In the car, Natalie felt her legs go numb. She roughly removed her stilettos, making Dante smirk. He wanted to see how far she could go with her pretense.
Women who make it in the modeling industry are not weak. They were sometimes cunning, seductive, and deceptive. Dante was very wary of those types of women. The car was moving toward Manhattan. Natalie didn’t say a word to Dante during the ride because she was in a bad mood. After nearly an hour, they finally arrived at a five-star hotel in the city center. Dante watched Natalie, who still hadn’t put on her stilettos. She looked so reluctant to move, as if she wanted to stay in the car. “Why aren’t you wearing your shoes yet?” “Tell me what your plan is, who we’re meeting, and what I should do,” Natalie replied with a flat expression. If she wanted to escape, then she had to know the situation. The man raised the corner of his lips. He reached into his coat pocket for something. A beautiful diamond ring appeared in his hand. “Nothing special. I just wanted to show my fiancée to someone else.” He took Natalie’s left hand, putting the ring on her finger. The corners of his lips turned up even wider when he saw her sharp gaze. It was clear she didn’t like his gift. “You’ll do it, won’t you?” asked Dante, his hand caressing the nape of her neck. “You won’t let me refuse,” Natalie replied sarcastically. Dante smiled in satisfaction. He suddenly squatted down and grabbed Natalie’s ankles. Slowly, he put on her stilettos, even though he knew they weren’t her size. His demeanor was gentle, as if he truly considered her his queen. Natalie hated him even more just because of that. Dante was toying with her. He was torturing her in a gentle way. It was more cruel than just hitting her. “You need to be nice, sweetheart. I’m not someone who doesn’t know how to pay others. If your acting is satisfactory tonight, I will certainly give you a reward,” he whispered in a sweet way. However, Natalie wasn’t going to be fooled. A man’s words are always full of lies, especially a man like Dante. Why trust a criminal? It is better to risk her life to escape. “What’s your name?” asked Natalie, her amber eyes looking straight into Dante’s gray eyes. “I’ve earned the right to know, haven’t I?” Dante smiled beneath her feet. His hands squeezed her thighs sensually. “My name is Dante. Ramadante Vittorio.” “You’re Italian.” Natalie had guessed it long ago. Dante’s good looks were not American. “One hundred percent.” They stared at each other with their hidden thoughts. Until someone tapped on the car window. Natalie immediately turned her head and pushed Dante’s hand away. “Okay, that’s enough introductions. We’re already late,” Dante said as he opened the car door. He got out and opened the door on Natalie’s side. His hand led her out. Natalie was being nice, letting Dante take her hand and treat her like a real couple. She endured the pain in each of her footsteps. The glittering stilettos were stiff. The longer she walked, the more her heels and fingertips chafed. She forced a friendly face as she passed people, not asking a single question when Dante led her to the ballroom on the top floor. The better she acted, the more she felt her intentions were well hidden. Alex and two bodyguards followed them from behind. That level of security would be difficult for Natalie. However, she would try to create a moment. The large, luxurious hotel ballroom was already crowded with people. Many men in ties and women in beautiful dresses had gathered. They were all clapping to celebrate someone’s birthday. Dante’s arrival was late, and it caught the attention of several people. A middle-aged man who had just blown out his birthday candles immediately exclaimed, “Dante, come here!” Dante hugged Natalie’s waist and brought her to the center of attention. He lazily extended his hand to Charles. “Happy birthday, Charles.” Charles smiled broadly. He asked everyone to enjoy the party, then turned back to Dante. His attention was immediately drawn to a beautiful woman in a maroon dress who was none other than Natalie. “Who is this beautiful woman?” Charles asked curiously. Natalie pretended to smile embarrassedly. “He just proposed to me last week.” “Really?” Charles felt surprised. He looked skeptically at Dante. Then he looked at Natalie with a furrowed brow. “How much did he offer you?” “You mean....” Natalie didn’t understand. “Don’t mind him.” Dante kissed her cheek. “Even though I didn’t invite anyone, that doesn’t mean our engagement is fake, does it?” Natalie’s brow furrowed, wondering what was going on between the two men. Dante gave her a sharp look, so she nodded. “It was done simply, but Dante never plays games with me.” She showed her diamond ring proudly to Charles. “I’d kill him if he just played me,” she said lightly. Her words were somewhere between honest and joking. Dante looked down and smiled mockingly. His hands squeezed her waist. “My future wife is very possessive,” he commented. Charles sighed. “All right. So, what’s her name?” “Cavendish Smith,” Dante replied. “She brought you a present.” Charles wasn’t the only one surprised. Natalie was too. At that moment, Alex came in carrying a gift box of unknown contents and handed it to Charles. “Please.” Charles looked at Natalie with a beaming smile. “Thank you, Miss Smith.” Natalie just nodded