Chapter twenty nine

Dante POV**

The alarm triggers at 1:51 AM.

I’m awake instantly.

Years of survival instinct don’t fade just because you’re dying. They sharpen.

My hand reaches for the gun under my pillow before my eyes fully open. The security monitor on my nightstand flashes red perimeter breach, east wing.

Elara’s wing.

I’m moving before the second alarm sounds.

Luca meets me in the hallway, already armed. “Three men. They knew the entry codes.”

My blood turns to ice. “Inside job.”

“Has to be.”

“Where’s Elara?”

“Panic room. I got her there the second the alarm went off.” He pauses. “She’s scared but safe.”

“Keep her there.” I’m already moving toward the east wing. “No one gets close.”

“Boss”

“I said no one.”

The gunfire starts before we reach the corridor.

My men have them pinned in the gallery. Three intruders, professionals by the way they move. Not random thieves. Not amateurs.

Volkov’s men.

I recognize the tattoos when we corner the one still breathing.

He’s bleeding from his shoulder, backed against the wall, gun empty.

Smart enough to know he’s already dead.

“Who sent you?” I ask calmly.

He spits blood. “Go to hell.”

I shot him in the knee.

His scream echoes through the mansion.

“Wrong answer,” I say. “Who gave you the codes?”

“I don’t”

I press the gun to his other knee.

“Wait! Wait!” He’s gasping now, face white with pain. “We got them from Volkov. But he got them from someone inside. Someone close to you.”

My jaw tightens. “Name.”

“I don’t know! I swear! Viktor just said he said it was a woman. Someone who wanted the girl gone.”

The world narrows to a single point.

A woman.

Someone close.

Someone who wanted Elara gone.

There’s only one person that describes.

“Luca,” I say quietly.

“Yeah, boss.”

“Send a car to the Chen gala. Bring Alicia home.” I pause. “Now.”

Luca’s expression doesn’t change, but I see the understanding flicker in his eyes. “You want her alive?”

“For now.”

He nods and pulls out his phone.

I look back at the man bleeding on my floor. “You have ten seconds to tell me everything Viktor told you.”

He talks.

All of it.

The deal. The timeline. The promise that Elara would disappear and no one would ask questions.

By the time he’s done, my hands are steady but something cold and final has settled in my chest.

“Luca,” I say without looking away from the dying man. “Clean this up.”

I walk away before the shot rings out.

Elara is sitting on the floor of the panic room when I open the reinforced door.

She’s in her nightgown, barefoot, arms wrapped around her knees. Her face is pale, eyes red like she’s been crying.

The moment she sees me, she stands.

“Dante”

I cross the room and pull her against me.

She goes rigid with surprise for half a second, then melts into me, shaking.

“Are you hurt?” I ask, voice rougher than I intended.

“No. I’m fine. Luca got me here before” She pulls back, looking up at me. “What happened? Who were they?”

“Volkov’s men.”

Her eyes widened. “But how did they”

“Inside help.” I cup her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Someone gave them access codes. Someone who knew exactly when to strike.”

Understanding dawns slowly. “Alicia.”

I nod once.

Elara’s breath catches. “She tried to have me killed.”

“Yes.”

“Because of the baby.”

“Because of everything,” I correct. “The baby. Me. The life she thought she deserved.”

Elara’s hand moves instinctively to her stomach. Protective. “What are you going to do to her?”

“What needs to be done?”

Her fingers tighten on my shirt. “Dante”

“She tried to kill you, Elara.” My voice is hard now. “Tried to kill my child. There’s no coming back from that.”

“I know.” Her voice is small. “I just… I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret because of me.”

Something breaks loose in my chest.

“Regret?” I stare at her. “The only thing I regret is not seeing this coming sooner.”

“That’s not what I meant”

“I know what you meant.” I step back, running a hand through my hair. “You think I’m going to lose myself over this. That I’ll become something worse.”

She doesn’t deny it.

