OWNED BY THE RUTHLESS KING

CHAPTER THREE

Isabella

A week into the marriage, I discovered something. Dante didn’t just control the city. He controlled information. Every call I made was monitored. Every movement tracked. Until the night I found the locked office. He wasn’t home. He never tells me anything, intact we hardly speak. I pretend to be asleep when he strolls into the room at odd hours of the mornings. I stopped trying till Stay in another room since the first time I slept somewhere else only to wake up in his bedroom in the morning. I later found out he's locked all other spare rooms. The bastard.

I've been observing the surroundings, looking for week spots. Trying to find the best way to escape here. I can't bear to be here anymore. So far, I've found nothing. Dante is careful not to leave anything. There's nothing useful in the room. I decided to search his office. That's where my father does all his work, and I know the same rule would apply to Dante.

His guards trusted me enough to move freely. Big mistake.The office door was heavy. Locked. But the key was inside his jacket. And he had left in a hurry. I told myself not to. I did it anyway. Inside were files. Photos. Documents. And one folder with my name. Isabella Russo. My hands trembled as I opened it. Photos of me at university. Cafés. Shopping. Laughing with friends. He had been watching me long before the wedding. Why? The last photo made my blood freeze. It wasn’t me. It was my father. Meeting with a rival mafia family. Exchanging something. Money? Information? The date was two months ago. Before the murder. Before the wedding. Footsteps echoed behind me.

“You shouldn’t be in here.”

I turned slowly.

Dante stood in the doorway. No anger. No shouting. Just something darker. Disappointment.

“You were spying on me,” I said.

“No.” He walked closer. “I was protecting what was already mine.”

“I’m not your property!” I yelled at him. Standing tall. I refuse to cower to Dante.

His hand slammed against the desk. “You were collateral in a war you didn’t even know existed!”

I flinched. Silence filled the room.

“What war?” I whispered.

“My enemies.” He pulled a gun from the drawer and placed it in my trembling hands. “Stay behind me.”

I stared at him. “I don’t know how to use this.” Lies, My father taught me how to use one. He made it a mandatory training for me. In a world as dangerous as ours, I had to be prepared. But Dante can't know that I'm well versed with guns.

“You won’t need to.”

The mansion doors burst open downstairs. Footsteps rushed up the stairs.

Dante positioned himself in front of me.

Shielding me. Protecting me. Possessing me. And in that moment, I realized something terrifying. I wasn’t just trapped in his world. I didn’t want to leave it. The door exploded inward. And Dante Moretti smiled.