Page 10

Chapter Ten

Dante

I t takes me a moment too long to realize that Nadia is taking her sweet time in the bathroom.

“Where’s your daughter?” I ask Elio.

“I think she wanted to talk with Nadia. About what, I’m not sure. You know she’s been going through a lot lately.”

“Mmm. Excuse me.” If Aria has done something to Nadia, I’m not going to be happy. That girl has a lot of hate in her heart. I brought Nadia here because I wanted her to see the consequences of her father’s actions but it was pointless. Nadia knows her father is a bad man. Bringing her here was na?ve of me. Aria didn’t need the reminder that she was kidnapped.

I used to do everything in my power to keep Aria safe when she was just a kid and now I’m flaunting my prisoner in front of her. I’ve changed a lot in the past four years, all because of Nadia’s family.

Anger courses through me. I can’t let myself get distracted by Nadia’s beauty and innocence. I have to keep my head in the fucking game.

I find the bathroom and knock on the door but no one answers. It’s unlocked. Peering inside, I don’t see anyone. Not Nadia. Not Aria.

When I make it to the living room, I see Aria chatting with her guard. “Where’s Nadia? ”

The question makes her jump. “What? Who?”

“Aria, do you know something?”

She stares back at me defiantly. “No.”

“So, you don’t know where Nadia is?” I turn to the guard. “Weren’t you supposed to be watching the front door?”

A guilty expression crosses his face. I know immediately what has happened.

“Nadia is gone, isn’t she?”

Aria’s gaze finally drops. She can never look me in the eye when she lies.

“God damn it. Why, Aria? You hate her.”

“Because I realized that she’s not to blame. She’s just a victim like I was. She’s hates her father. And she said that if I helped her escape, she was the only one who could convince Erik to kill him. I want Sergei Belov dead for kidnapping me. I don’t see you managing that.”

I run my hand down my face. This fucking girl.

“What’s going on?” Elio asks, coming into the living room.

“Nadia is gone. Thanks to your daughter.” Without another word, I run out of the house. Where would she have gone?

I quickly dial Finn. “Be on the lookout for Nadia. She escaped.”

“You know she’s going to her sister’s house.”

“Are you close to it?”

“About ten minutes away.”

“Go there and see if she shows up. I’m on my way.” That’s the beauty of Nadia – she is so innocent that she’ll go straight to Anya for help. It’s her only play.

After observing Erik from the shadows, I know exactly where he lives. I could have attacked at any time but his house is guarded twenty-four seven. He usually has at least four to ten on guard at any moment. It didn’t make sense to attack him in his own home. Besides, stealing Nadia away on her wedding day was much more dramatic.

And a lot more fun.

I get into my car and slam my foot onto the gas pedal and go after my missing prisoner.

Nadia

“Get behind me,” Anya’s guard says, pushing me back into the house.

Finn slowly approaches with his gun drawn. “I don’t have to shoot if you just give me the girl.”

“No.” The guard fires at Finn and he fires back. A bullet lands right in the guard’s head, making him fall back into the house.

Anya gasps and slams the door shut right as Finn barges at us. “Oh my god. Nadia. Are you ok?” Her eyes search my face and body. “Wait.” She grabs my hands and looks them over. “You have all your fingers. I knew it. I knew it wasn’t really your finger.”

“A girl from the morgue. Already dead,” I explain. “Where’s Erik?”

“He’s gone today, at a meeting with Ivan and Viktor.”

“So Erik isn’t here?”

“No but there are other guards. They patrol the house. They should have heard the shots.”

Finn bangs against the door, shouting at Anya to let me go.

“Where are the guards?” I ask.

Anya runs towards the back of the house and looks out a window. She blanches. “They’re dead.”

I look to see what she’s pointing at. Three other guards are lying on the ground by the side of the house, all with bullet holes in their heads.

“How?” Anya whispers.

“Finn must have gotten here before I did. He must have killed them. He’s a hitman, you know.”

“I know. I had my own run in with him back when I first married Erik.” She clutches me close. “Ok. So we have no guards. Finn’s trying to get inside.”

“Call Erik.”

“He’s too far away. He’ll never make it in time. But I’ll call him.”

The front door bangs open, causing Anya to drop her phone. Finn’s footsteps are like the clanging of a death toll.

“We have to fight him,” Anya says, tugging me behind her as we run into the kitchen. She grabs a large butcher knife and brandishes it before her.

Finn finds us like that. “It’s cute that you think you can use that against me. ”

With a snarl, Anya swipes it at him but he only grabs her arm and pulls her against him, taking the knife out of her hands and placing it against her throat.

“I will kill her,” Finn warns. “But if you come back with me and Dante, I’ll let your sister go.”

