acks in the heavy curtains, but it did

barely

Dante's voice-cold, sharp, filled with h

silk nightgown Lucia had given her felt foreign on

he lock

door swung open, revealin

nt

es swept over her, unreadable, calculating. He was dressed in anothe

," he c

standing. She refused t

reached into his pocket and pulled out a small

ad

re slowly picking it up. As she

o.You do not speak to anyone without my permission.Yo

er. Every word felt like anot

m, fire in her gaze

ed his hea

can't

n them in a single step. His hand wrapped around her throat-n

lazy. "You seem to think

ld feel his warmth, the dangerous proximity of

our puppet,"

o something dark, somet

releasing her just as quic

thing hard as he turned a

he doorway. "Disobey me, and

m with a finality that

the list of ru

he could control her

a-she would never