Page 12

Chapter Twelve

Nadia

D ante grunts and falls against me. The sight of him looking weak is honestly terrifying. He’s been such a strong, intimidating presence in my life that I don’t know how to feel about him getting hurt.

On instinct, my hands steady him. Dante slings his arm around my shoulder. At first, I think he’s trying to get me to help him but then he brings out a small knife and places it to my throat.

I tense. What is he doing?

“Drop that,” Erik growls.

The majority of people in the room haven’t even noticed that Ivan just stabbed Dante in the side. They’re all too busy dancing and drinking and talking.

Dante smirks, despite the blood dripping from his side. “It’s my only play. Let me out of here.”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her,” Anya says. “You said you needed her alive to hurt us.”

“And that was true. Until this fucker decided to stab me.” He glares at Ivan, who looks back with a sneer on his face.

“No regrets,” Ivan says. “You needed to be brought down. I needed to keep my daughter safe. ”

“I don’t even know your daughter,” Dante slurs. I look at him closely. His skin is getting paler. I almost don’t even recognize the handsome, strong man I’ve spent the past couple weeks with.

“That doesn’t matter. I still have to keep her safe.”

“Ivan,” Erik says, holding his hand up. “Give me the knife before you do something stupid.”

“He already did something stupid,” my father mutters. “Now Nadia is in more danger.”

Despite how weak he looks, Dante’s grip on me is strong and the knife by my throat doesn’t waver one bit.

“Let her go and you can walk out of here,” Erik bargains.

“Ah! Not a chance. I’m hurt and bleeding. I’m too weak to fight. You know this. If I let Nadia go, then I have nothing. You can capture me. And that will lead to my death. So don’t pretend to bargain with me, Erik. It’s not going to work.”

“We can still leave,” I offer. “Just let us go and nothing bad needs to happen.”

“Listen to her,” Dante growls.

“Why should I? You have a fucking knife to her throat.”

“Just let her go,” Anya begs. Her eyes meet mine and there’s so much pain in her expression. I would do anything in my power to see my sister happy.

But that’s not going to happen when Dante has me.

Yet, the only way to make sure everyone makes it out alive is to leave with Dante.

“Let’s go,” I say to him. “Let’s just start walking. You don’t have to hurt me.”

“I just might. It’s time, Nadia. We’ve pretended for too long. It might be time to kill you and get you off my fucking mind.” His breath is hot on my ear.

I almost break down into tears but I keep them back at the last moment. The only reason I ever felt even remotely comfortable around Dante was the knowledge that he would never kill me.

Now that’s all changed.

I was a fool to have a small crush on him. I was na?ve to ever let him touch me.

He’s my enemy and I can never forget it.

Dante tightens his hold on the knife and presses it firmer against my neck. A slight sting of pain goes over my skin and I wince.

“Don’t hurt her,” Anya says .

Dante ignores her. “So, Erik. What’s it going to be? You can try to shoot me in front of all these people but there’s too many witnesses. There’s also the risk that you might shoot Nadia too. Or you can let me walk out of here with her. No other options.”

“I am not letting you leave with her.” Erik’s eyes flick to Dante’s bleeding side. “You’ll bleed out eventually. When you get so weak, that’s when I’ll attack.”

I glance down to Dante’s side. It’s covered in so much blood. It’s sort of amazing that he’s still upright. “Dante, Erik is right. You’re going to bleed out. Either let me go and get yourself to safety or-,”

“You really care about my safety?” He gazes down at me with those dark eyes of his. “I know you don’t. You hate me just as much as they do. Don’t you? Admit it.”

My lips open but nothing comes out. When it finally does, all I can say is, “I… can’t. I’m not sure I do hate you.”

He frowns.

“Why would you say that?” Anya asks. “Of course you hate him. Nadia, he kidnapped you. He’s tortured you!”

My father lets out an annoyed huff. “She’s just like you, Anya. Too fucking stupid and na?ve for her own good.”

I flinch. My father has always hurt me with his words and now is no exception. It still stings and it always will.

I look at my father more closely. The sneer on his lips. The frown between his eyebrows. The utter anger in his eyes. Anger directed not just at Dante but at me. He hates me. I know it deep down.

The only reason he wants me back is because his pride has been hurt.

If Dante lets me go, my father will snag his claws right back into me. Viktor will still want to marry me – I’m assuming. He might not though, now that Dante has touched me. A lot of Bratva men don’t want ‘spoiled goods.’

If I manage to escape Dante, my life will still be one prison because my father will make it so.

I know Anya and Erik will fight to keep me with them but the war with my father will never end.

“Just start walking back,” I tell Dante.

He looks down at me sharply.

