เข้าสู่ระบบDANTE Before I could unlock the door and step inside, it opened and Oliver stood there in front of me.I noticed the bruises I had left on him were as visible as mine and weren't fairing well either. His blue eyes met mine for a fleeting second before he looked away and walked past me. I closed my eyes and inhaled sharply. I already had a word with my father, his insistent in wanting to go through the marriage he had arranged with Fernando and giving me bullshit reasons like he was doing it all for me had already fucked with my mind enough. I didn't need this.Through all of my fuckups and what life threw at me, Allister and Oliver were always there. And I couldn’t have this ruined for me."Oliver..." I called out to him.No matter how fúcking annoying he could get, and what he does, even if he tested my patience and sanity by going after Seraphina like that, I couldn’t break years of our friendship.He paused on the steps. I walked back to him and stood beside him, looking out a
SERAPHINA Silence stretched around us, seeming to cocoon us both in it. And it didn't feel uncomfortable because I could tell that Oliver was also lost in his own thoughts while my mind kept replaying how Dante had stared at me and then left without answering my question, if he could ever bring himself to love me? Was he even capable of it?I turned to look at the man beside me. And somehow his earlier outburst because he was hurt made sense. Of course, it wasn't something I'd ever do. Turning violent. But I understood him a little. And I knew if I asked Oliver the same question I had asked Dante, his answer would be the one I wanted from Dante.My eyes dropped to his swollen lips again, the bruise near his eye and the sadness clinging to him that matched mine. And maybe it was my own emotional baggage, my own guilt, or my own heartbreak, or just me needing someone to comfort what felt cracked inside me that I leaned closer to him."Oliver...""Hmm?"My fingertips touched his chee
SERAPHINA Dante left me alone long enough to get dressed.I changed into a loose crop tee and a long skirt that he had brought for me from my bedroom. And my mind instantly went back to what he had said before leaving, "I'll make some space in the closet for your clothes."It had left me speechless and long after he was gone, I had stood there staring at the door wondering what it meant.A part of me that had never gotten what I desired and what made me happy wondered if there was something I was missing. How could he change so much in just a few days?Now as I stood in front of the mirror, combing my tangled hair, the door opened and Dante walked in carrying a breakfast tray.He placed it on the small table beside the bed before coming toward me."Let me." He took the comb from my fingers and stood behind me as he slowly ran it through my hair. He used his fingers to smooth out the bi
ALLISTERBy the time I reached the kitchen, Dante and Oliver were still throwing punches."For fuck's sake."I moved between them before either of them could land another blow."Enough!"Neither listened.Dante shoved Oliver back, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle ticking. And there was a trail of blood trickling from the corner of his lips. Oliver came at him again. Not caring that one of his eyes was close to swelling shut and there was a bruise near his jaw.I caught him from behind and dragged him back."Oliver, stop it!""Get the fuck off me!""No."He struggled against my hold, his eyes fixed on Dante.Dante wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared right back at him. His dark eyes raging with murder.Neither of them looked willing to back down.
SERAPHINA I woke up with a jerk. The nightmare clinging to me like a snake around my throat.Only when I took in a deep breath and smelled his familiar scent that I relaxed, realising that I was here in Dante's bedroom and not in that vile man's clutches.I pulled the sheets up to my face, and inhaling the his scent that felt warm and safe, wrapped in his sheets, I forgot the nightmare as I became aware of the pleasant ache all over my body.My lips started to pull up in a smile, but when I opened my eyes and saw that once again Dante hadn’t slept beside me on the bed, something bitter curled inside me. I didn't know why he wouldn't sleep in the same bed as me. Until now it hadn’t bothered me as much as it did in that moment, especially after last night. The way he had... treated me... how soft he had been, how gentle and how affectionate... Then why won't he sleep beside me? W
DANTEI hated my time behind the bars.And would never wish it even on my worst enemy.But now as I sat there, looking across the bedroom where Seraphina slept in my bed, I realised I wanted to keep her. I wanted it enough to cage her. I never wanted her to step out of this bedroom or this house. Somehow in the span of a day, from this morning to now, she managed to break open something inside me that I didn't even know was there.And now I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could make that happen. She sighed in her sleep as if my thoughts touched her soft skin. And my gaze moved over her face, noticing the soft curve of her cheek. Her lashes resting against her skin. Her swollen, pink lips, slightly parted as she breathed.Those lips reminded me how softly she had kissed me even when I had caused her pain, filling her virgin cúnt with







