ログインDANTE’S POVI walked through the penthouse slowly that night with no destination in mind, every room feeling empty even though nothing had changed physically, and the quiet pressed against my ears until it became impossible to ignore my own thoughts, which had been circling the same memories again and again since Lily disappeared.I stopped in the hallway outside her room and stared at the door longer than I should have, my hand hovering near the handle before I finally pushed it open and stepped inside, letting the door close behind me as I stood there breathing in the space she had occupied for months, and I sat on the edge of the bed without turning on the lights because I did not need them to remember her.“She was acting strange,” I said aloud to no one, my voice low and rough.I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, my hands clasped together tightly.“She was quiet,” I continued, “always distracted, always somewhere else.”The more I replayed it, the heavier my chest felt, because
Dante’s POV“I don’t understand how someone could just erase her like she never existed,” I said, my hands clenching around the edges of my desk so hard I thought I might leave a mark on the wood and I could feel the tension twisting in my stomach because everything about this felt unreal and wrong, like someone had reached into my life and pulled out the part that mattered most and left a vacuum behind.Trevor Calder, who had been my friend since before I had any reason to trust anyone outside my circle, just stood there leaning against the doorframe of my study with that calm ex-military expression I had come to rely on when nothing else made sense, and he said, “Dante, I am not going to sugarcoat it for you, the people who did this to her, they knew exactly what they were doing and they left nothing behind to track, nothing that even someone like me could follow and I have seen a lot of things in my time that people would think were impossible but this is something different, this
DANTE’S POVI was standing in the center of the control room of my private security headquarters and the hum of computers and monitors was like a background pulse I could not ignore because my mind had been racing ever since I found out that Lily was missing and the room itself felt too small and too quiet for the chaos I felt pressing down in my chest as I stared at dozens of screens stacked on top of each other showing feeds from every camera on the property and beyond, but every time I looked at one I saw nothing I needed, nothing that gave me the slightest clue, nothing that made sense, nothing except empty rooms and static air and the faint shimmer of time passing too slowly and my fingers curled into fists at my sides because every second she remained missing made the panic grow a little more inside me.I swore under my breath when I realized the feed from the east gate had been cut and jumped hours ahead, leaving only the image of a black SUV leaving the premises and then nothi
DANTE’S POVI left work earlier than planned and rushed through meetings I normally would have dragged out just to assert control, because my mind had been elsewhere all day and no amount of discipline could force it back into place, and every time someone spoke to me I found myself nodding while thinking about the way Lily had looked at me the last time we were together, present in body but distant in a way that irritated me more than anger ever could.She had been quiet for days and not the kind of quiet that comes with comfort but the kind that feels guarded and tense, and the last time we had sex she barely reacted, barely responded, her eyes unfocused and her movements automatic until I finally stopped and told her to leave, because I had no interest in touching someone who was not actually there with me.I told myself she was adjusting.I told myself she was learning what it meant to be with me and that this was part of it.I also told myself that if she had something to say the
LILY’S POVGeneva’s eyes dropped to the table beside me where my phone was lying and before I could even react she reached for it casually like she was picking up something unimportant, and I felt a sharp pull of panic in my chest as I watched her turn it over in her hand slowly, studying it for half a second before tossing it onto the floor without warning.“No,” I said immediately, my voice cracking as I twisted against the ropes.She did not even look at me as she lifted her heel and brought it down hard on the screen, the sound sharp and final as glass split beneath her shoe, and I felt something inside me collapse because that phone had been the only thin fragile hope I had been holding onto since waking up in this place.“Stop,” I whispered desperately.She pressed her heel down again, grinding slightly, then stepped back and finally looked at me with a small satisfied smile.“You were counting on that,” she said calmly.My throat tightened and tears burned my eyes as the truth
LILY’S POVThe messages did not stop after that first morning.At first it was just one clip.Then another.Then another again.Short pieces of the video that I knew too well, pieces cut out of the recording I had stupidly made that night in the hotel, and every time a new message appeared my chest tightened a little more because whoever was behind it clearly had the full video and they were not shy about proving it.I sat on the edge of my bed one afternoon staring at the screen while another message came in.Unknown: Such a pretty moment.My fingers tightened around the phone.“You are bluffing,” I muttered quietly to myself.I typed back quickly.Me: What do you wantThe typing bubble appeared and disappeared before another message came in.Unknown: Maybe I should sell it.My stomach twisted when I read that.“Sell it where,” I whispered under my breath.I typed again.Me: Nobody would dare do thatMe: Do you even know who he isA few seconds passed.Then another message came in.U
Lily’s PovI woke up angry and my body was hot and my panties were wet again from the same dream. Dante's hand was around my throat, squeezing the air out of me while his eyes burned into mine. I hated that I liked it, I hated that my body reacted this way when my mind was full of rage. I threw th
Dante POVThe sun was barely up, but the house already felt too small. I was heading toward the kitchen when a sound stopped me dead. It was Lily—laughing. It wasn’t the polite, forced laugh she gave me; it was bright, genuine, and intimate."Oh, Kelvin, stop it," she giggled through her bedroom do
Lily's POVI stood in the doorway of his bedroom, frozen. The air felt thick, like I was trying to breathe underwater. My heart hammered against my ribs, but it wasn't the fast, excited beat I felt when he looked at me. This was a cold, sharp thumping.Dante was sitting in his large leather chair.
Dante's PovThe next morning I was at my house before the sun was up. I called all the staff into the main living room. The cook, the cleaner, the gardener, and the two security guards who worked the night shift. They stood there, nervous and avoiding my eyes. I was not in the mood for games. I nee