“Just do it, Dante. If you want to save yourself, it’s your only play. ”

His hand doesn’t waver at my throat. I know I mean nothing to him. I’m just an innocent woman he wants to corrupt. But Dante means something to me. He means an escape from my father.

Even though Dante is still my captor.

Slowly, Dante starts walking backwards.

“Don’t do this,” Erik warns.

“He has to,” I tell him. “If he wants to survive. And I have to go with him.”

“Nadia, no,” Anya whimpers.

“I’m so sorry, Anya. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want you to worry for me. But I have to help Dante get out. It’s the only way to ensure I make it out of this alive.”

Anya gasps and her eyes widen. She knows I’m right.

Dante keeps backing up but Erik and my father try to advance,

“Stop!” Anya screams, drawing more peoples’ attention our way. “Don’t follow. I don’t want Nadia to get killed.”

“We can’t just let her go with him,” my father growls. “She belongs to me.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Anya snaps. “Nadia deserves freedom.”

“And going with the man who kidnapped her is freedom?”

“Of course not. But if it means Nadia survives, then I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

“Even if he tortures her?” Erik asks in a softer voice. “He’s going to hurt her and you know it.”

“He’s not,” I call out. “Just let us go. Dante, keep walking.”

He tries to but Erik and my father just follow.

This isn’t working. Dante is not going to make it out of here and there’s a good chance he’s going to bring me right down with him.

I know in this moment that I want to fight for my life. For my freedom. And to do that, I need Dante alive.

So, I do the only thing I can think of.

I use my voice for once.

A blood curdling scream rips out of me, drawing the attention of more people in the room. One woman sees the blood dripping out of Dante’s side and screams when she sees the bloody knife in Ivan’s hand.

More people start crowding around. More pointing and staring and whispering. People start running for the exit .

It becomes pandemonium.

“Shit,” Ivan says, dropping his knife to the ground.

“Don’t let go of it, you fucking imbecile,” my father snarls at him.

“Now’s your chance,” I whisper to Dante.

“Are you really trying to help me?”

“To save my own life? Yes.”

He nods once. “Ok then.” He backs up into the crowd around us and soon the sight of Anya and Erik and my father disappears.

We’re jostled from side to side as people try to get a look at what is happening. Now that we’re in the crowd, most people don’t even notice the blood dripping from Dante’s side.

He lowers the knife from my throat. “Can I trust that you won’t escape?”

“You’re all I have so you better start trusting me.”

Dante’s eyes say so much but I can’t quite figure them out through his mask. “All right then.” He grabs my hand and pulls me deeper into the crowd. When I glance back, I see that Erik is trying to follow us. He will not give up. He promised to get me back for Anya’s sake and anything for Anya means he will not stop fighting.

“If you don’t want Erik to reach us, move faster.”

Dante grits his teeth and does as I say. We make it out of the crowd and towards the front doors but as we move closer to them, two guards stand in the way. They don’t have their guns drawn but I can see them at their hips. These are Erik’s men.

“Not that way,” I say, tugging Dante to the side. “If we approach, they’ll stop you. There’s a good chance they might kill you.”

“But then you’d be free of me.”

“I might die in the process. I’m just trying to keep that from happening.”

“Is that the only reason?” he asks so quietly, I’m not sure if I hear him correctly.

“This way.” I tug on his arm and we half run and half walk down a hallway. Paintings are on either side of us. People look at them and not in our direction.

We make it down the hall and turn a corner when Dante lets out a gasp and slumps against the wall. He clutches his side.

“How bad is it?” I ask.

“If you wanted to make your escape, now’s your chance. I don’t have a knife to your throat. There’s no other guards around to accidently shoot you. If I were you, I’d run now. ”

He’s right. There’s no one down this hallway but us.

But if I don’t stay with Dante, he’ll die. Isn’t that what I should want? I should want to be free of Dante and yet, the thought of him dying stings my heart in a way I can’t fully understand.

Anya flashes through my mind. She’s the one I care most about. She would be devastated if I didn’t run.

I have to run and leave Dante to his fate. He caused this. He deserves whatever happens to him.

I take a step away from him when he lunges forward and grabs me around the waist.

“Not so fast,” he growls. “I do need you to get out of here.”

“But you said-,”

“I was testing you. Now I know where your loyalties lie.”

I glare at Dante. “And why would you think they lie with you? You have to know I’ll always choose my sister over you. I don’t love you, Dante. And you don’t love me so don’t pretend like I just betrayed you. You kidnapped me.”

He’s quiet for a beat before nodding. “Fair enough. You know, I like this fire in you. I’ve never seen it before. You look so… brave.”

I gasp. No one has ever called me brave before, not even Anya. Dante’s eyes soften right before he winces and clutches his side again.

