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Dante

What wasI supposed to say?

Ivy expected her freedom, she expected to be protected and vanquished from that despicable man.

But did she expect that her freedom would come at a cost?

That for her to be free of Remo she'd be signing her life to me?

No.

I warned her that I was a bad man, she just chose not to believe me. She thought she saw a lost boy, a man who had staggered off the beaten path and was derailed by choices out of his control.

She was wrong. I knew who I was—I'm a Pisani.We breathe, feed, and devour power.

Ivy wasn't going home . . .

She was already there.

“I'm not sure yet.” Leaning back, I rubbed her sides.

“What the hell does that mean? How can you be unsure?” I felt her muscles tighten and pulse pick up in speed as she began to take in deep breaths. “What's going on? I need to know, Dante, you can't keep me in the dark. This is my life we're talking about here.”

“It's not that simple, Ivy, it's not. There are other factors, I need to do this right.”

“Or what? What the fuck are you talking about?” Pushing herself out of my arms, she folded her hands around her torso. “Enough with these cryptic explanations, tell me what the hell is happening right now.”

Fuck.

Standing quickly, my hands flew up in the air. “Fuck, Ivy, this shit goes a lot deeper than just you! There's a business here, there's a level of authority that needs to be followed.” Taking a lunge forward, I gripped her arms. “Trust me, I won't let that man have you, but that doesn't me you'll win freedom from this. Do you understand that?”

Her eyes began to well up, the tears balancing on the edge of her lids, hovering and glazing her stare. “I trusted you.”

“No, don't twist this. I told you I could keep you safe, I told you I wouldn't let him touch you again. But not once did I say you'd be free.”

“You told me to leave!”

“And I warned you if you did I couldn't protect you. That wasn't me setting you free, that was me giving you a choice of life or death. With me you'll live, out there,” I said, pointing my finger into the vast tree line. “You won't.” Disappointment stained her face, sadness weakened her stance. “Do you really think my father would just let you run away and not pay a price for escaping?”

Ivy's head drooped forward, all her hope and dreams fizzling away in one blink. “I trusted you.”

My chest began to twitch with pain, heart physically hurting with every beat. The feelings I had tried to bury, tried to hide, tried to dissolve into nothing all flooded in.

I didn't want to hurt her.

I wanted her for myself.

That came at a cost, having her meant taking her, it meant spoiling her future and breaking her again.

And I had been so willing to do that before.

Now I actually felt for this girl in a way that scared me. I wanted her to be happy.

But my father was in charge, and I had already done enough to earn a bullet in the head. I might be his son, but that didn't spare me from his anger.

Especially if the fuck up was big enough. He had already lost one son; with everything I was doing he was about to lose two.

I just couldn't stop myself. There was something about her that kept me wanting more, kept me needing more. I wasn't willing to give her up and that was dangerous.