“He’s just going to kill me anyway,” Anya says. “Don’t go with him. Please Nadia.”

He starts to draw the knife along Anya’s neck.

“Stop!” I scream. To his credit, Finn pauses. “I’ll go with you. I never should have left Dante. Just don’t hurt my sister. Please.”

Finn shrugs. “See? You didn’t have to make it hard at all.” He starts to let her go, then at the last second, pulls her back against him. “On second thought, it would be more fun just to kill your sister right now.”

Anya’s eyes plead with me to run. If I leave my sister behind, I might be able to save myself. But then I’ll have to live without Anya. I know she would never stop fighting for me just like I’ll never stop fighting for her.

Another set of footsteps sound out throughout the house. Dante runs into the kitchen. It takes him just a couple of seconds to process what is going on. “Finn, stop.”

“But you want this bitch to hurt. Killing her would do that.”

Anya whimpers. I’ve rarely seen my sister look so afraid. She’s been my protector for all of my life.

But now it’s my turn to protect her.

“Please. I’ll go with you.” I say this to Dante. “I will. Don’t let him hurt Anya.”

Dante looks right back at me, anger and confusion written in his eyes, before they soften. “Finn, let her go.”

“Dante-,”

“Finn,” he barks. “Let her go. We need to get the fuck out of here before Erik returns.”

“How do you know he’s not here?” I ask.

“Care to explain?” he says to Anya.

With a deep sigh, she says, “Because Erik would be right here fighting for me if he was home.”

Dante points at her. “Bingo. So Erik isn’t here but I doubt he’ll be gone forever. All I want is Nadia. I don’t want Anya dead, Finn. If Anya is dead, then I can’t hurt her by using Nadia against her. Use some fucking logic.”

Finn glares at Dante before he slowly lets Anya go. She rushes to my side but Dante runs over to me and pulls me away from her .

“Please,” Anya begs. It’s a strange sound coming out of her. “Just let my sister go. Don’t torture her.”

“Have I tortured you?” Dante asks me. “I didn’t cut off your finger, did I?”

“You torture me every day when you keep me as a prisoner.”

He makes a small sound in the back of his throat. “You’re getting braver, baby. I like that. Now, say goodbye to your sister.”

“Anya-,”

“Nadia-,”

“That’s all,” Dante says, dragging me away. “Come along, Finn.”

He looks Anya up and down with a vicious grin before following Dante and me out the door. The last sight I have of my sister is her crying out for me.

And then Finn kicks the door shut and Dante forces me into his car and I’m leaving Anya’s home before I can even fully processed all what happened.

Finn takes his own car so that leaves me and Dante to ourselves.

“You thought you could really escape?”

“I had to try.”

“Aria helped you.” It’s not a question.

“She has a lot of anger in her but I think most of it is pain and fear. She realized we’re not that different. She had the power to change. Why can’t you?”

His laugh is so dark, it makes me freeze in my seat. “You really think I can change? I kidnapped you, Nadia. I am not a man who can be changed. You are my enemy. Your family is my enemy and I will do everything in my power to make Erik and Anya and Sergei suffer before I ever let you go.”

“You saw my sister back there. She’s innocent in this, Dante. You’re hurting another innocent woman. Please don’t do this. Just let me return home.”

“Erik offered himself up to me in exchange for your freedom. If that wasn’t enough to tempt me, then nothing will. You are mine now, Nadia.”

I sit back in the seat with a sudden exhale. The way he said ‘mine’ sounded so… possessive. Like he views me as more than just his prisoner. Almost like he views me as… his.

His property. Or his lover.

I fall silent as he drives me back to the ranch house. We stop and change cars along the way to avoid any of Erik’s men tracking us.

Dante fumes the entire ride to the house .

“Am I just your prisoner?” I whisper.

He looks at me like I’m crazy. “You are my prisoner.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

His hand slides onto my knee where he keeps it planted like he’s claiming me as his own. “I’m not letting you go again. You need to learn a lesson.”

I gulp. “What lesson?”

“That you are mine and I will break you. I will make you beg me for pleasure. For my attention. I will make you utterly mine that you will never want to return to your sister.”

“Impossible.”

“You messed up, Nadia. You just gave your sister hope and that was the cruelest thing you could have done to her. Now she’ll think there’s a chance to save you and there won’t be. Not ever again. You just crushed her heart.”

I stare down at Dante’s hand on my knee, feeling the urge to push it off me and yet pull it higher up my thigh. My conflicted feelings for him don’t make any sense. He’s evil.

And yet, he prevented Finn from killing Anya. He could have let Finn kill her just to hurt me.