I push my thoughts away and help Dante stand up straight. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Dante slumps against me as we walk down the hallway. It’s strange to have to carry his weight. Dante is such a strong figure but right now, he’s weak. It’s sort of refreshing to see. He deserves it after all he’s put me through.

But does he deserve to die?

I don’t know everything Dante has done in his life. Maybe he does deserve to die for things he’s done in the past but he doesn’t deserve to die for the things he’s done to me. Despite kidnapping me, he hasn’t hurt me. Instead, he actually tried to save my life when he got me out of that cold basement.

I think Dante has the capacity for some goodness and it’s that goodness I see that is the reason I’m going to help him.

Because I’m not just doing this to save my own life. I’m also doing this because I just don’t want to see Dante die.

The museum we’re in becomes a maze as we take another corner and another corner and another corner .

“Where’s the exit?” I whisper while struggling to keep Dante’s weight off me.

“I don’t know but it won’t take long for Erik to find us.”

“And then we’ll be right back to where we started. You threatening to kill me and putting my life in danger.”

“And yet, you’re trying to help me,” he murmurs. “Why?”

“Let’s not talk about that now.”

“It’s not because you care, is it?”

I look at Dante sharply. “I don’t care. Now, let’s move.”

“I’m not sure I believe you,” he says, laughing to himself.

“How can you laugh at a time like this? You’re bleeding out. You…” It’s then that I realize Dante is leaving a literal blood trail behind him, putting out a signal to Erik to come and find us.

“We have to stop your bleeding,” I say.

He looks down at the blood trail and curses. “You’re right. Help me down.” Dante sits on the ground with a grunt, then tears off a piece of his shirt. “Here. Wrap it around me.”

I push aside his remaining shirt and find the stab wound. Blood continues to drip out of it. It’s a disgusting sight. It’s also a terrifying one.

“You could die with this,” I say.

“I know, Nadia,” he responds flatly.

“I’m just saying.”

As I wrap the shirt around his wound, Dante skims his fingers down my cheek. “Are you worried about me? Truly?”

“I just don’t want to die. I tried to run and you caught me. Even weakened, you’re still stronger than I am.”

“So, it’s purely practical.”

I can’t say yes because it’s not purely practical what I’m feeling but I can’t tell Dante that. He doesn’t get to know that he already has a hold on me.

“There.” I finish tying off the wound. Dante grunts in pain.

“You could be a bit more careful, baby.”

“I’m not your baby.”

“It seems like in a life or death situation, you become like your sister. You sound just like her right now.”

“Is that a compliment or not?”

“It’s both. ”

I flush. I’ve always wanted to be like Anya and it seems now I’m becoming more like her. I just didn’t know it would take this situation to bring that part of me out.

“Let’s get you up,” I mumble. “We need to keep moving.”

Dante lets me pull him to his feet. He opens his lips like he wants to say something but then thinks better of it. “Let’s go.”

Now that he’s not dripping blood, it should be harder for Erik to find us. We go deeper into the museum. Where is the exit? Dante is getting weaker and weaker by the moment.

It dawns on me that if he gets too weak, he shouldn’t be able to overpower me. I could still try to make a run for it.

But that would mean leaving Dante to die. That’s something I should want and yet I just can’t seem to want it. I hate how I feel. My life was much more simple before Dante came along and got into my head.

We round another corner and there’s an exit. Only one guard stands by the door.

“Shit,” Dante mutters, pulling me behind him as we get back behind the wall.

“He probably has a gun like the other ones.”

“I can’t fight him off. I’m too weak.”

“Did you not bring your own gun?”

He arches a perfect eyebrow. “You want me to kill an innocent guard?”

“That’s not what I meant,” I say, flushing again. “I just meant you could use the gun to get him out of the way but don’t actually shoot him.”

“I don’t have a gun. There were metal detectors when we came in. I could never get a gun in here. My knife was easier to hide.”

“So, what do we do?” I glance behind me. So far, Erik hasn’t appeared but I don’t think it will take him long. He’s probably already called for backup at every exit. If we’re going to leave, it has to be now.

“You could distract him.”

“Distract him? How?”

“Use your womanly wiles.”

“Me… Dante, I can’t. I’ve never done that before. I don’t know how to flirt.”

“So innocent,” he murmurs. “Well, if you can’t do it, then that’s the end for me. Erik will find me. He’ll save you from me and I’ll be dead. Isn’t that what you want?”

“I don’t want you dead,” I say more passionately than I intend to.

“Why not? I thought you hated me.”

“I just don’t want to see more people die. That’s all. ”

He pulls me in close to him. “If I didn’t know any better, Nadia, I would think that you liked me.”

“I…” I can’t lie. Dante gives me a knowing look before letting me go.

“Flirt with the guard. If you don’t want me dead, then you’re going to need to help me. Otherwise, we might as well wait for Erik to show up and kill me and set you free.” He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. I can’t help but shiver.

