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I sit on the edge of the bed in the safehouse’s tiny bedroom. It’s not like the penthouse—no marble, no skyline view, no decadence. Just gray walls, heavy locks, and security feeds blinking quietly from the monitor across the room.
I stare at the collar still around my throat. I didn’t take it off. I thought I would. But I couldn’t. Not even after the hacking scare.
Because part of me needed the weight. The reminder that even now—after a near-ambush, after blood and betrayal—I’m still tethered to him.
Even if I shouldn’t be.
The bathroom door creaks open, steam curling out. Dante steps into the room, shirtless, his arm in the bandage I helped him with, torso lined with bruises and tension.
I stand without thinking.
“Let me,” I whisper.
He doesn’t speak. Just sits on the bed, legs wide, jaw tight. He draws me between his legs and lets me towel his hair. Apply ointment to his shoulder.
I’m gentle. He’s still made of stone—but I think he’s softer around me now.
“Did she mean it?” I ask finally. “Evelyn. That she wanted to watch you bleed?”
His voice is rough. “Everyone close to me eventually does.”
I blink. “That’s a hell of a thing to believe.”
“It’s not belief. It’s math.”
Something occurs to me. “The thirty days. It wasn’t just about sex and surrender, was it?”
He stares at me, then shakes his head. “It was also about keeping my little thief safe.”
“That why?—”
“I nearly lost my fucking mind when you left the penthouse,” he says roughly. “I thought you’d run. That they’d gotten to you first.”
My mouth opens. Closes.
All this time, I thoughthewas the one keeping things from me.
But he was trying to protect me from things I didn’t even know were chasing me.
I crouch between his knees. My hands on his thighs. “If this is about math, then let me be your anomaly.”
That cracks him. He exhales hard. Then he cups my face. “You terrify me. You know that?”
“I know.”
His forehead drops to mine. And we just breathe.
Then—“Why did the collar buzz?” I ask. “What the hell was that?”
His hand drops. He straightens.
“It’s connected to Ironveil,” he says. “A failsafe. Hidden in the leather. Not even Evelyn knew about it.” He stops. But I know there’s more. A good fucking reason.
“I’m listening.”
He hesitates.
I surge closer, let him see the ‘no retreat’ blazing in my eyes.