FAZER LOGINIsabella POV
He towered over me. “Alright, baby. Time to get in the van.”
I didn’t care that the fight was unfair. I didn’t care if pushing myself any further sent me into cardiac arrest. I would crawl to the damn street if I had to.
“Fuck. Off.” My arms trembled violently as I forced myself upright. My legs buckled immediately, but I kept moving, dragging myself forward inch by inch.
He gave a low whistle behind me. “Alirght I’ll admit it, you’re impressive. I’ve dropped men twice your size with this thing.”
He stalked after me at a casual pace, simply observing as I dragged myself away.
My fingers scraped the icy asphalt, nails cracking, skin burning with cold. If I could just stall long enough someone might pass by. Someone might see.
“I’ll tase you again, baby but this time, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive it.
“I’d rather die on the ground fighting than surrender to a piece of shit like you.”
He stopped walking. I didn’t dare look back. I didn’t want to know whether that irritated him or if he found me entertaining again, I had no energy left for caring. All I could do was crawl then lights flickered across the buildings. The faint wail of sirens cut through the frozen air.
Thank fucking God. “I’m here!” I screamed.
A patrol car skidded to the mouth of the alley. An officer stepped out, weapon raised ready to put a bullet in the monster behind me but the moment the cop saw my captor, everything changed.
His expression shifted fear? recognition? and he slowly lowered his gun. Without a word, he got back into the car. “No!”
I shoved myself onto my knees, flinging an arm wildly. “Help me!” The car pulled away. “No!”
I watched the taillights vanish, disbelief hollowing me out. Silence swallowed the street again, as if no one had ever been there.
The man knelt behind me, his knees pressing into my spine. His hand curled around my neck, lifting my chin so my eyes locked with his. He didn’t look triumphant.
He looked regretful, almost gentle. Then a sharp sting, a needle jammed into my neck and darkness swallowed me whole.
When I woke up, my cheek was pressed against a freezing window. I sat slumped in the van’s passenger seat, the engine rumbling beneath me. Snowy trees blurred past outside, the night pitch-black except for the headlights. The road was rough, jolting me with every bump.
My mind was slow, foggy from whatever he injected into me. Part of me wanted to sink back into unconsciousness until memory slammed back into place.
My captor, the alley and the body. I jerked upright.
We were deep in the wilderness, far from the city. Far from anyone who could help me, shit this was bad.
My hands and ankles weren’t tied. A small crack of hope, I let my eyes drift, pretending to still be unconscious. If I waited for the perfect moment, maybe I could grab the wheel. Maybe I could force the van off the road. Maybe I’d break a bone maybe he’d die and that would be beautiful. His deep voice disrupted the silence. “I know you’re awake, baby.”
Of course he did. The radio was off; only the hum of the engine and the shifting corpse in the back filled the air. I heard my purse slide with each turn too. God, if I could just reach it.
“Where are we?” I forced out. “Lake Riva.” My stomach dropped.
Northern Italy. Which meant we’d passed right by Varos’s home and Rhylen’s. If I’d stayed even one more night, if I’d taken a different route, if I’d done anything differently. I wouldn’t be on my way to a frozen lake where he could dump my body without witnesses. “I’m not going to let you drown me in that lake.”
He gave an amused huff. “I don’t think you’re in a position to negotiate.” “For now,” I muttered. “But trust me, I will be.” His grin stretched slow and wide.
“I’ve never had a prisoner like you. The others cry. They beg, they don’t fight back. You’re an anomaly.”
“Because you don’t want to mess with me.” “Ironic,” he said. “Because you don’t want to mess with me either.”
He finally turned to glance at me. Even with his face hardened and guarded, he was unfairly handsome. Carved jawline, cold blue eyes, a face too perfect for the monster wearing it.
Men like him weren’t supposed to be serial killers. He could’ve had a normal life. A better life. “Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, baby.”
Ugh. I hated that word more each time he used it. “Why kill innocent men in dark alleys?”
“Who says he was innocent?” he shot back. “He might’ve been worse than me.”
“Because you took me,” I snapped. “And I’m pretty damn innocent.” A smirk curved his lips.
“You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Innocent or not, I can’t let you walk away.”
“Why?” I demanded. “The police are terrified of you. Who could I possibly tell?”
His hand clenched tighter around the wheel. Frost crept across the window edges, the heater barely keeping up with the brutal cold. “I know who you are, Isabella Conti,” he said. “And there are people far more dangerous than the police.”
A shock of cold shot through my vein, a new level of fear. I had prayed he didn’t know. Prayed he thought I was nobody.
Something had changed the moment he saw my ID in my purse. Once he recognized my surname, everything shifted.
If he let me go now, my family would erase him from existence. The Contis were more lethal than any police department and hknew it.
My palms grew slick despite the freezing temperature. Even if I could reach my phone, there was no chance of reception out here. This was bad.
I’d barely escaped Rowan a month ago and now this. Only this man was worse, smarter, stronger and far more dangerous but that didn’t mean I’d stop trying.
My father had been so proud when I got away last time. The pride had been obvious on his face. I needed to earn that again.
I lunged across the console, grabbing the steering wheel. If I could jerk it hard enough, the van would slam into a snowbank or a tree. Even if it hurt me, it could kill him. I wrenched the wheel left but his grip was iron.
