Seducing My Father's Killer

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

Summer's POV

"I know who you really are."

I froze halfway through pouring Dante's morning coffee, the carafe trembling so violently in my hand that hot liquid splashed onto the marble counter.

"What?" The word came out as barely a whisper.

Dante stood in the doorway of his penthouse kitchen, fully dressed in a black suit, his face completely unreadable as he watched me with those intense dark eyes that always saw too much.

"Sophia Vanderbilt," he said softly, and my entire world shattered into a million pieces, "Daughter of Richard Vanderbilt. The man who supposedly betrayed me three years ago."

The carafe slipped from my numb fingers and exploded against the floor, coffee and glass spreading everywhere, but I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

He knew.

Oh God, he knew everything.

"How long?" I managed to choke out through the panic crushing my chest.

Dante moved toward me slowly, deliberately, like he was approaching a cornered animal, "Since the moment you walked into my office for that interview, piccola. Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you? That I wouldn't do extensive research on every single person who applies to work for me?"

My back hit the counter as he got closer, "Then why? Why hire me, why touch me, why"

"Because I wanted to see exactly how far you'd go," he cut me off, his hand suddenly wrapping around my throat, "I wanted to watch you seduce me while planning my destruction. Wanted to see the hatred burning in your eyes while you let me f**k you. Wanted to know if you'd actually go through with whatever revenge plot you'd spent years planning."

Tears burned my eyes, "You killed my father"

"I didn't kill anyone," Dante roared, and suddenly his gun was pressed cold against my temple, making me gasp in terror, "Your father was laundering money for the Konstantin family, and when I discovered it, I gave him a clear choicework with me to bring them down or lose everything. He chose wrong."

"You're lying," I sobbed, but doubt was already creeping in like poison.

"The night your father died, where was I?" Dante demanded, his voice rough with something that sounded almost like pain, "Check the files you've been stealing from my computer, check the timestamps on my private jet logsI was in Moscow meeting with suppliers. I wasn't even in the f*****g country, Sophia."

He released me abruptly and I collapsed against the counter, legs refusing to hold me.

"Your father killed himself because Alexei Konstantin threatened to torture and murder you and your mother if he didn't," Dante continued, his voice going cold, "And I've spent the last three years systematically hunting down every single person responsible because I respected what your father was trying to protect, even though he betrayed me."

"No," I whispered, my entire mission crumbling, "That can't be true"

"Open your laptop," he commanded, gesturing to where it sat on the kitchen island, "Go ahead. Check the files you downloaded last week when you thought I was asleep. See for yourself."

With shaking hands, I opened my computer and pulled up the encrypted files I'd been too scared to examine closely.

Flight records showing Dante in Russia the exact night my father died.

Surveillance footage of Konstantin's men outside our house that same night.

Bank transfers proving my father had been moving millions for them.

And then a video file that made my blood turn to ice.

I clicked it with trembling fingers.

My father's terrified face filled the screen, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Please, I'm begging you, don't hurt my family," he sobbed to someone off camera, "I'll do whatever you want, just please leave Sophia and Elena alone"

Alexei Konstantin's cruel laugh echoed through the speakers, "Then put the gun to your head, Richard. Pull the trigger and prove your loyalty, or I'll make your daughter's death last for days."

"No," I screamed, but the video kept playing.

"I love you, Sophia," my father whispered, looking directly at the camera with devastated eyes, "I'm so sorry for everything. This is the only way to keep you safe."

The gunshot made me scream again, and I watched my father's body slump forward exactly the way I'd found him that horrible night.

I collapsed to the floor, sobbing so hard I couldn't breathe, my entire world shattering around me.

"He died protecting you," Dante said quietly, kneeling beside me, "And you've spent three years trying to destroy the one man who's been trying to avenge him."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I looked up at him through tears, rage and grief and betrayal warring inside me.

"Because you never would have believed me," Dante said, cupping my face with surprising gentleness, "You needed to see the truth yourself. And I needed to know if you'd choose revenge or reality when it mattered most."

"So this was all just some sick test?" I whispered.

"No," Dante said fiercely, "This was me falling in love with the woman who had every reason to hate me and choosing to do it anyway, knowing it might destroy us both."

He pulled me into his arms and I broke completely, three years of grief pouring out in violent sobs while he held me.

"I've known who you were from day one," he murmured into my hair, "And I still couldn't stay away from you. Still wanted you. Still fell in love with you even knowing you came here to kill me."

"I don't know what's real anymore," I sobbed against his chest.

"This is real," Dante said, kissing me desperately, "And today we're going to kill every single person who hurt your family. But first I need you to tell me "

His phone exploded with urgent ringing.

He answered it, his face going deadly. "What? When? How many?"

He stood abruptly, pulling me up with him, "Get dressed now. The Konstantins just hit my warehouse. They know you're here, Sophia. They're coming for you."

My blood turned to ice, "What?"

"Your mother's warning wasn't a delusion," Dante said, already moving, grabbing weapons from hidden compartments, "They've known who you are this whole time. They've been waiting for you to lead them to me."

"Oh God," I breathed.

Dante grabbed my shoulders, eyes blazing, "Listen to me very carefullydo you trust me?"

I looked at the man I'd hated, the man I'd seduced, the man I'd fallen for despite everything, and I made my choice.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Then stay close and do exactly what I say," Dante commanded, "Because the only way we survive this is together."

The penthouse windows suddenly exploded inward in a shower of glass.

Men in black tactical gear rappelled through, guns raised.

Dante shoved me behind him, weapon already firing.

"Run!" he shouted.

But I'd spent three years planning

revenge.

I wasn't running anymore.

I grabbed the gun he'd taught me to shoot and fired.

The war had finally begun.