**Elena’s POV**
Dante dragged me down the stone stairs, my feet barely touching the steps.
My heels skidded across the ground, and my shoulder slammed into the iron railing with a sickening thud. A white-hot flash of pain shot down my arm, leaving my fingers numb. His grip was iron on my wrist, his thumb digging deep into the bone until I thought it would snap.
This was real!
It finally dawned on me that if I didn't put up a fight, it might be the end of me. I had escaped him last time by a miracle, but Dante wasn't the kind of man who let miracles happen twice. If I let him shove me into a car, I would never come back.
I twisted my wrist frantically, trying to slip through his fingers. “Let go of me!” I hissed, my voice trembling.
Dante didn't even slow down. He just tightened his
