CHAPTER 3

WINTER POV

They wouldn't leave my room.

Dante sat on my bed like he owned it. Kai blocked my door. Luca checked every window lock like Marcus might appear any second.

"Tell us everything about Marcus Shaw." Dante's voice left no room for argument.

"There's nothing to tell."

"Lying won't work, Winter." Kai crossed his arms. "We can stay here all night."

My phone buzzed in Dante's hand and jis jaw clenched as he read the screen. "Four more messages. All threats."

"Just block him."

"He'll get a new number." Luca turned from the window. "Men like him don't stop until someone makes them."

I wrapped my arms around myself. My whole body felt cold. "I don't want you involved."

"Too late." Dante stood and walked toward me. "He found you in one day. He knows where you sleep so start talking or I'll find him myself and you won't like what happens."

I pressed against the wall and tried to breathe. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Luca's voice was gentle but his eyes were hard.

My throat felt tight. "I met Marcus when I was seventeen. He was twenty-nine. I thought he was perfect."

"And then?" Dante moved closer.

"Then he changed." My voice cracked. "Little things first. He didn't like when I talked to guys. He needed to know where I was every second. He bought me a new phone and said mine was broken."

The room felt smaller. All three of them were staring at me and I couldn't breathe right.

"What else?" Kai's voice was softer than I'd ever heard it.

"He started locking me inside his apartment." The words hurt coming out. "First for hours then days. He said it was to protect me but really it was to keep me trapped. He put cameras everywhere and tracked everything then chose my clothes and my food and who I could talk to."

"For how long?" Luca asked quietly.

"Two years." My voice broke completely. "I lived like that for two years."

Dante's hand touched my face and I flinched before I could stop myself and he froze. "Did he hit you?"

I couldn't answer but tears were running down my face now and that was answer enough.

Something dark and violent crossed Dante's face. "How did you escape?"

"He went on a trip and forgot to lock the bathroom window. I climbed out with nothing. No money. No clothes. I just ran." I was shaking now and I couldn't stop. "I stayed in shelters until Mom met Richard. I thought I was finally safe."

"You are safe." Dante's thumb wiped away my tears. "Because he's never getting near you again."

"You can't promise that."

"Watch me." He stepped back and his whole body changed. The gentle moment was gone and now he looked deadly. "Kai, I need everything on Marcus Shaw. Where he lives, where he works, everything."

"Give me twenty minutes." Kai was already on his phone.

"Luca, upgrade all security. I want cameras on every inch of this property."

"Already calling our team." Luca had his phone to his ear.

I stared at them. "What are you going to do?"

"Make sure he never bothers you again," Dante said simply.

"He's dangerous. He'll hurt you."

Kai laughed and it wasn't nice. "Baby, we're worse."

My phone kept buzzing in Dante's hand over and over. Marcus was spiraling and when he spiraled, people got hurt.

"I found him." Kai looked up twenty minutes later. "Marcus Shaw, thirty-one, CEO of Shaw Industries. Penthouse downtown and get this, three restraining orders filed against him by ex-girlfriends. All dropped after he paid them off."

My stomach turned. "There were others?"

"You weren't the first." Luca's voice was gentle. "But you'll be the last person he ever hurts."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we're going to have a conversation with Marcus." Dante grabbed his jacket. "Tonight."

"No." I grabbed his arm without thinking. "Please don't. I don't want anyone hurt because of me."

Dante looked down at my hand on his arm. When his eyes met mine, they were softer. "Winter, you think we're doing this just for you?"

"Aren't you?"

"We're doing this because you're ours now whether you accept it or not and nobody threatens what's ours." His hand covered mine. "But we're also doing this because men like Marcus don't stop. If we don't end this now, he'll keep coming. Is that what you want?"

"No," I whispered.

"Then trust us to handle it."

"How?"

Kai's smile was all teeth. "However we need to."

"We won't kill him if that's what you're worried about," Luca added. "But he will understand very clearly that you're off limits."

My phone buzzed again and then again almost five more times in a row.

Dante looked at the screen and his face went dark. "He just sent your location to himself. He's planning something."

Fear shot through me. "When?"

"Soon." Dante's voice was ice. "Which is why we're handling this now. Kai, Luca, let's go."

"Wait." My voice came out small. "What if he hurts you? What if something goes wrong?"

Dante turned back and his hand cupped my face. "We'll be fine,stay in this room and lock the door. Don't open it for anyone except us."

"I'm scared."

"Good. That means you're smart." He kissed my forehead and it felt protective and possessive at the same time. "We'll be back soon and when we come back, Marcus Shaw won't be a problem anymore."

I watched all three of them walk out. Kai cracked his knuckles. Luca's sweet face looked cold. Dante moved like a man going to war.

I locked my door and sat on my bed with my knees pulled to my chest.

I'd just set three wolves on Marcus and part of me hoped they destroyed him.