Ruthless Vows

Chapter Three- The Cage Dante

I should have hated her more.

That was the problem.

The rain hammered against the windows of my office while I stared at the security footage playing across the screen in front of me. Seraphina Russo sat alone in the dining hall downstairs, untouched food in front of her while two guards watched from the doorway.

She looked small in that massive room. Fragile.

But I knew better than to trust appearances.

Her father had spent decades destroying lives while hiding behind expensive suits and polished smiles. Vincent Russo was a snake, and snakes raised snakes.

At least that was what I had told myself before marrying her.

Before those blue eyes started following me into my thoughts.

I leaned back slowly in my chair, loosening the tie around my neck while the memory of her at the wedding replayed in my mind.

Terrified.

Defiant.

Beautiful.

Even when she looked at me like she wanted me dead, there had been fire inside her. Most people lowered their heads around me. Most people feared me enough to obey instantly.

Seraphina didn’t.

And somehow, that irritated me just as much as it intrigued me.

A knock interrupted my thoughts.

“Enter.”

Matteo stepped inside my office carefully. He had been my right hand for years, one of the few men I trusted completely.

“She hasn’t eaten,” he said.

“I can see that.”

His gaze flickered briefly toward the security screen before returning to me.

“She’s refusing to speak to most of the staff too.”

I remained silent.

That didn’t surprise me.

The Moretti estate wasn’t a home to her. It was a prison with marble floors and armed guards.

Good. Fear would keep her obedient.

“She asked for her phone,” Matteo added carefully.

My jaw tightened instantly.

“No.”

“She claimed she wanted to call her father.”

A bitter laugh almost escaped me.

Vincent Russo had sold his daughter like property, and she still wanted to call him.

Women fascinated me sometimes.

“She’ll learn soon enough,” I muttered.

Matteo hesitated slightly before speaking again.

“You really think she knows nothing about Russo’s deals?”

That question lingered in the room heavily.

I stood slowly and walked toward the window overlooking the estate grounds. Rain covered the gardens in darkness while guards patrolled the perimeter below.

“No,” I finally answered.

Because if Seraphina had truly been involved in her father’s business, she wouldn’t look at the world with those eyes.

She still had softness in her.

Innocence.

Vincent had protected that part of her carefully.

Probably because it increased her value.

The thought disgusted me.

“She’s still a Russo,” Matteo warned quietly.

“I know exactly what she is.”

The room fell silent again.

After Matteo left, I remained standing near the window for several minutes before finally heading downstairs.

The moment I entered the dining hall, Seraphina looked up sharply.

Fear flashed across her face before anger replaced it almost instantly.

Interesting.

Most women tried to please men like me.

Seraphina looked ready to claw my eyes out instead.

“Leave us,” I ordered the guards.

They obeyed immediately.

The second we were alone, silence stretched between us.

She looked stunning even in simple clothes. Her long black hair fell loosely over her shoulders, framing a face too soft for the brutality of this world.

But it was her eyes that held me captive.

Bright blue.

Sharp.

Alive.

“You’ve been avoiding food,” I said calmly.

“I’m not hungry.”

Lie.

I pulled out the chair across from her and sat down slowly.

“You’ll need to eat.”

“And if I don’t?”

My lips curved slightly.

“You’re testing me already, wife?”

“I’m not your wife.”

The words should’ve angered me.

Instead, they amused me.

“You signed the papers.”

“I was forced.”

“So was I.”

That shut her up briefly.

Good.

I studied her quietly while tension thickened between us.

She hated me.

I could feel it in every glare she sent my way.

But underneath the hatred was something else too.

Fear.

And fear was dangerous.

Because fear pushed people toward desperate decisions.

“You’re staring,” she muttered coldly.

I leaned back slightly in my chair.

“And you’re nervous.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

Another lie.

I could hear the slight change in her breathing every time I stepped too close.

She feared me.

But she was trying very hard not to show it.

That alone made her different from everyone else in my world.

Most people begged.

Seraphina resisted.

“You should be,” I said quietly.

Her jaw tightened instantly.

“You enjoy this, don’t you?”

“Enjoy what?”

“Controlling people.”

A dark smile touched my lips slowly.

“Control keeps people alive.”

“No,” she snapped. “Fear does.”

The fire in her voice stirred something dangerous inside me.

I stood from the chair slowly.

Immediately, her body tensed.

There it was again.

Fear mixed with defiance.

I walked toward her carefully until I stood directly beside her chair. She looked up at me, her pulse visibly jumping beneath the delicate skin of her throat.

Beautiful.

The thought came suddenly and annoyed me instantly.

I tilted her chin upward lightly with my fingers.

“You hate me already,” I murmured.

“I always will.”

Her voice was steady, but her breathing wasn’t.

My eyes dropped briefly to her lips before returning to her gaze.

Big mistake.

Because the second I noticed the slight parting of her mouth, heat curled low inside me unexpectedly.

I released her immediately.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

This marriage was supposed to be revenge.

Nothing more.

Getting distracted by Vincent Russo’s daughter would be weakness.

And weakness got people killed.

I stepped back slowly, forcing distance between us.

“You’ll stay inside the estate unless I say otherwise,” I said coldly. “Guards will accompany you everywhere.”

Her expression darkened instantly.

“So I really am your prisoner.”

I stared at her for a long moment.

Then I answered honestly.

“Yes.”

Hatred flashed across her face so intensely that even I felt it.

Good.

Hate was safer than attraction.

For both of us.

Because if Seraphina ever discovered the thoughts beginning to creep into my mind whenever I looked at her…

Everything would become far more dangerous than either of us realized.

