Chapter Thirteen
Dante
I no longer sleep. It’s not possible in my world.
Not when she’s dreaming above her shop, wrapped in her sheets, with her golden hair draped over the pillow. Not while Scarletta prowls my city like a rat, whispering threats about taking what’s mine. Not when Silas, the spineless parasite that he is, sinks deeper into debts he can’t repay.
No, sleep is for men who have nothing left to lose. Now, I have everything to lose. I have her.
So, I sit in my study, watching the screens flickering on my desk. Luca’s men have installed feeds that cover every inch of her life. Her pharmacy, her apartment, even the street outside her shop.
And I watch. Always. Evangeline needs me to be watching over her. She’s too innocent to protect herself.
As badly as I’ve wanted to claim her again, I haven’t been able to go to her because of family business. I also don’t want to make her any more of a target than she already is right now until I resolve the issues with her uncle and Scarletta.
There is a plan. It’s just taking longer than I would like.
Although Evangeline may not admit it, I know she feels me everywhere. I can watch as her fingers touch the locks on her apartment door Luca installed as per my order, as if she senses they’re not just there for her safety but chains. Chains that bind her to me.
The old deadbolts and thin panes of glass for the windows in her little apartment are gone. Now, I’ve created her a small fortress, but with me as her jailer. She politely thanked me with a sweetly worded text message, as though gratitude could fend off the beast.
Sweet girl. The beast doesn’t want thanks. The beast wants all of her.
She’s blind to most of it. She doesn’t know about the tiny cameras I’ve tucked into the wall and mirrors, or the lens I favor the most, angled straight at her bed. I tell myself it’s for her protection, that if Scarletta’s men or her weasel uncle make a move, I’ll catch them red-handed.
The truth? I watch her undress and see her arch into the soft sheets as she reads her naughty romances, seeking some type of relief. Seeking me.
I don’t want to admit it, even to myself, but she’s become my nightly ritual, my private obsession, as if she does indeed have some sort of spell over me. She has no idea I am watching her in her bed, how I could slip into her dreams, whisper in her ear, and claim her before her eyes open.
Outside the bedroom and off camera, because I’m the only one allowed to see her like that, my men monitor her. Watching for Scarletta’s next move.
Luca mocks me, telling me I’m fucked. Maybe he’s right.
But again, I can’t help but think she is a witch, and she doesn’t even know it. From the moment I saw her, she’s had a hold over me, one I can’t shake. I’m obsessed with the fact that she’s innocent in my city full of evil, and I will kill anyone who dares touch her.
Tonight, Luca is sprawled in the chair across from my desk, crystal whiskey glass in hand, studying me like I’ve lost my fucking mind. Perhaps I have. I also know he doesn’t sleep either, but for reasons I probably don’t want to know.
“You know, most guys don’t rig cameras in a girl’s bedroom before they’ve even asked her out on a date.”
“I don’t date,” I say, my eyes never leaving the monitors. Mainly because I’ve always just fucked. It’s always been just a physical release with no emotions, no involvement, and no dates with roses and flowers, but I don’t need to tell him that. He knows me. He also knows Evangeline is different.
Hell, I know she is different. Evangeline will be my wife, and I’ll make her the mother of my children.
Just thinking of her tiny body swelling with my child, breeding her, makes my cock hard.
In fact, I may have done so already. Eager at the prospect, I make a note to myself to get her a test as soon as possible.
Turning my attention back to my stalking, I notice she brushes a tendril of hair out of her face in her sleep and makes an adorable snort. She’s so fucking innocent. Oblivious.
If she moans my name in her dreams again, I will kick Luca’s ass out of my office. That’s for my ears only. Then, I’ll pull my cock out and stroke it until I’ve drained my balls like a teenage boy who has just discovered the dirtiest porn.
Hoping like hell it’ll happen, I mutter, “I’m not most men.”
He snorts. “Yeah. Right now, you look like some sort of dark king guarding his princess from the dragons. Only the dragons are using her as bait.”
I finally turn, looking at him. “Scarletta knows. He thinks he’ll use her to get to me, but I’m staying one step ahead.”
After our meeting at Cielo Rosso, I soon realized that my violent reaction to Antony’s remarks about Evangeline put a target on her back. More so than before. Now, they will use her to get back at me and her uncle.
At the meeting, Scarletta agreed to my demands, even agreeing to give up his operation at the pharmacy, but he’s a lying piece of shit. I knew he was lying at the time but wanted to see how he played it.
As predicted, he paid Evangeline a visit, knowing I would find out. Taunting me.
He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m planning. Having dealt with scum like him my entire life, including my father, I know he will make another move.
“And if she finds out?”
A slow smile curls my lips. “Then she’ll realize what she already feels, that she belongs to me. And I’ll burn this city down to keep her safe.”
Luca shakes his head, but the grin tugging at his mouth gives him away.
“Christ, Dante. You’re so pussy-whipped over this girl.
Never thought I’d see the day.” He downs his whiskey and sets the glass on my desk as he stands.
“You’ll never see me obsessing over a chick’s every little move. No one has time for that shit.”
He has no idea how fucked I am.
Every day, I have to rein in my urge to chain her to me, hide her from the world, until I am the sole reason for her existence.
It’s overwhelming, but Evangeline wouldn’t like that life.
She needs to use the beautiful brain of hers, contribute to society with her skills, and preserve her family’s business.
But Scarletta won’t wait forever. His vultures are already circling, eventually using her to get to both Silas and me. I only know if they set foot near her pharmacy again, they’ll bleed for it.
Shoving aside the glass of untouched whiskey, I lean into the screens, once again consumed with the vision that is my strega dolce.
My chest tightens. She has no clue how close the danger is. How it’s coming for her perfect little life; her isolated crystal case that’s protected her for so many years.
But she has me. And when they come for her, I’ll be waiting.