and smiled slightly. She had no idea Dante had prepared for such a thing. However, it had nothing to do with her. She would just go with the flow. “You don’t disappoint me, Dante. Then come with me. I won’t break my promise,” Charles said. Dante took Natalie’s hand and squeezed it. He leaned over, whispering in her ear, “I would be very happy if you would wait for me here.” “I will,” she replied, her lips lifting into an alluring smile. The corners of Dante’s eyes narrowed. He turned and looked at the two bodyguards, who were faithfully following them. “Take good care of her. Don’t let anything happen to her.” “Understood.” Finally, after kissing Natalie on the cheek, Dante and Alex leave to follow Charles somewhere. Natalie watched them until they were completely out of sight. She looked down and smiled coldly. During the party, Natalie just sat in a chair, drinking champagne. Her legs hurt, so she didn’t want to walk around and hurt herself before her escape plan got underway. The two bodyguards kept a close eye on Natalie. They were wary of her running away. However, until Dante returned, there was nothing out of the ordinary about her. She was just chatting with people who wanted to make her acquaintance. Her actions may have been strange, but she managed to keep their guard down. Dante silently observed Natalie from afar. His eyes narrowed. “She’s so obedient.” “Someone named Lucas Alexander has sent her to you. She shouldn’t have run away before her goal was achieved,” Alex commented. “Did you confirm the situation in Los Angeles?” Dante asked. Alex nodded. “It’s confirmed. There is no Natalie Hale in any prison. Your guess wasn’t wrong.” “It’s hard to hide a beautiful woman,” Dante commented indifferently. “I don’t understand. That woman seems to hate us and is not happy to be among us. Could it be that that guy named Lucas released her from prison just to get $50 million? There may be no other intentions.” Dante swirled the wineglass in his hand. His gaze suddenly met Natalie’s. He lifted the corners of his lips and then said to Alex without taking his eyes off her, “Don’t think too simply if you don’t want to die so soon.” Alex just frowned. Meanwhile, Natalie stood up from her chair and stepped closer to them. “Good to have you back. I need to go to the restroom,” she said. Dante moved his hand forward, allowing her to leave. The two bodyguards looked at him skeptically. “Do we need to follow her?” “Bryan, you follow her. Jayde, stay here.” Dante gave instructions, and they nodded obediently. Natalie no longer cared about whatever was behind her. She walked with quiet steps towards the restroom. Bryan followed behind her, but she wasn’t scared or panicked. One bodyguard was no big deal to her. She was sure she could escape.To reach the toilet, Natalie needed to pass through a quiet corridor. There, she deliberately took off her stilettos and leaned against the wall. She sighed wearily. “You know, this hurts,” she complained.Bryan looked down, noticing Natalie’s blistered fingertips. Those beautiful feet looked pathetic as they were covered in red on the fingertips and heels.“Being a woman is never easy,” Natalie said. Bryan was silent, with a foggy mind. He scrutinized her body from top to bottom. The allure of her body was so strong. He was no Dante who could ignore such a beautiful and sexy woman.“Do you have any ointment or something?” Natalie asked.“No, I don’t. We never carry things like that.”Natalie’s expression became sullen. She bent over until her narrow cleavage was visible from the front. Her hands rubbed the tips of her toes. “I can’t walk anymore.”“Let me help you,” Bryan smirked. He pulled Natalie to her feet and carried her to the toilet.Natalie smiled meaningfully. She hugged Brya
“Mmhhh.... Let go of me!”Natalie shook her head to avoid Dante’s kiss. He suddenly lowered his head and swept his tongue across her neck. Her whole body was suddenly tense.Gloomy images of the past flashed through Natalie’s head. Images of her ex fucking her, adoring every inch of her body, loving her like an ember, but then throwing her away like she was nothing. Her heart ached.“No,” Natalie muttered, shaking her head. She tried to remove her hands. Her legs kicked. The look in her eyes implied fear.“Don’t touch me!” she snapped.Dante gripped her hand even tighter. He stared at her with a furrowed brow. During their interaction, Natalie had been cold and unfeeling, as if her emotions were long gone. She could control her fear very well. However, this time, her fear was so obvious.Of course, Dante became curious. What was she so afraid of?Natalie was clearly no longer a virgin. That information was even relayed by the host at the auction house. She shouldn’t have anything left
Natalie stood up from the floor on weak legs. Her appearance was a mess, but she didn’t care at all. Her heart was already too messed up and shaken. All she wanted was to close her eyes and hope everything that happened was just a dream.The door to the hotel room suddenly opened. “Miss Smith, it’s time to go home,” Alex said, expressionless.Natalie looked down. She walked out with unsteady steps. Alex took her hand and pulled her along. They didn’t exit through the main lobby because Natalie’s appearance was too conspicuous.Moments later, they arrived in the basement. Alex led Natalie to the car. Dante was already waiting for them inside with a driver who kept a straight face. They just kept quiet and ignored her when she got in.Alex closed the car door for Natalie. Her vision accidentally caught Jayde and a man in black dragging Bryan roughly out of the elevator. The two of Dante’s underlings looked heartless as they loaded Bryan’s body into another car.What were they going to d
