Chapter 56
Elara was quiet Too quiet. It was pissing me off.
She sun beside me, her gaze fixed out the window as the city lights blurred pau us. I wasn’t a fool.
She was furious
I could feel, the way her body tensed, every few minutes. She hadn’t looked at me once. I exhaled, gripping the wheel as I sped through the darkened streets. I knew this woman. She was a storm before the wreckage.
Fuck! shouldn’t have lost control. I looked at her as she kept rubbing her bruised wrist unconsciously, trying to soothe the dull ache, but all it did was, make it even more uncomfortable.
“Say it.” I said turning my graze on the road.
| your fucking dog”
She didn’t move “Say what’s making you look at me like I just murdered yo
Her head turned slowly. Giving me a murderous look. “I don’t have a dog”
“You know what I mean, Elara” She exhaled sharply, turning back to the window. My patience snapped.
I yanked the car to the side, tyres screeching against the asphalt. “Are you out of your damn mind?” She snapped. The sudden stop jolted her forward. But I was already reaching for her hand before she could pull away.
“Let go, Dante.”
“Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on in that little head of yours.” She pushed me away and opened the door before jumping out.
“What the hell is this?” She demanded. We were far from the city: In deep woods. My heart can’t handle her silence and her anger. I wanted to bring her somewhere special. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car too. “Are you planning to kill me and dump my body in the woods?” I heard
her say.
“No, Amore,” I said calmly while walking toward her. “If I wanted you dead, you’d never see it coming” She rolled her eyes.
Then why are we here?” She asked looking around.
My lips twitched in amusement. “You wanted my attention, didn’t you? Now, you’re going to get in”
“W–what?” she stuttered, eyes wide. Before she could take a step back, I grabbed her, lifting her effortlessly into my ar
“Are you insane? Put me down!” she gasped, panic lacing her voice as she struggled against me.
Lignored her, my grip tightening.
“Danie, put me down! Your hand is injured?
I felt the dull throb not in my knuckles, but in my chest.
This woman.
arms.
Her eyes burned with fury, her cheeks flushed with frustration, yet her first instinct was still to worry about me. Even when she hated me, she cared.
“You’re insane,” she spat, struggling against my grip. I let out a dark chuckle, the sound numbling deep in my chest.
“You’ve known that since the day you became mine!
Her fists clenched against my shirt but she didn’t speak more, I carried her deeper into the woods. The wind flows through the trees, the distant rash of water growing louder. She stopped struggling.
“Look in front of you,” I murmured.
She turned her head, following my gaze, and in that moment, I knew she had forgotten her anger. A river lay before us, its dark surface shining under the moonlight. The mountains stood tall in the distance, their shapes blending into the night sky. The air was fresh and pure, far from the none of the city. The trees moved gently with the wind, their rellections rippling in the water.
For the first time tonight, I saw it the little spark in her eyes that had been missing all evening. I set her down gently, keeping an arm wrapped around her waist. It was dark, and I wasn’t about to let her stumble or hurt herself.
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Chapter 36
Lowering her onto the soft grass. I sat beside her, my fingers instinctively finding her wrist, I ran my thumb over the bruised skin, very slowly and carefully. To make it as comfortable as possible.
“Tused to come here with my family,” I said, my voice quieter than usual. She turned her head slightly, her eyes flickering toward me with curiosity.
“When I was young, this was our place. Our picnic spot. Back then, it was just me, my mom, and my dad. Nero and Bell hadn’t been born yet. We used to play here.”
I exhaled, staring at the river, my grip on her wrist tightening just a little. This is the only place that truly calms me. And you.” My gaze back to her. “You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here.”
Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t say a word.
Silence filled the air, thick yet peaceful. She was lost in the beauty of nature, while I was lost in her.
“It’s beautiful” she murmured, her voice soft, almost breathless.
I nodded, my gaze never leaving her. “Yes. very beautiful
But I wasn’t talking about the view.
shifted
The moonlight bathed her in a glow, highlighting every delicate feature. That dress…God, that damn dress, clung to bontrol hang by a thread. One look at her, and I knew, I’d be damned if I didn’t make love to her in it.
ng to her in a way that made my self-
my voice low
“Are you still mad?” I asked, my
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
The spark in her eyes flickered and died like a candle snuffed out too soon. The soft wonder that had just graced her features vanished, replaced by something worse than anger. disappointment.
I didn’t like that look on her. Not one bit.
“You want to know what’s wrong. Dante Romano?” Her voice was sharp, cutting through the peaceful night like a blade. She yanked her wrist from my grasp and pushed to her feet, standing over me.” It’s the way those people looked at me in the party! The way they pitied me! Like I was some pathetic, powerless fool who had no control over her own life!”
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her fists clenched.
People were whispering. Saying how sorry they were for me. That I was just a wife in name, nothing more than a bed warmer, while that woman beside you.” She swallowed hard, her eyes burning with rage. “She had all the power. She had the respect. They saw her as yours, not me.”
1 clenched my jaw, my fingers twitching at my sides.
“Why did you marry me, Dante?” Her voice broke slightly, but she forced herself to keep her chin up. “Why me, when she was the one you were interested in? Why the hell did you put me in this position if I was never going to be enough?”
Era flinched at the sound of my fist slamming into the bark beside us. I stepped toward her, eyes locked on hers. Did she trust their words over
mine!
“Are you out of your fucking mind, woman?” My voice was sharp, laced with disbelief. I shook my head, exhaling harshly through my nose. “Them You believed them
She swallowed, her throat bobbing.
My fingers curled into fists at my sides. I shouldn’t have brought her here this soon. I had made a mistake. A damn mistake
“It was wrong of me,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I shouldn’t have brought you here yet” My frustration burned, and my body tense with it.
With a snarl, I turned and slammed my fist against the rough tree trunk again. The bark split under the force, pain jolting through my already brused knuckles but it was nothing compared to the rage boiling in my veins.
You fucking believe their words while your husband has been telling you since day one that you are the only one this fucking Dante Romano belongs to?” My voice was thunderous.
Elara flinched.
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to calm the storm inside me, but it was impossible. I had been patient. I had given her time. And yet, here she was, doubting me. Because of sonse bastered polsun–filled words, who dishi’t fucking matter
Chapter 36
I took a steje closet, raging her between me
ever give you a fucking reason in doubt
My instincts kickeil ia
Eelamped a hand over her mouth, silencing
the tire. My wounded land pressed into the bark beside her head, ignoring the sting, my other
“I growled. Klara patted her lips to answer, but then, I saw a red dot. It moved from her shoulder
before she could make a sound. Her brows furrowed in confusing, but I shook my head slightly
“Shh” My voice was low, deadly calm, “Don’t say a word. Just look straight, beside my head. A litle to the right, do you see anyone?
Her body tensed, the shift almost imperceptible. But I knew she had sensed the danger. Knew she understood.
I kept my grip him, waiting. “Don’t speak Jou blusk if you see something?
A single flatter of her lashes, but theit her eyes widened. A second too late. The sound of a gunshot rang throughout the forest.
Immoved on instinct. My arm tightened around her waist, yanking her into my chest as i turned. A sharp, burning pain exploded through my side as the bullet tone intociny skin.
Theld her tighter, Kept her shielded
