LOGINDante’s POV I pull out slow, watching my come leak out of her. Then I spin her around, lift her, and pin her to the wall again. She wraps her legs around my waist instantly, arms around my neck.I slide back inside her in one smooth thrust, both of us moaning at the same time.“Mmmh— still so full,” she whimpers, rolling her hips. “Don’t stop. I need you again.”I fuck her slow and deep this time, grinding against her clit with every thrust. “You liked watching me, didn’t you? You liked telling me how to make him scream.”She gasps, nails digging into my shoulders. “Ahh— yes… I did. It turned me on. Seeing you like that… oohhh… so powerful.”I bite her neck, sucking a fresh mark. “You’re becoming a Volkov, baby. My perfect, filthy queen. Say it while I’m inside you.&
Dante’s POV I pause, hammer raised. “Who sent you?”He gasps for air. “It was… Viktor. He paid me. Said it was a message. Said to aim to get the girl if I got the chance.”Elena’s breath catches beside me, but her voice stays steady. “See? He’s already more cooperative. Keep going. Next joint. The proximal interphalangeal. It’ll hurt worse there.”I look at her again. My voice is rough. “You sure you want to keep watching this?”She doesn’t blink. “I’m sure I want to know exactly who I married.”I set the hammer down and pick up a thin scalpel instead. The blade catches the swinging light.The prisoner’s eyes go wide. “No… no more… I told you everything!”“Not everything,” I say quietly. “You haven
Dante’s POV The shooter is still breathing. Barely. We dragged him out of a rat-trap apartment in Queens after he tried to slip town. Now he’s zip-tied to a metal chair in the basement under the estate, the room nobody talks about. Concrete walls, single bulb swinging overhead, drain in the floor for easy cleanup. It smells like rust, old blood, and fear. He’s already pissing himself. Good. Means he knows exactly what’s coming. I roll my sleeves up slow, crack my knuckles. “You get one chance. Tell me who sent you before I start carving pieces off.” He spits blood onto the floor. “Fuck you, Volkov.” I smile. Small. Cold. I pick up the pliers from the tray. “You sure about that?” I ask, turning the tool over in my hand. “Because once I start, I don’t stop until I get answers. And I’m in a real bad mood tonight.” He laughs, wet and broken. “You think I’m scared of you? I’ve seen worse.” I step closer, letting the pliers catch the light. “You haven’t seen me yet.” The door at t
Elena’s POV The safehouse is a nondescript brownstone in the Village, heavily fortified and quiet on the outside. Dante’s men carry Marco upstairs to a prepared room where a real medic team is already waiting. The kid is stable enough for now. He’ll live.We’re left standing in the foyer.Adrenaline crashes hard. My hands start to shake. My knees feel liquid. I look down at myself — dress ruined and soaked with Marco’s blood from chest to hem, hands streaked red, skin sticky. None of it is mine.Dante is staring at me like I’m the only thing left in the world worth seeing. His eyes are black. Breath rough. Chest rising fast.He steps forward. Slow. Deliberate.“You didn’t run,” he says, voice wrecked. “You stayed. In the middle of a fucking firefight. You saved him.”I swallow, trying to steady my breathing. “I’m a doctor.&
Elena’s POVThe first shot shatters everything.Glass explodes inward from the massive ballroom windows, raining down like deadly confetti. Screams rip through the air, sharp and panicked. Tables flip. Chairs topple. People dive under anything they can find.Dante’s men are already moving, guns drawn, forming a loose perimeter around us. Return fire cracks from the balcony doors, from the mezzanine, from somewhere high across the street. Bullets chew marble, splinter wood, punch through velvet drapes.Dante shoves me behind a fallen pillar, his body a solid wall between me and the room. “Stay down!”I don’t.I see him first — the young guard, barely twenty, the one who always brought me coffee in the mornings at the estate. He’s sprawled on his back near the orchestra pit, blood blooming dark across his white shirt, chest heaving too fast, too shallow.He’s st
Elena’s POV The words sink in like claws. I feel the doubt bloom colder and sharper than before. “You’re lying,” I say, but my voice isn’t as steady as I want it to be. “Am I?” Viktor studies my face, eyes dark and knowing. “You set the timer because you wanted to believe he could make you love him. He accepted because it gave him time to hook you deep enough that you’d stay willingly until the papers are done. Ask yourself why a man like Dante would ever agree to let you walk away… unless he planned to throw you away the moment you’re no longer useful.” I stare at the vodka glass, fingers tightening around the stem. “He said I’m his. He marks me. He protects me.” Viktor chuckles softly. “Of course he does. Right now you are useful. You give him legitimacy. You warm his bed. You make him look human. But when the papers clear? Men like us don’t keep what we don’t need. And Dante is very much like me.” The seed of doubt digs deepe
Elena’s POV The invitation wasn’t optional, and Marta’s face when she handed me the dress said it louder than any words could. Dark green silk, neckline plunging low enough to feel like a dare, sheer sleeves that let every freckle show through. It wasn’t a gift. It was armor Svetlana wanted me to
Dante’s POVThe burner buzzes on my desk like it’s got a personal grudge. I snatch it up, thumb the answer without looking.“Talk.”Nico’s voice comes through tight. “Viktor’s moving, boss. Moscow contacts say he’s liquidating assets, pulling strings with the old guard. Private charter booked to JF
Dante’s POV She spins away from the window, muttering something I can’t hear, hands flexing open and closed like she’s imagining wrapping them around my throat. Goddamn, the fire in her. Makes me wanna march up there right now, pin her to the mattress, and see how long it takes before that glare t
Dante's POV "You're not." She points to the stool beside the table without looking up. "Shirt off. Now."Rossi glances between us, eyes wide. "Uh… I can wait outside if you two need the room.""Stay," Elena says sharp. "You're not walking around with half-done stitches. And he's not bleeding out o