He slammed his foot on the gas, sending the van flying down the icy road. He turned his head toward me, his expression something out of the underworld dark, fearless, mocking.
He kept the van perfectly straight with one hand. He dared me, he dared me to try again. I yanked the wheel harder. His grip didn’t budge.
We hit ninety, ninety miles per hour on ice. If I kept this up, we’d hit a tree and die instantly but he didn’t care. He wasn’t afraid of death. He was daring me to choose it.
Dante POV“Okay…” She cleared her throat, concentrating on my eyes. “I just”, I dropped the towel in front of her, not caring if she looked at my dick even when I was soft, I was impressive but when I was hard, I was a behemoth..“Uh…wow…okay.”I turned to my dresser and pulled out a pair of black boxers, a wide grin on my face. I pulled them up to my waist then turned back to her. “I’ve seen you naked, now you’ve seen me.”Isabella cheeks were slightly red, despite her olive skin and it was the first time she appeared somewhat flustered even when I threw her on the floor and threatened to kill her, she didn’t lose her cool but looking at my fat cock made her shy.It was cute, I stood in front of her in just my black boxers. “Yes?”She crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her tits tightly together. “Are you going to finish getting dressed?”“I am dressed.” Some people thought a suit or armor was the most intimidating clothes to wear, but I disagreed.A strong naked man was far more
Isabella POVMy thoughts faded away as dante kissed me harder, giving me his tongue. He breathed into my mouth and moaned directly into my lungs and his hand dug into my hair, fisting it as he gathered more hair into his grasp.My hands explored his body, feeling the slabs of concrete all over his physique, his pecs were thick like rocks, and his stomach was marked with grooves between his eight pack even his skin was hot like fire, and my fingertips burned as I touched him. My hands moved to his back next, and I felt all the muscles I’d already stared at.He was so powerful and the most powerful man I’d ever touched. I felt like I was touching a beast that couldn’t be tamed. He was all man, from head to toe. I’d never been with a man who felt so purely masculine.Dante even kissed me better than any man ever had and nothing about this was romantic. It was carnal and instinctual, but it frothed with distinct passion.How could I enjoy kissing someone I hated?I moved for his jeans nex
Isabella POVMy heart slammed against my ribs. “You’re… going to do it?”Dante paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked back at me, those sharp blue eyes unreadable. “I already told you, Isabella.It doesn’t matter that I respect you. It doesn’t matter that I’m attracted to you.” His voice was calm too calm. “This is bigger than both of us. I will kill you. And I won’t lose sleep over it.”When the door opened again, he stood in the same clothes, his presence darker than before.I stayed on the bed, unable to move. “We can do this the easy way,” he said flatly, “or the hard way.”A tremor rolled through me. My time was up and my family didn’t even know I was missing. My mother would break and my father… I’d never seen him cry, but he would.I wanted to beg not for my life, but to spare them the pain. “How?” My throat tightened. “How are you going to do it?”He stepped inside the room, gaze empty. “You’re better off not knowin
Isabella POVDante led me up the staircase without a word. His presence filled the narrow hallway, his shoulders nearly brushing the walls as he guided me toward a room on the second floor. “Michael left clothes for you on the bed,” he said quietly as he opened the door. He didn’t step inside or wait.He simply turned away, dismissing me as if the conversation were already over and my confusion only deepened. “I thought you were planning to kill me.”He paused, turning slowly. He was still shirtless his shirt and jacket had been soaked through with his own blood even injured, he looked carved from something stronger than stone.He was massive, tall enough to feel like a wall and dangerous enough to make the air feel charged.The only soft part of him was his eyes those unreal blue eyes. They didn’t match the violence in his posture or the cruelty in his voice.They were too warm, too beautiful, far too gentle to belong to a ma
Dante POVIf she knew how stunning she looked when fury lit her face, she’d weaponize it. A shame beauty didn’t earn mercy. I still planned to kill her and drop her body at the Barsetti estate like a message carved in bone. She was paying for the sins of her parents, the same way I’d paid for mine. “They destroyed everything I had.” Her voice quieted. “How?”“They murdered my father. After that, his enemies stripped my mother of every cent, every piece of protection he ever had. She had nothing left not even safety. She turned to prostitution just to feed us.” My jaw tightened. “A client killed her and dumped her in a trash bin. When I was ten.”For the first time since she’d fallen into my world, Isabella sharp eyes softened. The anger didn’t vanish, but it shifted like she’d opened a window to let in compassion she didn’t want to feel. “I’m sorry about your mother.”She didn’t say it lightly. Isabella didn’t apologiz
Dante POVThe woman’s name was Isabella Conti, black hair like ink, olive skin kissed by the Italian sun, and those striking green eyes that cut straight through the dark. The first time I saw her, I was seconds away from carving her open right there on the sidewalk. The knife was already in my hand when a sliver of light hit her face and I recognized her.I didn’t plan it, I didn’t stalk her. She simply crossed the wrong alley at the perfect moment. I don’t believe in destiny, but I do believe in karma and karma delivers exactly what’s owed.She walked right to me because she was meant to. Because I needed her. Because the blood war wasn’t over it had only been sleeping.I drove away from the lake and turned left, steering up the winding mountain road toward the property I’d bought years ago. No neighbors or witnesses. Just unforgiving terrain and the perfect isolation for the things I needed to do.Isabella was silent bes