“I’m not going to be good at this.”

“It doesn’t matter. You just need to get him out of the way so I can escape. That’s all.”

“I shouldn’t want you to escape.”

“And yet, you do. So go,” he adds softly.

With a deep sigh, I hurry down the hallway to the guard. Flirting is not something I’m good at but being a helpless damsel in distress is something I have personal experience with. “I need help! A friend of mine collapsed in the bathroom. Please, I need help!”

The guard takes in my disheveled appearance and gives me a grin that is more sexual than it should be for this moment. “Where did you say?”

“The bathroom! Down there.” I point towards the hallway opposite Dante. Hopefully there really is a bathroom down there.

The guard takes off running, then motions for me to follow. “You need to show me.”

Uneasily, I glance towards the hallway Dante is hiding in, before nodding and following the guard.

We turn down the opposite hallway and I notice Dante sneaks out from the other one, heading towards the back exit.

When the guard’s back is to me, I quickly run after Dante.

He slumps against the door and tries to open it but he’s too weak. “I need help,” he admits.

“It’s going to set off an alarm if we open it.”

“We don’t have time, Nadia. That guard will realize you’re not behind him in a matter of seconds.”

Dante’s right. There’s no more time to waste.

I shove open the door, setting off an alarm, and alerting the guard to us. He comes running back down the hallway, yelling at us to stop but Dante and I are already outside.

“He’s following us,” I say, looking over my shoulder.

“Then we keep moving.” But Dante is getting slower and slower by the moment. His skin has become ashen and is no longer its beautiful tan color .

“Where?”

“To my car.”

“Your car is on the other side of the museum.”

He shakes his head. “I always have a backup car. Matteo will be waiting around here somewhere. I always have a backup plan just in case.”

“You knew Erik would spot you. You knew he’d tried to keep you there.”

“I did. I just happened to luck out.” He stumbles to a stop. “There.” A car is nestled between two alleyways. Matteo is in the driver’s seat.

I start to run for the car but Dante doesn’t. Instead, he ends up falling right to the ground, face first.

“Dante.” I rush to his side. The guard is running right towards us. “If you don’t want to get caught, then you need to get up right now.”

He tries to push himself up but slumps right back to the ground.

“You’re Dante Moretti. You’re fearsome. People are terrified of you. You can’t give up now.”

“This is your chance to run,” he grunts. “Why aren’t you taking it?”

I could let the guard catch us. He would deliver Dante to Erik and Erik would kill him and I’ll be reunited with Anya. I would be safe.

Until my father tries to get me back. He’ll always be breathing down my neck.

And after what I’ve experienced with Dante, I’m not sure I could handle being with Viktor. Dante has changed me whether I like it or not.

I make my decision.

“Matteo!” I wave my arms around, trying to get his attention. “Matteo!”

He jumps out of the car and runs over to us. “What happened?”

“He got stabbed. He needs help.”

Matteo eyes me like he doesn’t even recognize me before lifting Dante up and helping him to the car. I’m almost there when the guard grabs me around the waist.

My scream alerts Matteo and he comes running back over.

“Let her go.” Matteo punches the guard in the face and then I’m free. The guard falls right to the ground, unconscious. Matteo looks between me and Dante, now in the car. “You’re free, Nadia. I have to go take care of Dante.”

“I need to know that he’ll be ok.”

“Why do you care?”

“I just do,” I answer honestly. “I’m coming with. ”

To say Matteo looks surprised is an understatement. “I won’t kidnap you. I have to get Dante to safety. You’re free. Return to your sister.”

“That’s what I want more in this world but I need to know that Dante will be ok. I don’t want a war between him and Erik. I need to convince him to end it before anyone else gets hurt.”

“Don’t be na?ve. Leave now.”

“No. I’m coming.” I get into the backseat of the car beside Dante, who looks like he’s on the brink of death.

After shaking his head, Matteo gets in and drives away from the museum. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I really don’t. I’m just trusting my instinct.

Matteo slams on his breaks as a man jumps in front of the car. It’s Erik. He raises a gun and points it right at Matteo.

“Let her go,” Erik warns.

“Nadia, get out,” Matteo says. “Or I’m going to have to run him over. I need to save Dante.”

I clutch the back of his seat. “You can’t. Just drive around him.”

With an exasperated sound, Matteo revs his engine and drives forward. Erik jumps out of the way at the last moment. He sees me in the backseat and pounds on the window.

“Nadia!”

I wish I could put Erik at ease. I wish I could return to Anya. But I know now: I have to stop this war.

I might be the only one who can get through to Dante.

So, I have no choice but to watch Erik’s eyes grow wide as Matteo drives away with me in the car.