CHAPTER SEVEN

[ Moretti Mansion ]

“You still want her?” Matteo’s voice broke the silence, rough around the edges, as if he already knew the answer but hoped he was wrong.

Dante didn’t answer. He stood near the tall glass window of his study. The city spread beneath him like a glittering battlefield. One hand rested in his pocket; the other balanced a half-burnt cigarette between his fingers. He took a long drag from his cigarette, but his jaw was relaxed. His silence said more than words could ever.

Cigarettes were his other obsession.

It appears that Dante had already made up his mind before his friends gathered in his mansion to try to convince him. All he wants is to have Alessia back in his arms.

For him, it is difficult to be soft for someone, weak for someone, whipped for someone, and willing to kneel for someone. She broke him, even though he never thought it could be possible.

Daisy sat on the edge of the leather couch, legs crossed, sharp eyes fixed on him. Matteo leaned back, arms folded, exhaling slowly.

“She’s engaged,” Daisy finally said, her voice low, almost cautious. “To Damon Scott. That chapter is closed, Dante. Let it go.”

Dante turned his head just slightly, not enough to meet her eyes but enough for the air to shift. His voice came quiet, controlled, and ice-cold.

“I don’t care.”

Daisy frowned. Matteo gave a humourless laugh. “You’ve got women who’d crawl across the city just to breathe the same air as you. And yet you’re losing sleep over the one who left you for him? You’re out of your mind.”

Dante let out a low breath, almost a laugh. “Probably.”

Call him a psychopath or an obsessed freak, but it's all because of that one girl.

“She walked away, Dante,” Daisy pushed quieter this time. “She chose that life. Chose him. If you had any sense left, you’d let her go.”

“Don’t you dare raise your voice,” he said darkly in annoyance.

The way he said it wasn’t loud, but it was final. It settled over the room like a warning. Everyone who’d ever known Dante Moretti understood one thing — when he wants something, the world trembles, or it gets burnt

“She betrayed you,” Daisy whispered after a long beat.

A sharp smirk cut across his face, but there was no warmth in it. “That’s the difference between you and me. You’d hate her because she chose someone else, but i won’t. Instead, it makes me more of an obsessed freak. And as the devil, I’ll burn the whole world for her.”

Matteo stared at him, the kind of look you give someone who’s already past saving. And maybe Dante was. He’d always been too far gone when it came to Alessia Rivera.

He was obviously crazy. He simply can not quit thinking about her. She looked adorable as she shivered beneath him.

The way her legs wrapped around his were really appealing. His only desire was to take her there, but he had to restrain himself.

Under no circumstances was he going to let go of Alessia Rivera.

He doesn't give a damn about the promises she gave Damon Scott.

He doesn't give a damn about the phrase "engaged."

When it comes to Alessia, he is not afraid of a fight because he is ready to steal.

---

His phone buzzed on the table. He glanced down and saw Rebecca. Then a second name flashed across — *Mother.*

He let it ring twice before he answered.

“Dante,” his mother’s voice snapped through the line. “Rebecca just called me; she is downstairs waiting for you. You will go on a dinner date with her. We’ve talked about this—”

“I am not interested in that bitch,” Dante cut in, voice as flat as stone.

There was silence for a while before the woman's cry could be heard from the phone, but Dante seemed unfazed – he seemed unmoved.

“Dante!”

Click.

He tossed the phone onto the desk, pulled his jacket off the chair, and slipped it on like a man putting on armour.

The only reason he was going on this date was because of his earlier conversation with his father;

Take Rebecca out on a date. Her father had threatened to renounce his deal with us if you don’t. Play along with whatever she says or does because it seems like she has complained to him.

Not his mother; he hated her so much. She had abandoned them, left them for his father to train them, and when they were rich, she kept running back like a slut. His father accepted her with open arms, likely because he missed his wife, but that did not stop the children, especially Dante, from hating her; she thought she could just show up and control their lives....

“Your mother’s going to kill you one day,” Matteo muttered.

“She can’t try it,” Dante said, pushing past them and out the door.

They all stare at each other and sighed.

‐-----‐-‐-------

As Dante walked downstairs, he sighted Rebecca seated on the couched, dressed in gown that stopped at her ass , exposing all of her, her boobs were exposed as well unlike Alessia who would dress in an ugly cloth and still look breathtaking.

upon see Dante, she rushed and throw her self cheaply on him, but he pushed her gently away just to click on a familiar message on his phone..

"Boss ... she is on a date with her fiance at Diamond hotel"

-------‐-----

[ Diamond Hotel – Later That Night]

The restaurant was all polished marble and soft jazz, candles flickering in tall glasses. Alessia sat across from Damon Scott, forcing herself to smile as he turned his charm on their waitress. He was the perfect picture of a man who knew he owned the room — easy grin, confident posture, glass of wine spinning between his fingers like the world belonged to him.

She stared down at her drink, swirling it slowly. She wasn’t jealous. She was tired. I'm tired of pretending. Tired of belonging to someone she didn’t love.

"Stop flirting." You know I am sitting right beside you, right? she muttered under her breath.

Damon’s grin widened. “Jealous?”

She huffed and said nothing.

It's not like she has the right to say anything... It always ended wrongly, whenever she tried to speak.

Her mind drifted to Dante, and she let out a sigh.

Dante would never treat her this way, let alone look at any other woman. In fact, he is always obsessed with her.

'Stop thinking about him,' she slapped herself lightly.

Just then, the door swinged opened, revealing that one man.

She frozed, her eyes lifting up to the entrance.

DANTE

The moment Dante Moretti walked in, the air changed. He didn’t need to announce himself — his presence did it for him. Black shirt, sleeves rolled, eyes as cold as the night he owned. He walked like danger, quiet and deliberate. And when his gaze found hers, everything inside her stopped.

Her heart stuttered.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. Not now. Not like this.

And then she saw Rebecca beside him, hanging on his arm like she belonged there. The sharp stab in her chest was instant and cruel. She picked up a glass of water and swallowed it down.

Damon immediately shot to his feet. “Dante Moretti! Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Neither did I,” Dante said, but his eyes never left Alessia. He stared at her with lust and desire.

"Now, who's this pretty damsel beside you?" Damon asked, and that was when Alessia looked at them, only to meet with that dark gaze still staring at her.

"I am his fiancée," Rebecca said, clinging to Dante, who didn't even care about her.

Alessia frowned as she stared at them... And then realisation hit her.

She was not supposed to feel this way. It doesn't concern her about his dating life with anyone – but why did he have to do that to her if he was dating someone?.

But then he pushes her away harshly. "She's just a girl," Dante said.

Rebecca huffed while Damon and Alessia just stared at each other in surprise.

"Okay," Damon laughed awkwardly.

"Do you mind joining us... I don't mind having a double date," Damon said, smiling like a fool.

Alessia's eyes widened panicky, and she quickly stood up.

There's no way she's allowing that devil to sit beside them, so she walked up to Damon and wrapped her hands around his waist. "I don't want to be rude, but I just want to spend alone time with you," Alessia murmured against his ear, ignoring the man staring at her darkly... She noticed how he gripped his fist tightly, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"It's fine, babe," Damon dismissed, pulling away from her.

Dante raised his eyebrows at her mockingly, and Alessia huffed.

"Well, I don't mind," Dante said in a calm, menacing tone, with a slight smirk tugged at the end of his lips.

No one needed to tell her that he was up to no good.