100 days with the mafia heir

Chapter three - Dante

(Dante's POV)

I wake up hard. And alone.

She's gone.

The sheets are cold, barely wrinkled on her side, and the pillow bears a mark of where her head might’ve rested. My muscles ache slightly, but it's the emptiness beside me that truly lands the blow.

She didn't leave her number or any trace.

I drag a hand over my jaw, staring up at the ceiling. I don't feel any shame, rather I feel restless.

She left and I didn’t notice.

Me. Dante Romano.

Son of the most powerful mafia boss in the city. Heir to a brutal empire built on blood, violence and blackmail. A man trained to never let his guard down, to never trust easily.

Yet I let her in, in every way.

Last night was a f**k up, I let desire override every instinct. I've never been so careless.

She could’ve drugged me, killed me or stolen something.

She's a complete stranger. I don’t even know her f*****g name.

But I remember the way she sounded. I remember the feel of her lips brushing my ear as she moaned, calling me beast like it was both a curse and an endearment. How she clung to me tightly, how I nearly lost myself inside her completely.

I sit up, and the image of her riding me, head thrown back, mouth open in bliss, snaps through my brain. I grow hard instantly, the kind of hard that hurts.

I curse under my breath and rise, wearing my pants quickly, that's when I realize my jacket is gone. My mind’s still caught in a fog of distraction and irritation when I head downstairs.

The club's quiet. It won't open for hours, but a few early staff move through, setting up lights and running sound checks.

Roberto, my right hand man, is leaning against the bar, sipping an espresso like the smug bastard he is. He spots me and smirks.

"Well, well. Look who finally rolled out of bed. Must’ve been one hell of a night."

I grunt. "She’s gone."

His eyebrows lift. "Gone gone?"

"Didn’t see her leave. Didn’t hear a damn thing."

He whistles low. "Must be the first woman in history to sneak out on you. I’m impressed."

I glare at him.

"You want me to track her down?"

I hesitate. That’s the smart thing to do. The necessary thing. I don’t know who she is, what she might know, If last night was a setup.

But that’s not why I want to find her.

It’s not the risk. It’s the way I haven’t stopped thinking about her since I opened my eyes.

"Yeah," I mutter. "Check the cameras. See if we have footage of her leaving."

"And if we don’t?"

"Then keep digging."

Roberto offers a low, amused chuckle. "She really got under your skin, huh?"

He's the only one I can allow to tease me like this.

I don't answer him, because I’m not sure of anything anymore.

Except that I need to see her again.

*****

The Romano estate is too quiet, too polished, too perfect. I've never liked it, especially since it holds too many bad memories. I walk through the armed men lined on the hallway.

My father waits in the study, seated behind the massive desk he has ruled from since before I could spell my own name.

He's dressed in a flawless grey suit, white beard freshly trimmed, not a single hair out of place.

"Dante," he says.

"Father," I reply evenly.

"We’ve been breached."

I arch a brow.

He tosses a tablet across the desk. "One of the encrypted laundering servers. Someone got in. They didn’t take anything yet. But they were close. Very close."

I pick it up and go through the files and see unfamiliar accesses. Someone got in deep.

“Has anything been leaked?”

“Not yet.” His jaw ticks. “But it’s only a matter of time.”

My hands clench around the tablet. Whoever did this knows what to look for.

“You’re supposed to be take over soon!” he snaps. “Instead you’re f*****g around and ignoring threats.”

I glance up. “I said I’ll handle it.”

“You’d better,” he snaps. “If this leaks, we lose everything.”

"The club too?"

"Yes. They hit all our fronts. Our cover networks. Our offshore accounts."

I clench my jaw. "You have backups? Isolation protocols?"

"Of course. But this was professional. It wasn't a warning. It was a test run. Next time, we might not be so lucky."

His voice is flat, but there’s a hint of something beneath it. definitely fear.

“You are so easily distracted, I have to be certain I'll be leaving this empire in capable hands” he said, his voice rising.

I raise my eyes slowly.

"You want me to lead," I snap, "but you can’t stop treating me like a reckless kid."

"You were reckless. Your mother was weak, and you inherited her weakness”

My blood runs hot.

"Don’t talk about her."

His eyes flash, but he doesn’t back down. He never does.

"She was a mistake. You were the consequence. But I made sure you wouldn’t be soft."

"You mean you shipped her off and kept me here," I keep my voice low. "To be a weapon for you?"

He doesn't deny it.

I breathe through my rage. Not here, not now.

"We need a cybersecurity firm," I say tightly. "A good one. Third-party. Untraceable. Government-level clearance."

He tilts his head. "You have anyone in mind?"

"Not yet. But I will."

He stares a moment longer, like he wants to say more. But then he nods once.

"Fix it. Or don’t bother coming back."

I don’t answer. I don’t need to. I turn and walk away before the urge to knock his teeth in becomes too tempting.

********

I shut myself in the study, dropping into the leather chair as my mind races.

I need help, fast. A third-party firm. Discreet and Professional.

Roberto walks in and hands me a business card. "You said private cyber security firm? Check this one. Node cyber-tech. Clean rep, solid reviews, quiet clientele."

I glance at it. Nothing familiar about the name. Just a logo and a number.

"Set the meeting," I mutter. "Today."

"That urgent?"

"Yeah."

“Thought you’d want to vet them first.”

“I’ll do it in person.”

He pauses, like he’s surprised. “Now?”

“Yes.”

Because something in my gut twists. This has to go well, I can't let my father mock me further.