But he stopped it.

I know Dante is right. Anya will now think there’s a chance to save me. I never should have gone back to her.

I never should have escaped at all.

My father had it instilled in me to keep my head down and do as I’m told. I always listened because it was just easier. But I was a kicked horse when it came to him.

I thought for a moment today I could have my freedom back but I’m just another kicked horse when it comes to Dante. I should have just kept my head down and been the good girl I always was.

Because now both me and Anya will be punished for this.

That breaks my heart most of all.

Dante storms inside the ranch house, keeping his hand on my arm so I can’t go anywhere.

Matteo jumps up from the couch. “What’s going on?”

“Nadia escaped and went back to her sister’s. I just managed to get her back thanks to Finn. But he tried to kill Anya.”

“Fuck.” Matteo runs his hand down his face. “That’s not good.”

“No it’s not fucking good. It’s only going to piss Erik off more, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s going to put him on a fucking war path. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for him. I don’t want him finding this place.”

“Understood. But, uh, Dante, can I speak to your privately?”

“Later. I need to deal with Nadia.”

I look to Matteo for help but he only nods and backs away, leaving me to Dante. Matteo works for Dante after all. He’ll never choose me over his boss.

Dante brings me back into the bedroom and kicks the door shut. The large bang makes me jump. Memories of my father throwing and kicking and punching things runs through my mind, causing me to whimper and wrap my arms around myself. If I just get small enough, then maybe my father can’t hurt me.

But it’s not my father who speaks to me. It’s Dante. “Nadia.” His voice is a lot softer. “Look at me.”

“You’re going to hurt me. You said so yourself.”

“I’m not going to hit you. Not like your father.”

“But how else are you going to punish me? It’s what my father did.”

“I know. But almost killing your sister seems like punishment enough. Keeping you from her hurts you both.”

I force myself to look up at him. “You don’t have to do this, Dante. You can let go of your anger. You can end this war.”

“But to do that I’d have to let you go.” He slowly approaches me and sets his hands on my waist. I instantly feel warmer and have to resist the urge to lean into his touch. “And I don’t want to let you go.”

“Just to hurt me? To hurt my family?”

“Yes,” he growls, placing his head against mine. “But also… Fuck.”

“What?”

“You are mine, Nadia. I meant that. I want you to be mine so fucking badly.”

“But you hate me. Why would you want me to be yours?”

He cups my face and runs his thumb over my lips. “You’re so innocent sometimes. I do hate you. You’re the Bratva. Your father and sister and brother-in-law have all tried to kill me. And yet, I want to ravage you. I want to throw you on that bed and make me yours. ”

“So why don’t you?”

“Because you don’t want me to. And I won’t rape you. I want you to come to me willingly.”

“But I’m your prisoner. I’ll never want you.” I state it like a fact because it is but I can tell it hurts Dante. He flinches slightly. “I’m confused. You hate me and yet you want me. It doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” he murmurs. “You’re just so innocent. You don’t even realize what I feel for you. You don’t know what goes on in my mind when I think of you. All the dirty fucking things I want to do to your body.”

I gasp. No one has ever spoken to me like this before. The few times Viktor and I spoke before the wedding was always very formal. Both Erik and Anya were always there with me to prevent anything from happening between Viktor and myself.

But I don’t have Erik and Anya here to protect me from Dante. He’s a brute; raw strength. A force to be reckoned with. A man who wants to do dirty things to me.

And why do I want to know what those dirty things are? I should be repulsed. I am scared, I’ll admit. But I’m not disgusted. Disgust is for things like trash and vomit and gum on the bottom of your shoe.

Disgust is the last thing I feel for Dante.

Fear and anxiety and desire is what I feel for Dante. The first two things make sense but the last one doesn’t. I don’t want to be with him and yet my body seems drawn to his touch. To his sheer masculinity. He’s a black hole and he’s going to take me right down with him.

But to do that, I’d be going against Anya and Anya is my north star, reminding me of who I’m fighting for.

“Dante,” I whisper.

“Don’t say my name like that.”

“Like what?”

“You don’t even know. Like you’re such an innocent virgin. Like you want me to kiss you.”

“I don’t want that.” I say it but I end up licking my lips anyway.

“Would you push me away if I kissed you? You haven’t before.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” My hands clutch his shoulders. I tell myself it’s to steady myself but I think deep down, it’s just because I want to touch Dante’s strong, muscular arms. I can feel the power underneath them and it’s doing strange things to me.

“I want you to say you want me to kiss you.”

“I can’t say that.”

He cups my face between both hands. “Then don’t stop me.”

