The message stayed on Aruna’s screen longer than it should have.
Your wedding dress is beautiful.
Shame you won’t wear it to the altar.
She did not delete it.
She locked her phone and slipped it back into her pocket as if nothing had happened.
Dante noticed.
He always did.
“Show me,” he said quietly.
Aruna handed him the phone.
Dante read the message once.
Then again.
His jaw tightened, but his expression remained calm.
“That means he’s close,” Dante said.
Aruna exhaled slowly.
“No,” she corrected. “That means he’s confident.”
Confidence was more dangerous than bullets.
The penthouse transformed into a fortress overnight.
Armed guards doubled. Windows were sealed. Every corridor monitored.
Yet the danger did not feel physical.
It felt intimate.
Like someone breathing be
