a

ting from my shoulder, clawing through my body like fire creeping along

eady. Not bindin

ng loomed dark and unfamiliar above me, high and adorned with intricat

n sent a sharp pain slicing

eves rolled up, fingers stained wi

ntic movements, no visible panic. Just pure, consuming rage. His dark eyes caught

s if he had endured hell and emerged. I swallo

forearms on his knees, his gaze intense as it

ought. I hadn't intended to in

harp pain blooming in my shoulder as the bullet struck me instead. Dante's arms around me, his voice low, urgi

ourself. I wasn'

undertone lurked beneath it.

but enough to make me shudder. "Then what drove you to do it?" I g

than let me take the hit?" I remai

dn't want Dante to die. Not out of concern. Not because of any feelings fo

And I understood Dante's nature. I knew him to be rut

ake me plead for mercy t

jaw and forcing me to look at him.The heat from his fingers sent a jolt throu

ck, suffocating. Dante was too close. And I despised that I wasn't pushing

ip. "Tell me, little dove," he murmured, his voi

et. Not just the injury. But this, the way I fought him. The way I loathed him. The wa

g about yo

nce in this moment. That I was still within his realm.I should've pushed him away. I should've fought back. Instead, I gazed into his ey

om mine. A challenge. A test. Would I crack? Wo

eyes flashing with an emotion I couldn't decipher. As if

inscrutable. "Boss," he said, v

ark eyes surveying me one last

und Ricci's informant." Dante's expr

something cold settled within

ronghold, his home, had been breached. And if Ricci had someone embedded wit

ression unreadable. But I understood

nearly lost. The reason his empire had been threatened. And now? Now,