Chapter 10 - The Master Ledger
His mouth crashed down on mine before I could formulate another defense.
It wasn't a gentle kiss; it was a desperate, suffocating collision of eight years of history and three years of starving agony. I tasted salt from my tears and the metallic edge of his bruised lip, but beneath it was the pure, intoxicating scent of cedar and smoke that was undeniably Dante.
A sob tore from my throat as my hands tangled into his thick, dark hair. I hated him for leaving me, hated him for the ivory invitation, hated him for the danger swirling around my son—and yet, my body traitorously remembered every inch of him, arching into his touch with shameless, feral longing.
Dante groaned against my mouth, his arms wrapping around my waist, lifting me effortlessly against the wall. His large hands gripped my hips, pulling me tight against his hardened frame, claiming me with a possessive urgency that made my head spin.
"You're mine," he growled against my lips, peppering rough kisses along my jawline, down the sensitive curve of my throat. "You and that boy. I will rip the throat out of anyone who tries to take you from me."
"Dante... stop," I gasped, my hands pushing against his shoulders, though the resistance felt pathetically weak. "Stop. We can't do this. You're still wearing her ring."
Dante pulled back instantly, his dark eyes clouded with lust and fury. He looked down at his left hand, at the simple platinum band that had haunted my nightmares for three years.
Without a word, Dante gripped the ring with his right hand, ripped it off his finger, and hurled it across the room. It struck the baseboard with a sharp metallic clatter and rolled into the shadows.
"I am not her husband," he said coldly. "I never was."
I smoothed down my rumpled shirt, trying to steady my racing pulse. "That doesn't change the reality, Dante. Victoria and Volkov are moving fast. If they hit this penthouse with snipers, they know where the ledger is. They know I’m going to Lake Shore National Bank tomorrow."
Dante straightened his cuffs, his mafia persona snapping back into place like a steel trap. "Lake Shore National Bank is owned by the Marcone family. Old money. Neutral territory. Volkov won't be able to send an assault squad inside without starting a war with the Commission."
"Which means Victoria will try to intercept me before I reach the vault," I said.
"She won't get the chance," Dante said, pulling out a secondary burner phone from his drawer. "Tomorrow morning, the Carter Logistics annual charity gala is taking place at the Palmer House. Every high-society family, every corrupt alderman, and every lieutenant of the Bratva will be in that ballroom."
"Why the gala?" I asked, frowning.
"Because Victoria needs to announce the full acquisition of Carter Logistics to the board," Dante said, a sinister smirk curling his lips. "She thinks I’m pinned down in this penthouse dealing with Bratva snipers. She thinks you’re hiding in terror."
He stepped closer, his fingers gently tracing the line of my jaw, his touch surprisingly tender.
"Tomorrow, Elena, you aren't going to sneak into a bank like a thief. You are going to walk into the Palmer House on my arm. We are going to expose Victoria's treason in front of the entire city, and then I am going to end Nikolai Volkov once and for all."
"And Leo?" My voice broke.
"Luca will remain here with thirty of my best men," Dante said firmly. "This penthouse is a fortress now. Nothing enters, nothing leaves. Your son will be safe."
I looked toward the heavy door of the panic room, where my little boy was sleeping. I had spent three years running from the shadows of Chicago. But looking into Dante’s unyielding, lethal eyes, I realized there was only one way to truly protect my son:
May you like
We had to burn the monsters to the ground.
***
