Chapter 5 - Into the Lion’s Fortress
The sleek black Maybach glided through the midnight rain of Manhattan, crossing the bridge toward Dante’s sprawling, fortified estate on the private cliffs of Long Island.
Inside the leather-scented sanctuary of the vehicle, the silence was thick with tension. Alex sat against the plush seat, staring out at the rain streaking down the tinted glass. Now that the adrenaline of the ballroom confrontation was fading, the reality of her situation hit her with crushing force.
She had no home to return to—Preston’s name was on the lease of their apartment. Her professional career was in the crosshairs of a federal investigation. And she was sitting beside the most dangerous man in the city.
"You're shaking," Dante said quietly.
"I'm not," she lied, keeping her eyes fixed on the window.
A warm, heavy wool jacket was draped over her shoulders. Alex turned, startled. Dante had taken off his tuxedo jacket and placed it over her bare arms. The scent of his cologne enveloped her instantly—rich, smoky, and dangerously comforting.
"You held the room like an empress back there," Dante said, his gaze intense as he watched her in the dim ambient lighting of the car. "Most people crumble under that kind of pressure."
"I spent three years being diminished by that man," Alex replied, her voice steadying. "I wasn't going to let him make me cower on the night he tried to destroy me."
"He won't touch you again," Dante stated. It wasn't a promise; it was an absolute law.
"Why are you doing this, Dante?" Alex asked, turning fully to face him. "Men like you don't save damsels in distress out of charity. You mentioned draining the swamp. What is your history with Kensington?"
Dante’s jaw hardened, the shadows in the car accentuating the sharp bone structure of his face.
"Ten years ago, Arthur Kensington and his syndicate orchestrated a hostile takeover of my father’s shipping company. They used forged documentation, corrupted federal inspectors, and drove my father to ruin. He died of a heart attack six months later." Dante leaned closer, his eyes burning with an ancient, untamed fury. "I built my empire from the dirt up to tear Kensington’s dynasty apart brick by brick. Preston Vance was just the greedy fool who gave me the crowbar."
Alex looked at him, feeling a sudden, deep resonance. They were both survivors of men who destroyed lives with pens and contracts.
"Then we have the same goal," she said softly.
"We do," Dante agreed. The car pulled through massive iron gates, sweeping up a winding driveway toward a breathtaking limestone mansion overlooking the dark, crashing waves of the Atlantic. "Welcome to the Moretti estate, Alexandra. Here, you are safe. But remember the terms of our deal."
May you like
"Your woman," she echoed, her heart fluttering unpredictably.
"Until the end," he murmured, his gaze dropping to her throat where her pulse hammered wildly. "And not a moment sooner."
