LOGINElena’s POV The shipyard was darker than I expected. The air smelled like salt water, rust, and old fish left too long in the sun. Every breath I took left a weird taste in my mouth. I sat in the back of the armored SUV, hands resting on my thighs, trying to keep them still even though my fingers kept twitching. My heart was beating steady but hard, like it knew something big was coming and I wasn’t as ready as I wanted to be. Dante was in the passenger seat. Luca was driving. The three of us had been quiet for most of the ride. I had insisted on coming. I didn’t beg or argue, I just told them straight that I was going. Dante had looked at me for a long second, like he was weighing whether to fight me on it. In the end he nodded. Fantastic. Because I wasn’t staying behind tonight, not anymore. I wasn’t the same girl anymore. I had blood on my hands now. I had chosen this life. I had chosen Dante. And if we were going after James, I was going to be there. The car rolled slowly thro
Dante’s POVI pushed the bedroom door open and stopped dead.The floor was covered in broken pieces of plastic and metal. The recorder — or what was left of it — was smashed to shit near the dresser. And in the middle of that mess stood Elena.She was breathing hard, chest rising and falling fast, fists clenched at her sides. Her hair was messy, her eyes were burning with pure rage, and her whole body looked like it was coiled tight, ready to explode. She didn’t look scared... She didn’t look broken.She looked fucking magnificent.My cock twitched at the sight of her like that.“What happened?” I asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind me.Elena didn’t answer right away. She just pointed at the shattered pieces on the floor, her jaw tight.“Isabella,” she said, voice flat. “She sent a recording. I listened to it. Multiple times.”I walked closer, eyes never leaving her face. I could see the fire in her. She wasn’t crumbling. She wasn’t crying. She was pissed. Really pissed
Elena POVI was still feeling that warm, lazy afterglow from the morning when one of the maids knocked softly on the bedroom door.She looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot as she held out a small package wrapped in plain brown paper. No name. No return address. Nothing. Just a simple box tied with string. The second I saw it, my stomach dropped. I knew. I didn’t know how, but I knew exactly who it was from.I took it from her without saying thank you. My fingers already felt cold even though the room was warm. I closed the door behind her, locked it, and carried the package over to the bed like it was something that might explode if I moved too fast.For a long time I just sat there on the edge of the mattress, staring at it. My heart was already beating faster than normal. Part of me wanted to put it aside and wait for Dante to let him open it. To let him deal with whatever poison was inside. But I was tired of that. Tired of always being the one who needed someone else to stan
Elena POVI stood under the hot water for a long time, letting it beat against my sore muscles. Dante had already showered and was getting dressed when I finally stepped out. He glanced at me as I wrapped a towel around myself, his eyes darkening again when they landed on the marks he’d left on my neck and hips. For a second I thought he might drag me back to bed, but he just clenched his jaw and looked away.“We can’t keep Luca waiting too long,” he said, pulling on a black shirt. His voice was back to that controlled tone he used when business was calling.I nodded and started drying off. My body still felt him everywhere — the pleasant ache between my legs, the tenderness on my skin, the way my lips felt slightly swollen from kissing. Last night and this morning felt like a fever dream. Part of me wanted to crawl back under the covers and pretend the outside world didn’t exist. The other part knew that was impossible.I chose simple clothes. Black pants and a soft sweater. Nothing
Elena POV I woke up with Dante’s heavy arm wrapped around my waist, his body pressed tight against my back. Our legs were tangled together under the sheets, skin sticky with sweat and other things. For a moment, everything felt warm and heavy and almost safe. Then reality hit me like a slap. Last night. My father's death. The way Dante had fucked me so hard I still felt it hours later. The way I had clung to him, moaning, begging, completely lost in it while my father’s blood was probably still drying somewhere in this house. My stomach twisted. I stared at the wall, barely breathing. My thighs were sticky. There was a deep ache between my legs and faint bruises on my hips where his fingers had dug in. I should’ve felt disgusted with myself. Instead, I felt… alive. Wanted. Owned. Dante shifted behind me, pulling me tighter against his chest. His hand rested heavy on my stomach, fingers spread like he needed to feel I was still here. His breath was warm on the back of my neck.
Elena POVDante’s hand was still on my face, his thumb grazing my cheekbone. My father’s blood was drying on the desk just feet away, the metallic scent thick in the air, but all I could focus on was him — his heat, his breathing, the solid wall of his body keeping me from falling apart.“You’re all I have left,” I whispered, fingers curling into his shirt. “If I lose you too… I’m done.”His grip on the back of my neck tightened. “You aren’t going to lose me, Elena. You’re mine. I don’t let go of what belongs to me.”I didn’t care about pride or fear anymore. I just needed to feel alive.I kissed him first — hard, messy, desperate. Dante growled low in his throat and slammed me back against the edge of the desk. The wood dug into my ass, but the pain felt good. Real good. His hands were everywhere at once, fisting my hair, gripping my waist so hard I knew I’d have marks tomorrow, dragging my hips forward until I could feel how hard he already was.For once he wasn’t in control. I c
Elena POV “You went out.” I didn’t turn right away. I already knew that low and steady tone. The kind that meant he was holding everything tight under the surface. Still, I looked up. He was walking toward me, steps measured and direct, like he’d already decided how this conversation was going to
Dante POV “Run it again.” The guard didn’t argue, but I saw the way his shoulders tensed for a second before his fingers went back to the keyboard. He pulled up the same feeds we’d already picked apart twice. I stayed right where I was, leaning over the desk with my arms crossed tight, staring at
Elena POV “Get over it,” I muttered under my breath. But it didn’t work. Every time I closed my eyes, it came right back — his face, the way he looked at me, the way he leaned in like he was finally going to do something… and then stopped. The almost. It kept circling over and over. Like my bra
Elena POV I didn’t plan to see him. I’d been avoiding him without even thinking about it most days. Taking longer routes through the house, staying in the parts of the mansion I knew he rarely went to. Little things. Stupid things. But they helped. And the worst part? He was doing the same thing.







