55

I should have known that everything had changed the moment Dante stepped into my life. His presence, his demands, they were never meant to be fleeting. But even now, as I stood in the middle of the room, trying to gather my scattered thoughts, I couldn’t make sense of what had become of me.

The storm had passed, but the tension between us was still heavy in the air. I knew he was watching me, his gaze never wavering, even when I tried to ignore him.

I wanted to scream. To ask him why he couldn't just let me go, why I couldn’t escape this mess he had dragged me into. But instead, I held my breath, biting back the words that wanted to spill out.

"You think this is easy for me?" His voice broke the silence, deep and raw, as if he too was fighting something inside him.

I swallowed, trying to steady my nerves. "I didn’t ask for any of this, Dante. I didn’t ask for you."

His jaw clenched. "You never had a choice either, Aurora. You think you can just walk away? It’s not that simple."

I shook my head, stepping back. The more he spoke, the more I wanted to break free, to find some semblance of normalcy, something not tangled up in this dangerous mess between us.

"You don’t get it, do you?" His voice was low, dangerous now. "From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I would never be able to let you go."

I felt a sharp sting in my chest, but I wouldn’t show it. I wouldn’t let him see how his words twisted something inside me.

But I couldn’t ignore the truth either. I had been falling for him, despite every reason not to.

The days dragged on like this, each one blending into the next, with Dante never far from my side. He was everywhere—watching, waiting, as though he was waiting for something. Waiting for me to break, maybe, or to finally surrender.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn't let him have that much power over me.

And yet, the more time passed, the more I realized I had already given him something—something I couldn’t take back.

It was a few days later when everything finally tipped over the edge.

I was sitting by the window, staring out at the quiet streets below, when the sharp crack of a door slamming open made me jump.

"Dante!" I called, but my voice was shaky, my heart hammering against my chest.

But there was no answer.

I rushed out of the room, my mind racing. My feet barely touched the floor as I ran down the hall, through the dark corridors, searching for him.

And then, I saw it.

The faintest glow of a light in the distance, and the shadowy figure of Dante standing in the middle of a dimly lit room. He wasn’t alone.

I froze, watching as two men approached him, one of them pulling a gun from the waistband of his pants.

"No," I whispered, my breath catching in my throat.

Dante didn't seem surprised, didn't flinch. He simply raised his hand, and his voice was calm as he spoke.

"I don’t want to hurt anyone. But I will if I have to."

The man with the gun smirked, his voice laced with venom. "You think you’re in control? You think you have power here? We’ve been watching you, Dante. You and your little pet."

The word hit me like a slap in the face. Pet. Like I was just some thing to be tossed aside, nothing more than a possession to these men.

But Dante was faster. He pulled a gun of his own, firing before I could even react.

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the room, the man who had spoken crumpling to the ground with a startled gasp.

I froze in place, unable to move, my eyes locked on the lifeless body in front of me.

"Stay back," Dante growled, his voice ragged, but the deadly calm never left.

The other man, the one who hadn’t yet drawn his weapon, hesitated.

"Dante," I whispered, my voice trembling. "What are you doing?"

His eyes met mine for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Protecting you," he said, his words low and guttural, full of something darker, more desperate.

The rest of the night was a blur of gunshots and frantic movements. I don’t remember how we got out of there, but somehow we were running.

I couldn’t keep up. My legs were weak, my heart thundering in my chest as I stumbled through the dark streets, trying to keep pace with Dante, who was a few steps ahead of me.

We reached the car, and Dante shoved me inside, the door slamming shut with an urgency I couldn’t understand.

But I knew one thing.

This was just the beginning.

The chaos was only starting, and there was no way out now.

As the car sped down the empty streets, I pressed my forehead against the cold window, trying to steady my breathing. The night was silent, the only sound the hum of the engine, but it felt like everything inside me was screaming.

I couldn’t escape this.

Not anymore.

And somehow, I didn’t want to.