The mansion didn't sleep, everyone was up and razor sharp.
Not after the bullet.
Not after the ribbon.
Not after Dante's voice turned razor-sharp with danger.
Aria followed him through the long corridor leading to his private wing, a part of the penthouse she had never entered before. It felt different from the rest of the house, colder, Quieter.
Two guards stood at attention outside the double doors, which were crafted from dark walnut and carved with an elaborate crest. When they saw Dante, they straightened even more, tension rippling through their shoulders.
"Full lockdown," Dante ordered.
"Yes, Boss."
The moment the guards opened the doors, a strange chill swept over Aria. The room wasn't what she expected for a man like him. No excess gold, no velvet drapes, no indulgent luxury.
It was minimalist. Sharp. Steel and dark wood.
A king's lair built for war, not comfort.
She stepped inside carefully.
The bed was large, but the sheets were simple. The windows reinforced with bulletproof glass. Cameras, small, expertly hidden, lined the corners.
It wasn't a bedroom.
It was a fortress.
She turned to him. "You live like this?"
"Like what?"
"Like every night is a battlefield," she whispered.
His eyes flickered. A brief, soft crack in the armor.
"For me," he said quietly, "it always has been."
Before she could reply, a crackle came through Nico's radio outside the door.
"Perimeter sweep complete, north garden secure."
Another voice added, "South cameras malfunctioning. Rebooting now."
Dante stiffened.
Aria didn't miss it.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
Instead, he crossed the room in three long strides and opened a drawer beside the bed. Inside were several firearms, neatly arranged like surgical instruments.
Aria's pulse spiked. "Dante..."
He took out one gun and checked the chamber with the ease of a man breathing.
"It's precaution," he said calmly. "Nothing more."
But she could hear the lie in his even tone.
There was a threat.
Close.
Already creeping toward them.
He placed the gun on the nightstand. "You'll sleep here tonight."
She swallowed. "And where will you sleep?"
His gaze locked on hers. "Beside you."
Her breath caught.
"Dante, I..."
He stepped closer, voice lowering into something dangerously soft.
"You think I will let you out of my sight after tonight?"
She didn't argue. She couldn't.
A sudden crackle burst through the radio again.
"Boss, section C just went dark. Cam feed cut."
"Again?" Nico's voice sharpened. "That shouldn't be possible."
Dante's features snapped into cold focus.
"Aria. Get behind me."
Fear shot through her, cold and sharp. Dante moved her toward the far side of the room, away from the windows.
Nico burst into the doorway without knocking.
"Boss, thermal sensors just picked up movement outside the east wall."
The east wall.
Right below Dante's bedroom.
Aria's heart slammed.
"Sniper?" Dante demanded.
"Possibly. Or..."
A sharp metallic ping cut through the air.
She felt it before she understood it, a high, whistling sound slicing the night.
Then Dante lunged.
He grabbed her waist, yanking her down just as,
CRASH.
The reinforced window cracked.
A bullet struck the spot where her head had been.
Aria gasped, air ripped from her lungs.
Dante's body covered hers, solid and warm and trembling with fury.
Nico shouted something, guards ran, an alarm blared faintly in the distance...
But all Aria could hear was Dante's heartbeat.
Fast. Violent. Terrifyingly human.
He slowly lifted himself just enough to look into her eyes.
"That was meant for me," he said, voice raw. "But it would have killed you."
Her breath hitched, a tremor shaking her entire body.
"Dante…"
He cupped her face, thumb brushing her cheek as if reassuring himself she was real. Alive.
"Aria. Look at me."
She forced her gaze up, though her pulse thundered.
"You are safe," he said fiercely. "Because I will always..always, take the bullet first."
Behind them, guards poured into the room.
"Boss! Roof team engaged, sniper spotted!"
"Confirm target?" Nico demanded.
"Unknown. He's fast, moving south..."
Another distant shot echoed outside.
Then...
"Sniper down!"
Nico exhaled. "Threat neutralized."
But Dante didn't move.
He was still half over Aria, breathing hard, eyes locked on hers as if the world outside didn't matter.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, voice low, urgent.
She shook her head.
He touched her jaw gently, then her arms, then her waist, checking her as though she were made of glass.
Only when he was certain she was uninjured did he pull her into his chest and hold her tight.
Not possessive.
Not controlling.
Just… shaken.
"Aria," he murmured into her hair, "I will not let them touch you."
Her hands gripped the fabric of his shirt.
Her voice trembled. "They almost did."
He pulled back enough to look at her.
"No," he said fiercely. "I was here."
His thumb brushed a stray lock of hair from her cheek.
"And I always will be."
The room buzzed with guards whispering, Nico giving sharp orders, windows being assessed and secured.
But inside Dante's arms, Aria felt the world slow.
Not safe.
But shielded.
He finally rose, lifting her with him.
"You stay by my side," he commanded softly. "From this moment on."
She nodded.
Not because she had no choice.
But because, suddenly, she didn't want to be anywhere else.
And when he guided her to the bed, when he sat beside her and took her hand, when he told Nico to station guards outside every entrance...
Aria realized something terrifyingly clear:
The world wanted Dante Moretti dead.
And she had just stepped into the line of fire.