The Monster Watches

Seraphina

I stopped counting the days after the wedding.

Maybe because every day inside the Moretti estate felt exactly the same.

Wake up.

Be watched.

Pretend not to be afraid.

The mansion was enormous, cold, and painfully quiet during the day. Most of Dante’s men avoided speaking to me unless necessary, and the servants barely looked me in the eyes.

I was the enemy’s daughter.

Nobody let me forget that.

I walked slowly through the library, trailing my fingers across rows of leather-bound books while one of Dante’s guards stood near the door watching me carefully.

Always watching.

“You know,” I muttered bitterly, “if Dante’s so terrified of me escaping, maybe he should just chain me to the bed.”

The guard stiffened awkwardly but said nothing.

Coward.

I grabbed a random book from the shelf before moving toward the large windows overlooking the gardens outside. Rain fell heavily across the estate grounds, turning the skies dark gray.

Beautiful.

Even storms had more freedom than me.

A soft movement behind me made my body tense instantly.

I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

Dante.

The air itself seemed to change whenever he entered a room.

Heavy.

Dangerous.

I slowly closed the book before facing him.

He stood near the doorway wearing black dress pants and a fitted shirt that clung perfectly to his broad frame. The sleeves were rolled slightly above his wrists, exposing dark tattoos beneath olive skin.

My stomach tightened annoyingly.

God, I hated how attractive he was.

It felt unfair for monsters to look like that.

“Leave us,” Dante ordered the guard calmly.

The guard disappeared immediately.

The second we were alone, silence swallowed the room.

Dante’s dark eyes studied me carefully, almost like he was trying to figure me out.

I hated that look.

It made me feel exposed.

“You barely eat,” he said finally.

I crossed my arms instantly.

“So?”

His expression didn’t change.

“So starving yourself won’t help you.”

I looked away from him toward the rain outside.

“Maybe I don’t care.”

That answer seemed to irritate him slightly.

Good.

At least one of us was suffering.

I felt him move closer slowly.

Every instinct inside me became alert.

Dante always moved like a predator—quiet, controlled, dangerous.

“You should care,” he said quietly behind me.

I turned sharply.

“Why? So I can stay alive long enough for you to finish whatever revenge fantasy this marriage is?”

His jaw tightened instantly.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

The tension between us was becoming unbearable lately.

Every conversation felt sharp enough to cut skin.

And yet… neither of us ever walked away.

“You think everything I do is about revenge,” Dante said calmly.

“Isn’t it?”

His gaze locked onto mine.

The intensity in his eyes made my pulse stumble.

“You really don’t know what your father did to my family.”

I swallowed hard.

I had heard whispers growing up. Rumors about betrayals and dead alliances. But nobody ever told me details.

That was how mafia families operated.

Secrets buried beneath blood.

“My father has done terrible things,” I admitted quietly. “I know that.”

Dante studied me carefully like he hadn’t expected that answer.

“But I’m not him.”

The words slipped out softer than intended.

Something shifted briefly in his expression.

Gone too fast for me to understand.

Then he stepped closer.

Too close.

My breath caught.

God, why did he always smell so good?

Dark cologne mixed with whiskey and danger.

“You carry his name,” he murmured.

“And you carry yours.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Dangerous silence.

I should’ve stepped away.

Instead, I stayed frozen while his eyes slowly dragged over my face.

My body betrayed me instantly.

Heat curled low in my stomach, humiliating and confusing all at once.

No.

Absolutely not.

I hated this man.

I hated the way he controlled everything around him.

I hated the fear he put inside me.

So why did my heart race every time he got close?

“You’re staring again,” I whispered.

A faint smirk touched his lips.

“And you’re nervous again.”

“I’m not nervous.”

Lie.

A terrible lie.

Dante noticed immediately.

His eyes darkened slightly before he reached toward me.

My body tensed hard.

But instead of hurting me, his fingers simply brushed lightly against a strand of my hair before tucking it behind my ear.

The gentle touch shocked me more than cruelty would have.

I stared at him silently.

Confused.

And suddenly very aware of how little space existed between us.

“You fear me,” he said quietly.

“Yes.”

For once, I didn’t lie.

Something unreadable crossed his face at my honesty.

“I should,” I added softly.

Dante’s jaw tightened slightly.

Then his fingers slowly slid beneath my chin, tilting my face upward.

My pulse exploded.

His dark eyes locked onto my lips for half a second before returning to my gaze.

The tension between us turned suffocating.

I could barely breathe.

And terrifyingly… I didn’t want him to stop touching me.

“You hate me?” he asked quietly.

I swallowed hard.

“Yes.”

Another lie.

Not entirely.

Because hate didn’t explain the heat rushing through my body right now.

Hate didn’t explain why my stomach flipped every time he looked at me too long.

And hate definitely didn’t explain why a small part of me wondered what it would feel like if Dante Moretti kissed me.

The thought horrified me instantly.

Maybe I really was losing my mind.

Dante’s thumb brushed lightly across my jaw.

My breathing became uneven.

His did too.

Then suddenly he stepped back.

Like he’d realized something dangerous.

His entire expression turned cold again in seconds.

Controlled.

Untouchable.

“Eat your dinner tonight,” he said flatly.

I blinked at him in confusion.

“That’s an order?”

“Yes.”

Anger flared again immediately.

“I’m not one of your soldiers.”

“No,” Dante replied calmly.

His eyes swept over me one last time before he turned toward the door.

“You’re much more complicated than that.”

Then he walked away.

The door shut behind him quietly, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the library with my heart pounding violently against my chest.

And for the first time since arriving at the Moretti estate…

I was no longer only afraid of Dante Moretti.

I was afraid of myself too.