Chapter 13: First Blood
Dante's POV
I didn't sleep.
I sat in my office staring at surveillance footage from the Romano estate, tracking movements, looking for patterns. Looking for anything that would tell me who'd sent Valentina to me and why.
The card bothered me. Someone had inside knowledge of my operations, knew where I'd be, knew she'd be desperate enough to come. That wasn't random. That was calculated.
Someone was playing chess, and I didn't know who.
My phone buzzed. Luca.
"Tell me you have something," I answered.
"Paulo Santoro left the Romano estate an hour ago. Alone. Headed downtown." Luca's voice was crisp, professional. "You want us to pick him up?"
"No. Follow him. See where he goes. Who he meets." I pulled up a map on my second monitor. "And Luca? Don't lose him."
"When have I ever?"
He ended the call. I went back to the footage, but my mind kept drifting to the woman sleeping one room over.
The way she'd felt in my arms during that dance. The small gasp she'd made when I'd kissed her neck. The defiance in her eyes even when she was terrified.
She was nothing like I'd expected.
I'd spent ten years building a version of Valentina Romano in my mind. Spoiled princess. Enemy. The girl who'd smiled at me while her family plotted my father's murder. I'd convinced myself she was complicit, guilty by association if nothing else.
But the woman who'd stood in my warehouse begging for help wasn't that girl.
She was harder. Sharper. More desperate and more dangerous.
She was interesting.
That was a problem.
A soft sound from the next room made me look up. The monitors showed Valentina tossing in her sleep, tangled in sheets, her face troubled. Nightmare probably.
I should let her suffer through it. Should let her wake up alone and scared, remind her that she had no comfort here.
Instead, I found myself standing, moving toward the connecting door.
My hand was on the handle when I stopped.
This was weakness. Exactly the kind of vulnerability I'd warned her about. The kind that got people killed in our world.
I went back to my desk.
But I didn't stop watching the monitor.
⟁
Morning came cold.
I'd managed maybe two hours of sleep before my phone started blowing up. Messages from Luca. Updates from Izzy. Confirmations from the other families about tonight's meeting.
Everything was in motion.
I showered, dressed, and was halfway through my first coffee when Izzy knocked and entered without waiting for permission.
"Paulo met with someone last night," she said, dropping a folder on my desk. "Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Private room. They talked for two hours."
I opened the folder. Surveillance photos showed Paulo across from another man, older, distinguished. I recognized him immediately.
"Councilman Richards."
"City planning commission. He's been in Roberto's pocket for years." Izzy pulled up a chair. "They looked nervous. A lot of looking over shoulders. Paulo handed him something, looked like documents."
"Could be anything. Bribes. Blackmail material. Insurance policies."
"Or proof." Izzy leaned forward. "What if Paulo's building a case against Roberto? What if he knows Roberto's making a play for permanent control and he's covering his own ass?"
It was possible. Paulo was a survivor, always had been. If he sensed Roberto was going to sacrifice him, he'd turn first.
"Keep eyes on both of them. I want to know every move Paulo makes, everyone he talks to." I closed the folder. "What about Valentina?"
"Still sleeping. Woman's exhausted." Izzy's expression softened slightly. "You really going through with this tonight? Parading her in front of the families?"
"Yes."
"Dante, that's declaring war. Roberto won't just let this go."
"I'm counting on it." I met her eyes. "I want him angry. Angry men make mistakes. And I need Roberto to make mistakes if I'm going to destroy him."
"And the girl?"
"What about her?"
"You're using her as bait. You realize that? Whatever happens tonight, she's the one who'll pay the price."
"She knew the cost when she came here."
"Did she?" Izzy stood. "Because from where I'm sitting, she's a desperate woman who made a deal with the devil and doesn't fully understand what that means yet."
"Then she'll learn."
Izzy looked at me for a long moment. "You're playing a dangerous game. With her. With yourself."
"I know what I'm doing."
"Do you? Because I've known you for four years, and I've never seen you bring a woman here. Never seen you this... invested." She moved toward the door. "Just make sure you remember which side you're on when this all goes to hell."
She left.
I sat alone with my coffee and my thoughts and the surveillance footage that showed Valentina finally stirring in her bed.
Izzy was wrong. I knew exactly which side I was on.
My own.
Always.
