Chapter 179 The nightmare

Chapter 179 The nightmare
Isabella POV

The mattress was comfortable and the master bedroom was nice, but it wasn’t the same as the one in Dante place because It didn’t have the same coziness, but I loved being in Milan no matter what and with him beside me every night, it was good enough.

I was dead asleep when a nightmare came to me. My kidnapper was there, dragging me away from my family. He had my brother wife too, who was swollen with her pregnancy. She was in tears, and he had a gun pointed right at my temple.

My father was on his knees as a man held a rifle to his head. The horror on his face was because of what he was witnessing, not the gun at his head.

The man pulled the trigger, and then my father’s body fell to the ground. “God!” I jolted upright in bed, gripping the sheets and tipping over as I lost my balance. Hot tears fell down my face, and I sobbed as the images remained glued in my vision. I tried to suck the air into my lungs, but there was never enough oxygen. “Oh my god…” My hand moved to my chest, and I felt my racing heartbeat.

Dante sat up and pulled me against him. “Just a dream, baby. A dream.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my shoulder and then my neck. “It’s alright.”

“I’m scared…” I stared into the darkness, looking out the window to the fields that I couldn’t see. There were stars in the sky because it was a clear night and I couldn’t see anything else but the heavens above.

We were alone in the middle of nowhere and no one was around. “Hey.” He forced me to my back so he could look down at me. “I’m here and you know what that means?”

I stared at him, my chest still rising and fall sporadically, the back of my neck was beaded with sweat, and it absorbed into the pillow. I could see his muscular outline and the hardness of his jaw. His blue gaze pierced me like blades. “It means nothing will ever happen to you and don’t be scared.”

Like his words were a lifeboat and I was about to drown, I moved intonhim and held on. I found comfort in his muscular chest, in the thickness of his arms.

I moved my face into his neck, letting my cheek rest against the warmth of his skin as I focused on the steady pulse beneath it.

The rhythmic beat was strangely comforting, something real and constant that I could hold on to when my mind was still tangled in the nightmare.

Each beat reminded me that I was awake, that I was here, and that the things I had seen weren't happening again.

Dante cradled me beside him, his arm secure around my body as he hiked my leg over his hip, keeping me close as though he could physically shield me from everything that had ever hurt me.

“I’d never let anything happen to you, baby.” His voice was low carrying the kind of confidence that made it easier to believe him. “So when the nightmares come, tell them to leave because they have no power over you.”

He rested his face against the pillow beside mine, his eyes never leaving my face. There was something so steady in his eyes that it slowly chased away the remnants of my fear. The pain was still there, buried under my ribs but his presence made it feel less overwhelming.

“I’m the only one who has any power over you.”

Right now, I didn't want to think about anything beyond the safety of his arms.

My hand moved slowly up his chest until my palm rested over his heartbeat. Under my hand, his heart thudded steadily, slow and powerful and I concentrated on it, allowing its rhythm to anchor me.

“I dreamt…” My voice caught slightly, and I swallowed before forcing the words out. “That fucker took me and my brother’s wife, then… one of his men shot my father.”

The memory came rushing back painfully, even though I knew it had only been a nightmare.

My chest tightened as I closed my eyes, reliving that horrible moment all over again.

I took a deep breath, drawing in as much air as I could and reminding myself that it wasn't real.

It wasn't happening, my father was safe and It had only been a dream.

Slowly, I opened my eyes again, blinking away the lingering images that still clung to the edges of my mind.

Dante stared at me with the same unwavering expression, his eyes unblinking. There was no hesitation in his face and in his voice when he finally spoke.

“I would never let anything happen to him either.”

My eyes moved to his face, surprise stirring in my heart. “You just said you wouldn’t hurt him…”

“I know what I said.” His voice remained calm, but there was something firm beneath it. “But I’d protect him as much as I would protect you… because I know what he means to you.”

He wasn't just talking about me anymore. He was talking about the people I loved even when they weren't his responsibility.

“And that goes for the rest of your family too.”

I stared at him, taking in every word as if I needed to make sure I hadn't misunderstood him.

Dante hand moved to my cheek, his fingers gently sliding through my hair. “You’re everything to me, baby, and I never want my baby to be scared or sad.”

His thumb brushed gently against my cheek as his gaze softened. “Your pain…”

He rested his palm over my heart, his touch warm and steady against my chest. “Is my pain.”

And for the first time since waking from the nightmare, the tightness in my chest began to ease and I was finally able to go back to sleep.