Dante kisses me and at first, I resist it, but as he kisses me deeper, I find myself giving in. This kiss is just as good as the first one he gave me, if not better. I’m prepared now. I know what I’m doing.

Except, I really have no idea what I’m doing as Dante lays me on the bed and kisses me like he’s a dying man in the desert.

My dress rides up my thighs. I know Dante has already seen me naked before but for some reason, now feels even more intimate. I have clothes that are protecting me. Dante could just rip them off if he wanted to and I don’t think I would stop him.

I gasp when his hand grips my thigh and pulls it high around his waist. A flood of desire hits me. Desire to not be alone. Desire to be held. Desire to be loved.

But can Dante give me any of those when he hates me and my family?

The memory of Anya pleading with me with her eyes to run when Finn held that knife to her throat makes me go ice cold. Dante is the enemy. I can’t trust him.

And I especially can’t give my body to him.

I pull back and push on his chest. To his credit, Dante sits up but his eyes tell me he wants to ravage me in an instant.

“Stop. I can’t.”

“Can’t or don’t want to? There’s a difference.”

“Does it matter? I can’t be with you. You’re the enemy. So if you really do want me to choose you Dante, then you need to let me go.”

He barks a laugh and stands up, moving further away from me. “I’m not doing that.”

“Then you’ll always be my enemy. I’m sorry.”

He frowns. “Why are you sorry? I’m the one who kidnapped you.”

“My father would expect me to be sorry.”

“Well I’m not your father.” His eyebrows crease together. In fact, he looks upset by the comparison to my father. “Don’t think about running again. I managed to stop Finn from killing your sister but I might not always be there.” With that threat, he leaves the room, locking me back inside .

I slump onto the bed. What just happened between us? Dante is confusing me more and more by the second.

Dante

Fuck, Nadia is in my head.

I didn’t mean to tell her that she’s mine. I sounded like a possessive asshole boyfriend except, I am not Nadia’s boyfriend and I will never be. She is the enemy. I have to remember that.

It’s just so easy to forget that fact when she looks up at me with her brown doe eyes and looks so fucking innocent. She’s just ready for a man to show her pleasure and I want to be that man. I want to fucking murder Viktor for ever thinking he could make her his.

“Dante,” Matteo says, jerking me out of my thoughts.

“What?”

“What are you doing? With Nadia? Is this smart?”

“What am I doing?”

He gives me a pointed look. “You know. I see the way you look at her. You’re going soft on her. That’s going to lead to bad things. You’re going to get distracted and when that happens, Erik will be able to strike.”

“So what do you suggest? I beat the girl? Make her despise me?”

“No. I think you should let her go.”

I stare at Matteo, waiting for the punchline but it never comes. “I am not letting her go.”

“Listen to me. If you returned her to Erik, then he might not attack. We could call a truce. We could make peace.”

“With the fucking Russians? I don’t think so.”

“It’s either that or Erik will find you one day and kill you. It’s going to happen because you’re letting Nadia get to you. You’re already getting sloppy. She managed to escape today because you dropped your guard around her. That’s not good. ”

“Nadia doesn’t affect me. You’re fucking seeing things. Now drop this, Matteo. Nadia isn’t going anywhere.”

The thought of letting Nadia go makes my heart clench. She is mine and I won’t let any other man have her.

Anya

“Dante was here?” Erik asks darkly after I tell him everything that happened. His dead guards are proof that something bad went down.

“Nadia was here, Erik. She was so close to me. Dante never cut off any of her fingers. He’s just toying with us.”

He grabs my arms, pulling me against his chest. My body sinks right into him. I used to fight this feeling for Erik but in the past few years since we’ve been together, I can’t imagine feeling any more safe than I do in Erik’s arms.

“Of course he is,” Erik says. “He wants us to worry. But he lost something today. Nadia came here, which means she escaped, which means that Dante has weaknesses. I can find those weaknesses and exploit them. I will hurt him, Anya. I will kill him. Are you ok?” Gently, he touches my neck.

“It was just a little cut. I’m fine. But that hitman, Finn, would have killed me if Dante hadn’t stopped it. Nadia gave herself back to Dante to save my life.”

“Your sister is brave. But that tells us one thing: Dante for a fact doesn’t want us dead. He wants us to hurt. But I say we stop waiting around for him to do that. We draw him out. Make him come to us and I will kill him.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I have the upcoming party for my charity event. A masquerade ball. He infiltrated it four years ago.”

“I remember.”

“Who’s to say he won’t do it again? He’ll want to taunt me about taking Nadia back. He’ll show. I know it. And when he does, I’ll be ready to kill him.”

I can see the seriousness in my husband’s eyes. He means what he says.

And I know Erik has the power to take Dante’s life and save Nadia for good.