and terrifyingly calm.

"We’re three minutes from the bridge," Lorenzo said from the front seat, checking his tactical watch. "The scouts report nothing. It’s quiet, Bianca. Too quiet."

"That’s because they’re already underneath," I said, my eyes glued to the digital map on the seat between us. "The Romanovs don't use the road. They use the maintenance catwalks."

Dante stopped cleaning his gun. He looked up, his icy blue eyes pinning me to the seat.

"If you're wrong," Lorenzo warned, "we’re sitting ducks on that bridge. Dante doesn't like being a target."

"I’m not wrong," I snapped. "Check the thermal sensors on the bridge supports. Now."

Lorenzo tapped a few keys on the dash. His face went pale.

"Multiple heat signatures... Christ, she’s right. They’re rigged to blow the supports the moment we reach the center."

The SUV screeched to a halt just yards from the bridge's entrance.

Dante didn't wait. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the car. The rain drenched us instantly, my purple dress clinging to my skin.

Boom.

The center of the bridge erupted in a ball of orange fire, exactly where we would have been five seconds later. Metal twisted and groaned as the asphalt collapsed into the black river below.

"Get down!" Lorenzo yelled.

Gunfire erupted from the shadows of the nearby warehouses. Dante didn't flinch. He shoved me behind the open door of the SUV and stepped into the line of fire.

He didn't speak. He just started firing.

Every shot he took was a kill. He moved with a brutal, mechanical grace, his face a mask of cold fury.

A bullet grazed the car door next to my head. I screamed, ducking lower.

Suddenly, a warm, heavy weight was over me. Dante had abandoned his cover to shield my body with his own. He pressed me against the side of the car, his heart thundering against my back.

"Dante, watch out!" I screamed.

A Romanov soldier emerged from the smoke, swinging a heavy iron pipe.

Dante didn't even use his gun. He caught the pipe mid-air with his bare hand and snapped the man's wrist like a dry twig. He delivered a kick that sent the soldier flying into the river.

He turned back to me, his chest heaving. His hand came up, blood smeared across his knuckles, and he gripped the back of my neck.

He didn't say a word, but his eyes were screaming.

Are you hurt?

"I'm fine," I breathed, my hands shaking as I grabbed his lapels. "But we have to move. The bridge was just the start. They’re flanking us from the docks now—three SUVs, coming fast."

Dante looked at Lorenzo and held up two fingers.

"Flank them at the intersection," Lorenzo translated, already barking orders into his radio. "Move!"

Dante hauled me back into the SUV. He didn't let go of my hand. His grip was bruising, a silent declaration that I wasn't going anywhere.

"You knew," I whispered as the car sped away, tires screeching. "You knew they would attack. You just wanted to see if I was smart enough to save us."

Dante looked at me. A slow, dark smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.

He reached out and traced the onyx ring on my finger.

He leaned in, his lips inches from my ear. The roar of the engine was loud, but his silence was louder.

He didn't speak, but he pulled a small, folded note from his pocket and dropped it in my lap.

I opened it.

The price just went up, little genius. Now, you owe me a soul.

"You're a monster," I whispered.

Dante didn't deny it. He just leaned back into the shadows of the car, watching me with the hunger of a man who had finally found a toy he couldn't break.