LOGINElena 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 I stood at the top of the stairs, my hand gripping the railing so tight my knuckles hurt, and felt a chill crawl up my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature. I was halfway down when Luca appeared at the bottom. He didn’t say anything, and that was what scared me most. Luca always had something to say, even if it was a simple order or a warning. But now he just stood there, looking up at me with an expression that made my stomach do a slow, sick roll. “What is it?” I asked. My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe. He didn’t answer right away. His eyes flicked over me like he was trying to figure out how hard this was going to hit before he let it go. “Elena,” he said finally. The way he said my name made my blood turn to ice. It wasn’t an order. It was a warning. “What happened?” I asked again, my voice echoing off the high ceilings. I didn’t want the silence anymore, but I was terrified of what would br
Third Person POV Joseph Rossi didn’t have a hard time finding the place. That was the first thing that made his stomach twist into knots. He stood outside the old building for a long moment, just breathing in the damp night air. His chest felt tight, like something heavy was sitting on his ribs and refusing to move. It wasn’t the walk that made him feel tired, It was the feeling that his body already knew what was coming. This was the end of the road he had been running from for years. He took one last slow breath, pushed the door open, and stepped inside. It was too quiet. Not the peaceful kind of quiet, but the kind where you know someone is watching you from the shadows, waiting. Every step he took echoed back at him, loud and accusing. He didn’t call out her name. He didn’t have to. She was already there. Isabella was leaning against a table at the back of the room, arms loosely crossed, looking bored. Like she had all the time in the world and nowhere better to be. Jose
Elena POV I didn’t mean to find it. That’s the thing about this house — it’s designed to keep secrets, but secrets have a way of breathing through the vents when you least expect it. I wasn’t even looking for anything, i just couldn’t stay still after everything that happened. Ever since the basement training room, the air in my own room had felt too thin, and too heavy at the same time. The mansion was too quiet again. Not the peaceful kind of quiet you find in a library, but the suffocating kind that makes your thoughts louder than they should be. Every step I took echoed back at me like I wasn’t alone in my own head. I walked past the main hallway, past the stairs, past doors I already knew. And then I stopped. There was a door at the far end of the west wing. I had seen it before, but I’d never paid much attention to it. It wasn’t guarded, and in this house, that was the first thing that felt wrong. Everything important had eyes on it. But this didn’t. It just sat there. 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.