⟁
The day passed.
Calls to confirm security. Weapons checks. Route planning. The meeting was being held at the Bellamy, a hotel owned by neutral parties, top floor, private ballroom. All five families would be there with their key people.
It would be a powder keg.
I was looking forward to it.
At five PM, I went to find Valentina.
She wasn't in her room. I checked the living room, the kitchen, finally found her on the terrace, staring out at the city. She wore jeans and a sweater, her hair pulled back, her face bare of makeup.
She looked young. Vulnerable.
She looked like Lina.
I shoved the thought away.
"It's time to get ready," I said.
She turned, and I saw the exhaustion in her eyes. The fear she was trying to hide. "Already?"
"Izzy's waiting. She'll help you." I moved closer, studied her. "Having second thoughts?"
"Every thought is a second thought at this point." She wrapped her arms around herself. "But I'm not backing out."
"Good." I reached out, tilted her chin up with one finger. "Because there's no backing out now. The moment you walk in on my arm tonight, you're declaring yourself. Mine. Against them. There's no undoing that."
"I know."
"Do you understand what that means? Really understand?"
Her eyes met mine, and for a moment I saw steel beneath the fear. "It means I burn my bridges. It means I choose you over everything I've ever known. It means I become a traitor to my blood." She pulled away from my touch. "I understand perfectly."
"And you're ready for that?"
"Are you?" she challenged. "Ready to claim a Romano in front of everyone? Ready to tell the city that you're protecting your enemy's daughter? What does that say about you?"
Smart girl. Turning my own questions back on me.
"It says I do whatever serves my purposes. And right now, you serve my purposes." I stepped closer, backing her against the railing. "But let's be clear about something, Valentina. Tonight isn't just about politics. Tonight is about possession. When I put my hands on you in that ballroom, when I kiss you in front of everyone, when I make it very clear that you're mine, it's not going to be acting."
Her breath hitched. "What will it be?"
"A promise." My hand slid around her waist, pulling her against me. "That I will have you. Completely. In every way. And when I'm done, there won't be anything left of the girl you used to be."
"Maybe I don't want there to be." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Maybe I'm tired of being that girl."
Something hot and dangerous flared in my chest. Want. Hunger. Things I had no business feeling for her.
"Careful what you wish for," I murmured, my lips close to hers. "You might get it."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a guarantee."
We stood there, inches apart, the tension between us electric and wrong and impossible to ignore.
Then my phone rang.
I stepped back, checked the screen. Luca.
"What?"
"We have a problem. Alessandro Greco just showed up at the building. He's demanding to see Valentina."
Perfect. Just perfect.
I looked at Valentina. "Your fiancé is here."
All the color drained from her face. "What?"
"Downstairs. Making a scene." I pocketed my phone. "This is your chance. You can go down there, talk to him, maybe even leave with him. No one would stop you."
"You said..."
"I said you couldn't contact your family. I didn't say you couldn't leave if you wanted to." I watched her carefully. "So here's your choice, Valentina. Go downstairs and back to your old life. Marry Alessandro. Let Roberto use you. Be safe and powerless. Or stay here and see this through."
Her hands clenched into fists. "That's not a choice."
"It's the only choice that matters." I moved toward the door. "I'll be in my office. You have five minutes to decide."
I left her standing on the terrace, alone with her decision.
If she left, it was better this way. Better to know now that she didn't have the spine for what was coming.
If she stayed...
If she stayed, everything changed.
I made it to my office, poured a scotch I didn't want, and watched the clock.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
At four minutes, my door opened.
Valentina walked in, her chin high, her eyes blazing. "Tell Alessandro to go to hell."
I smiled. "Tell him yourself. We're going down there."
"What? Why?"
"Because this is even better than I'd planned." I set down my glass, moved toward her. "He came here to claim what's his. So we're going to show him exactly who you belong to now."
Understanding dawned on her face. And maybe a little fear.
"You want me to reject him. Publicly."
"I want you to destroy him." I cupped her face in my hands. "Can you do that, princess? Can you look the man your father chose for you in the eye and tell him you'd rather be my whore than his wife?"
She flinched at the crude word but didn't look away. "Yes."
"Then let's go break your engagement."
I took her hand and led her toward the elevator, toward Alessandro, toward the point of no return.
And she followed.