Chapter 15 Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Elara’s POV. 

The air in my bedroom was filled heavy with the scent of the lilies Isabella had left on my nightstand, a mocking reminder that she was still here breathing down my neck.

I reached under the loose floorboard beneath my vanity to check the burner phone when the door was kicked open. 

Dante stood there at the entrance of the door. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, and his sleeves were rolled up. In his right hand, he held a small, black device.

My heart stopped for a split second. 

"Looking for this?" Dante asked. His voice was terrifyingly calm. 

I stood up, my back hitting the vanity. I didn't say a word.

"I had the sweepers go through the rooms while you were at breakfast with Marcus," Dante said, walking toward me. He tossed the phone onto the silk duvet. "I expected bugs from the Rossis. Maybe a tracker from the Petrovs. I didn't expect a burner phone in my wife’s bedside drawer."

"Dante, I—"

"I had my tech team crack the encryption," he interrupted, stepping into my space. He loomed over me. "Do you know what they found, Elara? They found outgoing calls to a single number."

He leaned in, his face inches from mine. I could smell the bourbon on his breath.

"They were all to Lorenzo."

"It’s not what you think," I whispered.

"Then tell me what it is!" he roared, his hand slamming into the mirror behind my head. The glass spiderwebbed, a shard grazing my shoulder. "Tell me why my brother is secretively communicating with the woman who is supposed to be carrying my heir! Tell me why he’s helping you hide things from me!"

"I was lonely!" I cried, falling back on the only defense I had left. "You were never here! You were at the docks, or with Isabella, or screaming about the Syndicate! Lorenzo was the only one who treated me like a human being, and not a liability!"

"He’s my brother!" Dante hissed. "He was supposed to protect you for me, not from me!"

Dante grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room. He didn't care that I was stumbling, or that my feet were bare. He hauled me down the stairs and into the grand foyer.

"Lorenzo!" Dante’s voice echoed off the marble walls. "Get out here!"

Lorenzo appeared from the library, his sketchbook in hand. He took one look at me, my disheveled hair, the blood on my shoulder, Dante’s grip on my arm and his face went pale.

"Dante, let her go," Lorenzo said, his voice steady but cautious.

"You've been busy, Enzo," Dante said, throwing the burner phone at his brother’s feet. "Planning a little getaway? Or were you just waiting for me to turn my back so you could take what’s mine?"

"It’s not like that," Lorenzo said, glancing at me. "She was scared. She needed someone to talk to."

"With an encrypted burner?" Dante stepped toward him, releasing me with a shove. "You’ve been moving money, Lorenzo. Marcus found discrepancies in the Singapore accounts. I thought it was the Rossis or maybe it was an audit error. But it was you, wasn't it? You were setting up a nest egg for the two of you."

"Dante, listen—"

"No, you listen!" Dante lunged, grabbing Lorenzo by the front of his shirt and slamming him into the foyer wall. "I gave you everything! I kept you out of the dirt! I let you paint your little pictures while I bled for this family! And this is how you repay me? By trying to steal my wife?"

"He’s not trying to steal me!" I shouted, trying to pull Dante off him. "He was helping me because you’re a monster, Dante! He was trying to keep me from losing my mind!"

"Stay out of this!" Dante backhanded the air toward me, not hitting me, but the force of the gesture sent me back.

Isabella appeared at the top of the stairs, leaning over the railing with a glass of wine in her hand. A triumphant smile spread across her face.

"I told you, Dante," she called down. "I told you they were too close. I told you Lorenzo had a soft spot for the girl from the streets. He’s always wanted what you have. The title, the power... the girl."

"Shut up, Isabella!" Lorenzo yelled.

"Why should I?" Isabella walked down the stairs, her silk robe billowing. "Dante, he’s been planning this for weeks. I’ve seen them in the garden. I’ve seen the way he looks at her. He doesn't want to protect the heir, he wants to replace you."

He let go of Lorenzo’s shirt, but he didn't step back. 

"You’re my brother," Dante whispered, and the sadness in his voice was almost worse than the rage. "But you’re a traitor."

"I’m the only one in this house who actually cares about her life!" Lorenzo shot back.

"Your 'care' is a liability," Dante said. He turned to the head of security, who was standing by the door. "Vince."

"Yes, sir?"

"Take Lorenzo to the upstate facility. Immediately," Dante ordered. "He’s on a temporary assignment. He’s to oversee the winter storage. No phone, no internet, no contact with the city. If he leaves the perimeter, shoot him."

"Dante, no!" I screamed, rushing toward him. "You can't do this! He’s your brother!"

"He’s lucky he’s my brother," Dante said, grabbing my waist and pinning me to his side. "If he were anyone else, he’d be in a hole in the Jersey Barrens by now."

Two guards grabbed Lorenzo. 

"I'll be back, Elara," Lorenzo mouthed as they dragged him toward the door.

"Go!" Dante roared.

The heavy front doors slammed shut. 

Lorenzo was gone.

Isabella walked over to the burner phone on the floor and picked it up. She turned it over in her hand before dropping it into a trash bin by the door.

"Well," she said, looking at me with victory. "That’s one distraction gone. Now we can focus on what really matters. The baby."

Dante turned me around to face him. His hands were on my shoulders, and they were shaking.

"You think I'm a monster?" he asked. 

"Fine. I'll be the monster. But you are never speaking to him again. You are never leaving this house. You are going to sit in that room, and you are going to grow my son, and you are going to pray that I don't decide to kill the only person you have left."

He leaned down, his forehead pressing against mine.

"You’re isolated now, Elara. Truly. There is no Lorenzo. There is no Singapore money. There is only me. Do you understand?"

I looked past him at the front door. The locks were engaged, the guards were doubled and the money Lorenzo had moved was flagged.

I was alone in a house with a madman and a woman who wanted me dead.

"I understand," I whispered.

"Good," Dante said. He kissed my forehead, a cold, possessive gesture and walked toward the library.

I looked at Isabella. She raised her glass to me in a silent toast.