Semua Bab The Lord's Plaything: Bab 1 - Bab 10

I followed Dante's car across the bridge into the old district.He parked outside the converted apartment building. I parked a block away, hands steady on the wheel, eyes fixed on the entrance.She came out wearing a white dress.Of course she did.Elena Abate was exactly what I'd expected from the photographs—delicate, wide-eyed, the kind of girl men wanted to protect. Dark curls spilled over her shoulders. Her smile when she saw Dante was incandescent.He caught her at the bottom of the steps.His hands went around her waist. His mouth moved against her hair. He lifted her like she weighed nothing and carried her up the stairs.I sat in the dark car and watched.Something calcified in my chest.-I drove to my father's estate in the hills. Security let me through without question—they still thought I was the favored daughter, the princess, the heir apparent.They didn't know I'd just signed myself into exile.The mansion was lit up like a wedding cake. I pushed through the front door

Dante insisted I attend the Velasco family dinner that night."Everyone will be there. Consigliere, capos, the soldiers who matter." He adjusted his cufflinks in the mirror, not looking at me. "You'll sit with me.""I'm not part of this family.""You're with me. That's the same thing."What was I supposed to say? That I wasn't his? That I'd never been his? That I was a placeholder for a girl who'd taken a bullet for him?I dressed in red. Let them stare. Let them whisper.The Velasco compound was a restored nineteenth-century mansion in the old Italian quarter. Crystal chandeliers, dark wood paneling, armed men at every entrance. It should have been intimidating.Instead it just felt like a larger version of my father's house. Same politics. Same poison.Dante kept me close through dinner, his hand resting on my thigh under the table. The capos watched me with open curiosity. The consigliere—a thin, silver-haired man named Russo—watched me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve.Ha

I was discharged three days later.Dante wanted me to stay at his penthouse while I recovered. I didn't argue. My own apartment was empty, my accounts frozen, my father's house a hostile nation.So I let Dante play nurse. He was terrible at it."You're supposed to rest," he said, finding me in his study at two in the morning."I was bored.""You were snooping.""Same thing."I'd found his files on the Abate family. Neatly organized, meticulously documented. Every loan, every payment, every favor called in over six years. The total made my eyes water."This is millions," I said."Dozens of millions." He took the folder from my hands. "Like I said. Almost paid.""What happens when it is? Does Elena just. disappear?""Her brother gets a one-way ticket somewhere far away. Her mother gets a final settlement. And Elena gets told, in no uncertain terms, that any future requests will be denied.""She won't take it well.""No. She won't."I studied his face. "You're really going to do it.""If

I packed my bags that night.Dante found me in the guest room, folding clothes into my suitcase."Running away again?""No. Leaving. There's a difference."He leaned against the doorframe. "Russo's been dealt with. He won't be a problem anymore.""Good.""The Romanian situation is resolved. Elena's brother is being sent to South America. Elena herself has been informed that her connection to the family is terminated."I kept folding. "Congratulations. You're free of the Abate debt.""Yes."There was a long pause."Sera." His voice was odd. "Look at me."I looked.Dante's face was pale. His gray eyes were wide, almost lost. He looked nothing like the dangerous underboss I'd first met."I screwed up," he said. "With you. With everything. I thought I was keeping you safe. I thought I was playing a long game. But all I did was push you away.""Yes.""If I asked you to stay—really asked, no games, no power plays—would you?"I put down the shirt I was folding."Ask me, then.""Stay." The wor

I called Marco immediately."Where's Dante?""He's in a meeting. What's wrong?""Russo is alive. He's working with the Agosti family. They're planning something."Silence. Then: "How do you know this?""Emilio Agosti called me. He's not in a coma. He's been conscious the whole time.""Jesus Christ." I heard Marco start moving, shouts in the background. "Where are you?""The cottage. On the cliffs.""Stay there. Lock the doors. I'm sending a team.""Marco—where's Dante's meeting?"A hesitation."Marco!""He's at the old warehouse on Eleventh and Pier. Where we found you after the attack. He's been using it as a neutral meeting ground for the new business negotiations."The warehouse. Where Russo's men had beaten me bloody.Where Russo knew every entrance, every blind spot."It's a trap," I said. "The meeting is a trap.""I'm already calling him.""Call faster."I grabbed my keys and ran for the car.-The drive back to the city took three hours. I made it in two.The warehouse district