Natalie woke up earlier than usual. It was still dark. She got out of bed and winced at the pain in her thighs. The whip wound remained bruised despite Cora’s compresses and ointments.Her brow furrowed, but then she took a deep breath. She was more relaxed, and her mind was clearer after a few hours of sleep.“I’ve had worse than this. Two lashes are nothing,” she muttered without emotion.Her two feet stepped into the narrow bathroom. Moments later, she came out looking much fresher. Her face was plain without makeup.She opened the window and breathed in the cool morning air. It was late summer, approaching fall. Her hard times might be coming soon.At that moment, a car suddenly rolled into the courtyard of the mansion. As usual, Natalie liked to keep an eye on the situation down there. Something immediately intrigued her when she saw a luxuriously dressed young woman get out of the car. It was the first time a woman had come to the mansion during her stay there.The stranger clos
“I guess Alex’s warning last night was just a wind-up for you,” Dante said expressionlessly. His cold, piercing gaze seemed to pierce Natalie’s back to her solar plexus.Natalie was silent, not reacting.Laura, on the other hand, turned around. She asked, “What warning?”Dante ignored his little sister’s question. He walked over to Natalie and stopped behind her. His right hand held her tense shoulder. He leaned down, whispering in her left ear, “Don’t take advantage of others, or the punishment for them will be more cruel than you deserve.”“She’s your little sister,” Natalie muttered expressionlessly. She remained staring straight ahead, not turning her head toward the man at all.“You think I can’t be cruel to my sister?” The corners of Dante’s lips curled up. He smiled crookedly. “I don’t mind eliminating a stupid girl like her. I didn’t like her to begin with.”Natalie tensed up even more at that. She immediately turned her head to stare at Dante’s face, which was so close to her
Natalie’s whole body was tense. Her heart was beating erratically. Dante was on top of her. He silenced her mouth with the palm of his left hand while his right hand opened the nightstand drawer to retrieve a gun.Shots from outside came raining down on the bed. It was so quick and short, as if they just wanted to kill the owner of the bed, and that was it. There was no sound whatsoever.Dante’s expression was cold. His gaze was watchful. The door to the room suddenly opened. He immediately raised his gun.“It’s me!” Alex shouted in the doorway while raising both hands. Natalie, who saw him coming, felt a little relieved. At least she had survived the shooting incident.“Are you guys okay? Is anyone hurt?” Alex asked anxiously.Dante lowered his gun. He closed his eyes as he looked down deeply. “Who are they?” he asked coldly.“Not sure yet. Our men are chasing them,” Alex replied.“Who are they?” Dante asked again, that time looked at Natalie, who was still pale-faced. He gripped her
Dante rushed out of his office and went to his grandfather’s winery on the edge of town. On the way, he called Jayde.“Stop looking for those people. Jayde, go back and help Alex investigate who Alfonso Verga’s henchmen are hiding in our mansion,” Dante ordered Jayde.“So, Don Verga was the one acting up this morning?” Jayde asked.Dante leaned his back casually. The corners of his lips lifted. “Yes, but I think I can take advantage of him. Just do your job. I'll take care of the rest.”“Okay.”“Don’t forget to keep a good eye on Natalie. I wonder if she has any dealings with the Verga family,” Dante added.Jayde immediately replied, “Understood.”Dante finally hung up the phone. He thought back to the text message Alfonso had sent. Why did the old man say he should be careful with the women around him?His suspicions were, of course, on Natalie. Perhaps Alfonso had arranged for Natalie to be by his side. That wasn’t impossible. However, Dante wasn’t so sure. After all, he’d met Natal
After Cicero left, the door was closed again. The room became silent. Roberto chuckled casually as he shook his head. “You’re quite tolerant of them,” he commented to Dante. He knew all too well how his grandchildren fought each other for power and influence in the underworld. It wasn’t just Dante’s younger siblings. His other grandchildren were the same way. They were family, but really, their relationship was more like competing royalty.Roberto sighed. “Your father’s inheritance was not small, but you didn’t take any of it. And even after all that, Anthony still doesn’t like you.”“I did that not because I wanted them to like me. Who cares how they pay me back?” Dante picked up the empty glass and poured himself some wine.“That’s good,” Roberto said softly. He was a man with five children. In the past, he had tried to be fair to them. However, divisions and disputes within the family persisted. One of his children had even died because of it. Dante had to be more careful than him