Page 120 of Shadows of Steel

My fingers curl around the paper, crushing it in my fist. A low, guttural sound escapes me, something primal, uncontained. Pure, undiluted fury.

I can barely leash the violent urge clawing up my spine, the need to break something. Someone.

Not again.

My head snaps up, my voice like razor wire. “Find him. I don’t care what it takes. No more fucking excuses.”

I exhale sharply, forcing the rage down. “Let’s go inside.” I murmur, my tone softer now, meant only for her.

I carry her up the stairs, refusing to let her take a single step, giving no room for protest. She’s still shaken, a faint tremor in her limbs, a sight I can’t fucking stand.

By the time we reach our bedroom, she finally speaks. “Dante, I’m fine, really.” She murmurs. But her voice wavers.

I place her gently on the bed, caging her in with my arms.

I brush my thumb along her cheek, tilting her chin up. “No, you’re not. Don’t fucking lie to me.”

Her lashes flutter, but she doesn’t argue.

I press a kiss to her forehead before pulling back just enough to slide her shoes off, then help her change, slipping one of my t-shirt over her.

She doesn’t protest, simply allowing me to take control. I ease her back against the pillows, lying beside her and drawing her close. Only then does the tension in her body finally dissolve.

I tighten my hold. “Sleep, leonessa.”

A quiet sigh escapes her, warm breath ghosting against my throat before she murmurs, barely above a whisper, “We just wanted to go for a walk… outside the house.”

The simplicity of it fuels my rage. That something so ordinary, so innocent, has been stolen from her because of this pathetic excuse for a man.

But beneath the fury, a darker emotion festers, a raw, unrelenting devastation.

She was almost taken from me today. I could’ve lost her.

The thought is twisting deep, leaving nothing but wreckage in its wake.

I press a kiss to her hair, my voice low, rough with everything I can’t say. “I’m sorry, baby.”

But she’s already asleep.

Me?

I remain wide awake.

My gaze lingers on her, tracking every slow, steady breath. Counting each heartbeat as if I can shield her from the nightmares that lurk beyond these walls. And as I hold her close, I send out orders to every single one of my men.

This fucker has gone too far.

And now?

I’m going to burn the entire fucking world to the ground to make him pay.

Chapter 32

Harlow

A few days have passed, and the tension coiled in my chest has eased, if only slightly.

Between Dante’s relentless possessiveness, his insatiable hunger for me, and the ever present spectre of my stalker, I feel as though I’m perpetually walking a dangerous balance.