CHAPTER 7
911 Words
The rain was relentless that night.
It slammed against the windows of the secluded mansion, soaking the world outside in darkness. The storm was nature’s warning, something dangerous was brewing. Inside, Alina stood barefoot near the fireplace, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. The warmth couldn’t reach the cold settling in her bones. Not after what Dante had confessed.
"You shouldn’t be here," she whispered as he entered, his black suit soaked, hair clinging to his forehead, eyes burning with something violent.
"I should be everywhere you are," Dante said darkly, throwing his drenched coat aside. "I don’t care if you hate me. I’ll die before I let you leave again."
Alina’s breath hitched. His voice was rough, like gravel laced with pain. She turned to face him fully, and for a moment, the world stilled. His scar, the one slicing through the left side of his face, gleamed under the flickering firelight.
"You got that scar because of me," she murmured. "Didn’t you?"
He didn’t answer. Silence was louder than any confession. He stepped closer instead. Every inch between them trembled with the weight of unspoken love and betrayal.
"Tell me the truth, Dante."
His jaw clenched. "The night you disappeared, I tore this city apart looking for you. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t breathe. And when I finally found a lead, they ambushed me. I almost died for you, Alina."
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"But I’m still standing," he added quietly. "For you."
She looked away. "You killed people for me. You burned everything down to get me back."
"I’d burn the world again if you asked me to," he said without hesitation. "If you begged me not to, I’d still do it."
Suddenly, a crash echoed from downstairs, glass shattering, a scream. Dante reacted instantly, pulling a gun from the back of his waistband. He pushed Alina behind him.
"Stay here. Don’t move. Don’t even breathe."
"But"
"Alina," he growled. "I will protect you with every drop of blood in my body. You mean more to me than my own soul."
And then he was gone.
Her heart pounded. The silence after he left was worse than the storm. And it didn’t last long. Gunfire. Yelling. Then nothing.
The seconds dragged into eternities.
And then…
Someone grabbed her.
A rough hand. A cloth pressed to her face.
She struggled. Fought. Screamed.
Everything went black.
...
When Alina woke up, her head was spinning, and the smell of damp concrete and blood made her stomach churn. Her wrists were tied. Her mouth tasted of metal and betrayal. The room was dim, cold, and empty, except for the man watching her from the shadows.
Not Dante.
No. This man’s eyes were hollow.
"You thought he could protect you?" the stranger said, voice chilling. "You thought love could save you in this world?"
"Who are you?" Alina croaked, heart hammering.
He smiled. "Someone who lost everything because of Dante Moretti."
Meanwhile..
Dante was losing his mind.
She was gone. Again.
This time, he wouldn't wait for leads. Wouldn’t call in favors.
He would kill everyone.
He stared at the blood trail on the marble floor. His men were dead. Three of them. Whoever took her wanted war. And they just declared it on the devil himself.
"Find her," he ordered, voice low and deadly. "And burn everything in your path until you do."
...
Alina’s captor returned later, holding a single photograph, a picture of her and Dante, years ago, before the chaos.
"He loved you back then," the man murmured. "I wonder if he still will… once he finds out your secret."
Alina’s stomach dropped. Her voice was barely a whisper. "What secret?"
He smiled like the devil. "Oh, sweetheart. You don’t remember? You were never just an innocent girl. You were part of his fall."
She shook her head. "No. That’s not true."
But something twisted in her memory, the night she left, the look in Dante’s eyes, the explosion, the blood.
Had she...?
No. It couldn’t be.
...
Dante found her two days later.
The building she was held in had already been set ablaze by his men. He kicked down the door, heart crashing against his ribs, gun drawn, and there she was.
Alina.
Bloody. Bruised. But alive.
She saw him and broke down.
"Dante… I didn’t know… I swear I didn’t know"
He dropped his gun, crossed the room, and pulled her into his arms.
"I don’t care what they said," he whispered, voice raw. "I don’t care what you did. You’re mine."
"I might have caused it," she sobbed. "The night I left… I might have betrayed you without knowing."
"I don’t give a damn."
"I could destroy you—"
"You already did. And I still want you."
He kissed her then. Fiercely. Desperately. Like a man with nothing left to lose.
Because he didn’t.
...
That night, they made love like it was their last day on earth.
Firelight danced over scarred skin and soft tears. Alina traced his scar, and he let her, the only one he ever would.
"I’ll never leave you again," she whispered.
"You’re not allowed to."
And as thunder raged outside the window again, Dante held her closer.
But somewhere in the shadows of the city, a video was uploading.
A secret from their past.
A truth powerful enough to shatter even Dante’s unbreakable love.
And the countdown had already begun.
- Writer
