OWNED BY THE RUTHLESS KING

CHAPTER ONE

Isabella

The first time I saw Dante Moretti, he was standing over a dead body. The music in the ballroom was loud. Laughter, champagne glasses clinking, expensive perfume in the air. My father’s political fundraiser was supposed to be glamorous. Instead, I walked into a private corridor and saw blood. He stood there in a perfectly tailored black suit, sleeves rolled slightly up, revealing tattooed forearms. A man lay at his feet, unmoving. Red spread slowly across the marble floor. Dante didn’t look panicked. He looked bored.Every bit the sinister man I've heard him to be. Then his eyes lifted. And locked on me. Cold. Dark. Assessing.

I should have screamed. I didn’t. Because something in his gaze told me that screaming would not save me. Dante is every bit a handsome man. His eyes, the clearest of blues, lips that are so plum, jet black hair that looks so thick, I ache to run my hands through them. He is beautiful, but equally dangerous.

“You weren’t supposed to see this,” he said calmly. His voice was smooth. Controlled. Dangerous.

“I— I was looking for the restroom,” I whispered. My heels felt glued to the floor.

He stepped toward me. Every step was deliberate. Powerful. Like a predator that knew its prey couldn’t run. “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

I swallowed. Everyone knew who Dante Moretti was. Mafia heir. Crime lord in the making. The man who controlled half the city’s underground operations. “You’re Dante Moretti.”

His jaw tightened slightly. “And yet you’re not screaming.”

“Why would I? What good would that do?.”

For the first time, something flickered in his expression. Interest. He moved closer. Too close. His fingers lifted my chin slowly.

I hated that my heart pounded — not just in fear.

“You’re Senator Russo’s daughter,” he murmured. “Isabella Russo. You have quite the mouth on you.”

“How do you know that?”

He smiled faintly. “I know everything.”

Footsteps echoed down the hallway. His men. The body on the floor was quickly lifted.

They moved without command. Well oiled machines, none of them blinked or said a word. What did i expect from them? They are not new to this. As if it had never happened, the body was gone. The floor was spottless.

Dante’s thumb brushed my lower lip. “You saw something you shouldn’t have.”

My pulse exploded."I didn't see anything. I'll leave now, you'll never see me again.” I whispered.

He leaned in, his mouth near my ear. “ But tou did see something. You saw me kill a man. Now,” he said softly, “you belong to me.”

"No. I don't." I snarled. I'll never belong to a man like Dante.

He smiled smugly. "But you do." And then he walked away. But not before saying "I'll be seeing you soon, princess." Leaving me shaking.

Three days later, my father told me I was getting married to Dante Moretti.