Chapter 3: Bought My Enemies Daughter

Dante's POV

The moment our eyes met, it was sealed in blood, fate, and vengeance. She was going to be mine.

Lorenzo Giovanni’s daughter. Innocent. Untouched. She was the price, and I would collect in full.

She would carry her father’s punishment on that delicate, beautiful body.

And in time, she would beg for mercy, the same mercy he never showed when he murdered my wife, stole my mafia seat, and left my world in ruins, destroying everything I loved and everything I fought so hard to protect.

My men had been tracking her ever since the night we raided her father’s estate and she escaped with her aunt. Days passed, then the word came. Vincenzo had her, and she was being auctioned off to pay for her bastard father’s debt. That was all I needed... it was time.

She stood trembling, her skin glowing beneath the dim lighting. A slender waist gave way to soft curves and hips, leading down to long legs barely hidden beneath that thin, provocative excuse for a dress. She had the kind of body men killed for. This was the beauty Lorenzo tried to hide from the world. Too bad he failed.

My jaw clenched as I sat in the dark, watching beasts in tailored suits toss out numbers like they were bidding on meat. The worst of them, Diallo, was a bloated excuse for a man. He licked his lips as he shouted out bids. Every time his greedy eyes raked over her, I wanted to rip them out of his skull.

I should have looked away. I didn’t.

Mine.

The word echoed in my head over and over again. She was mine. And no amount of money or legacy would change that.

When I rose from my seat, the entire room quieted. She saw me. Our eyes met. I didn’t expect the heat, how fast and intense it came. Her face was innocent. Eyes wide. Terrified, yes, but I could also sense the defiance. Like part of her would rather die than surrender.

Good. I liked a little fire before I crushed it.

Her lips parted slightly, trembling. She stepped back, like she’d seen a ghost. And maybe she had. Because if she remembered the night I shot her father, she certainly remembered me.

The more I walked toward her, the clearer her face became... and fuck. She was stunning. Too stunning. And it infuriated me that she stood there, exposed, in front of those callous monsters who had only one thought in mind, to ruin her. But that was never going to happen. Because she was meant to be my retribution. Not theirs to ogle. Not theirs to claim.

Now, standing in front of her, every breath I took burned, not from hatred, but from a primal need. She looked so young. So fragile. But I didn’t care. I was a man consumed by vengeance. And I was far too gone to turn back now.

Vincenzo smirked from the stage. “Looks like Lorenzo’s brat is going home with you.”

I didn’t bother looking at him. “My men will handle the payment. I’m done here. She’s coming with me.”

I reached for her.

Then the pig barked.

“Not so fast.”

Diallo.

I turned slowly, gaze narrowing on his bloated, sweaty face. Of all the cowards in the room, he was the one foolish enough to challenge me.

“If none of these men have the balls to speak up,” he said smugly, “I will. You know the rules, De Luca. You don’t just buy the girl and walk out.”

He sneered, licking his dry, cracked lips.

“You fuck her in the viewing room, so we all get to watch.”

My chest tightened with fury. It took everything in me not to smash my fist into his face.

“You dare challenge me, Diallo?” I growled. “You filthy swine.”

He puffed his chest like the bloated pig he was. “If no one else will, I will. We all want a taste of Lorenzo’s precious little virgin. Just because you’re king of the seven territories doesn’t mean you get to keep all the fun for yourself.”

The crowd erupted in vicious chants. Their eyes moved back to Gianna, who stood frozen in fear.

I should have felt satisfied. But I didn’t. What I felt was something closer to rage, not at her, but at them. These men had no right to touch her. No right to even look at her.

Yes, I was going to break her. Yes, I was going to use her body strictly for my pleasure. But not in front of these animals. Never.

I turned to Vincenzo, who simply lifted his hands and shrugged. “Rules are rules, Dante. You know how it goes.”

There was no way I was going to claim her in front of them. The first time I took her would be on my terms. In my bed.

I looked down at her body, the lush swell of her breasts, the curve of her thighs, the way she fidgeted.

No. No one touches her.

Possession coursed through me like fire.

I turned to Vincenzo. “You know this is bullshit.”

He shrugged again, greedy eyes glinting. “Tradition, Don Dante. My hands are tied.”

Liar. Everything with Vincenzo had a price. Including this.

So I named mine.

“Ten million. Now.”

Vincenzo’s eyes widened. And just like that, he folded. “Sold. She’s yours. Get her out of here.”

I wasn’t surprised. Vincenzo was a greedy bastard. For men like him, tradition crumbled the second real money hit the table.

He turned to the crowd. “She’s been bought and paid for. Back off.”

The room exploded in noise. Chaos erupted as Vincenzo’s guards shoved men back.

“No. We want to watch.”

“She’s not yours alone, De Luca.”

“Tap that little cunt for the rest of us.”

That was Diallo again. His fat mouth flapped like he forgot who he was speaking to.

But I didn’t waste another second.

I walked straight to her. Her eyes widened as I grabbed her arm, warm, soft, trembling like a leaf, and yanked her toward me.

There was a spark when I touched her. Something electric. But I didn’t stop to question it.

I slung her over my shoulder as she yelped.

“No. No, where are you taking me?” she screamed. “Put me down. Let me go.”

Her fists pounded against my back as I carried her into the hallway.

“Where are you taking me? Let me go.”

Her screams grated on my nerves. I clenched my jaw. Ungrateful. Didn’t she realize I’d just saved her from a room full of predators?

Then she yelled, “Murderer.”

Of course she remembered. She saw me shoot her father. Saw the blood. Heard the gunfire from both me and my men. Her scream that night, raw and broken, still echoed in my mind. The way she looked at me, like I had ripped her world apart.

And I had.

She looked like she wanted to tear me limb from limb. She would have tried, if her aunt hadn’t dragged her away.

Now, her reaction made sense. But what she didn’t know was what I had planned for her.

She kicked again, and I stopped mid-step. My voice dropped into a growl. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I just saved your ass.”

Over my shoulder, she raged. “Saved me? You bought me, you savage. You’re no better than them.”

“Keep screaming,” I warned, “and I’ll find a way to punish that smart little mouth of yours.”

Her voice cracked with fury. “I know you. I know what you did. You’re the one who shot my father.”

I turned my head slightly as her words echoed through the air.

“You bought me to finish the job, didn’t you?”

She started screaming again, loud, desperate, as we stepped out into the cold night air.

“Help me.”

My men opened the car door. I tossed her inside the back seat like a ragdoll and climbed in after her.

She recoiled instantly, pressing herself into the door like it could swallow her whole.

“Don’t hurt me,” she whimpered. “I know who you are. You killed my father. And now you’re going to kill me.”

I gritted my teeth, voice low and vicious. “Don’t talk. Or I will shut you up. Permanently.”

She started pounding on the window with trembling hands.

“Help.”

Fucking hell. I knew she was a spoiled brat, but I hadn’t expected this.

My patience snapped. I reached for her, grabbing her wrists. Before she could scream again, I clamped a hand over her mouth. Her cries turned into muffled sobs, her eyes wide and wild with panic.

Then precisely, I pressed my fingers to the side of her neck, just beneath her jaw.

Her body jolted. And within seconds, she slumped in my arms.

I didn’t intend to hurt her. Not yet. I just needed silence.

Her body sagged against me, unconscious now. Peaceful. Too peaceful for the fire I knew lived inside her.

I stared at her for a long moment. She looked like an angel in my arms. An angel with the mouth of a viper.

It was going to be fun breaking and taming her. Because no matter how much she screamed, she belonged to me now.

And she was going to learn the hard way what it meant to surrender to me.