“I’ve always been this, Elara,” I say quietly. “This is who I am. What I do. I don’t get the luxury of mercy in my world.”

“But you showed me mercy,” she whispers. “When I almost killed you. You could have”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“Because you didn’t mean it.” The words come out harder than I intend. “Alicia did.”

Silence stretches between us.

“I’m scared,” Elara finally admits.

“Of me?”

“Of losing you.” Her eyes are glassy. “If you kill her if this escalates with Volkov, what if something happens to you? What if your heart”

“It won’t.”

“You can’t promise that.”

She’s right.

I can’t.

“Go back to your room,” I say instead. “Luca will stay with you until this is handled.”

“Dante”

“That’s not a request.”

She flinches.

I hate the hurt in her eyes, but I don’t take it back.

I can’t afford to be soft right now.

She leaves without another word.

The panic room feels colder when she’s gone.

****************

Alicia arrives forty minutes later.

She’s still in her gala dress, red silk, expensive jewelry, and perfect makeup.

But her hands are shaking when Luca brings her into my office.

“Dante.” She tries to smile. “What’s going on? Your man wouldn’t tell me anything”

“Sit.”

The word cuts through her pretense like a blade.

She sits.

I stand behind my desk, hands clasped, studying her the way I would study a contract with fine print.

“Three men broke into my home tonight,” I say calmly.

Her face pales. “What? Are you okay? Is”

“They had security codes,” I continued. “Codes that only five people in this world have access to. Me. Luca. Two of my most trusted guards.” I pause. “And you.”

Her throat works. “Dante, I would never”

“They were Volkov’s men.”

Silence.

“They came for Elara,” I add. “And my child.”

“I don’t know anything about that”

“Stop lying.”

My voice doesn’t rise. I don't need to.

Alicia’s composure cracks. Just slightly.

“One of them talked before he died,” I say. “Told me everything. The deal. The timeline. The woman who gave Viktor the information he needed.”

“That’s insane,” she says, but her voice wavers. “Why would I”

“Because you’re desperate.” I lean forward. “Because you’ve spent years waiting for something I never promised you. And when I brought Elara here, you saw it all slipping away.”

Tears start streaming down her face. Real ones, for once.

“I loved you,” she whispers.

“No.” I shake my head. “You loved what I represented. Power. Status. Security. You never loved me.”

“That’s not true”

“If you loved me,” I cut her off, “you wouldn’t have tried to kill the woman carrying my child.”

She breaks.

Sobbing. Shaking. The perfect mask finally shattered.

“I just wanted you to see me,” she chokes out. “Just once. The way you see her.”

Something almost like pity stirs in me.

Almost.

“You made your choice, Alicia.”

“Please.” She stands, reaching for me. “Please, Dante. I’ll do anything. I’ll disappear. I’ll never”

“Luca.”

He steps forward from the shadows.

Alicia’s eyes widened in horror. “No. No, Dante, please”

“You have two options,” I say coldly. “Option one: you leave the country tonight. New identity. New life. You never use my name. Never contact anyone in my world. And you live.”

She’s gasping now. “And option two?”

“There is no option two.”

Understanding floods her face.

“You have one hour to decide,” I add. “After that, the choice is made for you.”

Luca takes her arm.

She doesn’t resist.

At the door, she turns back one last time.

“She’ll break your heart,” Alicia says, voice raw. “That girl. She’ll make you feel things you’re not supposed to feel. And when you’re gone when that heart of yours finally gives out she’ll move on. Find someone else. Forget you.”

“Maybe,” I say. “But that’s not your concern anymore.”

Luca leads her out.

The door closes.

I stand alone in the silence.

My chest aches.

Not from the medication.

From something I don’t have a name for yet.

I think about Elara. About the way she looked at me in the panic room. Scared. Vulnerable. Trusting me to keep her safe even when she’s terrified I’ll lose myself doing it.

*“I’m scared of losing you.”*

My hands curl into fists.

I won’t let that happen.

Not tonight.

Not ever.

Even if it kills me.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​