Chapter eleven - A different Dante.
1274 Words
I spend the entire day hunched over in the office, my eyes burning from staring at code too long.
The files Dante gave me access to are many, and strengthening the system seems to be going well, except that I notice a set of encrypted files, locked tighter than anything else I’ve cracked. Files I wasn’t given permission to open.
My fingers hover over the keyboard, tempted. How can I prevent another breach if he won’t let me in fully?
I lean back in the chair, stretching my sore neck. Why bring me here to secure a network he doesn’t even want me to touch? Why hire me if he doesn’t trust me?
I lean back in the chair, stretching my sore neck until it pops. Why bring me here to secure a network he doesn’t even want me to touch? Why hire me if he doesn’t trust me?
The questions disturb me until I decide I’m done for the day. A warm meal and some rest might stop my brain from chewing itself alive.
I push back from the chair and stretch, rubbing at my eyes. I’ll ask him tomorrow. I deserve answers.
I’m about to leave the office when I nearly collide with a shadow leaning against the wall.
I yelp.
“Agh!” I stumble back, clutching my chest.
It’s Luca. His broad frame straightens instantly, his sharp eyes shining with amusement. “Relax,” he says with a faint smirk on his lips “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You succeeded anyway,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my racing chest.
“You work harder than most men I know. Not everyone would sit there for hours without flinching. That’s… brave.”
I blink at him, caught off guard. “Brave? More like stupid. Honestly, I’m starting to regret taking this job.” The words slip out before I can stop them. “And I still don’t understand why I need a bodyguard for… coding.”
The smirk fades, his jaw hardening. “Then you’re smarter than I thought.”
I frown. “How?”
For the first time, Luca’s expression shifts into something very serious.
He steps closer, lowering his voice. “You shouldn’t confront him, Elena. Having me by your door isn’t punishment, it's protection. Trust me, It’s for your own good.”
The words make me stop walking.
“For my own good?” I ask
“Protection from what, why does he need to protect me if all I’m doing is sitting in a study, typing on a computer?”
The look on Luca’s face is some strange pity for me. He leans in. “Just know this, Elena… Dante is not who you think he is.”
My stomach drops. The way he says it, it’s not a warning. It’s a truth.
I whisper before I can stop myself, “Then who is he?”
But Luca just straightens, “Don’t push. Just… trust me.”
And then he walks away, leaving me with my spiraling thoughts.
Dinner is served on a tray in my room, exactly what I asked for. I eat restlessly, picking at the food, my mind keeps going back to Luca’s words.
Dante is not who you think he is?
When I’m done, I pace, restless. The walls feel like they’re closing in. There has to be a library in a house this massive. I need a book, anything to drown out this storm in my head.
I hesitate at the door. I shouldn’t leave. Dante’s rules echo in my head, but the more I think about them, the more trapped I feel.
I open the door slowly. Luca isn’t there. He probably thinks I’m asleep, or maybe he went to get dinner himself.
Perfect.
Just a library, I tell myself. Grab a book and go back. No harm done.
The hallways are dim and silent. My footsteps sound too loud against the marble floors. I keep telling myself to turn back. But then I hear tense voices.
Curiosity hooks me, pulling me down a corridor I know I shouldn’t go to.
It leads me to a set of wide double doors, cracked open just enough for sound to spill through. My heart pounds as I peek inside.
And freeze.
It’s a boardroom. Men in dark suits sit around a polished table. At the head of it, there’s Dante.
But not the Dante I know. Not the stranger who kissed me breathless in a nightclub, not the man whose eyes burn whenever I challenge him. This Dante is… dangerous. A predator in his natural element.
He sits at the head of the table like he was born to command it. His black suit perfectly fits his muscular frame and the dark aura around him makes him even more handsome.
A man stands before the table, trembling, his voice cracking as he stammers out answers to Dante’s questions.
Dante’s voice is gentle, too gentle. “You had one task.”
“I...I can explain.” the man stammers.
Dante tilts his head, his expression unreadable. “I don’t like excuses.”
Then in a flash too fast to process, he pulls out a gun and shoots the man in the leg.
The crack of the gunshot makes me flinch violently as blood spatters. The man screams, collapsing to the ground as he clutches his thigh groaning loudly.
No one else moves. No one blinks.
But I do.
A horrified gasp leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
Dante’s head snaps up instantly,
Our eyes collide through the crack in the door and I forget how to breathe.
Shit.
His commanding voice breaks the silence. “Take him out. Call the cleaners.”
Two men drag the bleeding man away as the rest of them leave without sparing me a glance. Dante rises slowly, his eyes fixed on me like a hawk on prey.
Run. My brain screams it, but my body won’t listen. My legs seem frozen.
He walks toward me, slowly like a hunter stalking a trembling rabbit.
I stumble back until my back hits the wall. Still he comes closer. His hand braces against the wall above my head, caging me in without touching me.
“What did I tell you,” he murmurs, his eyes never leaving mine, “about wandering into places you aren’t supposed to go?”
I swallow hard. “I...I wasn’t...I just wanted...”
“You just wanted,” he cuts in smoothly, leaning closer, “to see what kind of man you’re living with?”
My voice shakes. “You shot him. You didn’t even… flinch.”
“And you didn’t faint.” His voice is rougher than usual. “Interesting.”
I don’t know if I should be scared furious, or… something else entirely.
But when his thumb brushes my jaw, tilting my chin up, my entire body betrays me. Cold shivers run down my spine, and I stop breathing entirely.
His cologne, strong and spicy wraps around me. His gaze drops to my mouth before dragging back up to my wide eyes.
“Curiosity,” he whispers, knuckles grazing my skin, “is going to get you into trouble, Elena.”
His tone is a warning, but his eyes burn with hunger. My legs weaken and my panties dampen immediately.
His lips are a breath away from mine, close enough I can almost taste him. I close my eyes unable to withstand the intensity in his.
But he doesn’t move, doesn’t kiss me, doesn’t step back. Just leaves me caught between fear and a hunger I shouldn’t feel.
- Writer
