Chapter 10
Nora
“You said that you would explain about the complicated situation with Dante,” Giana pressed when I shut the guest bedroom door behind us.
“I’m grateful that he got me away from Father, but he’s been holding you captive, Nora.
We shouldn’t be on his estate. We should find a way to escape and go somewhere none of them can find us. ”
I took her hands in mine, grounding her to me. Her hazel eyes were wide with fear, so I squeezed her slender fingers in a pulse of comfort.
“It’s not like that,” I assured her. “Not anymore. I don’t want to leave the estate. We’re safe here. Dante and Luca will protect both of us.”
Her brow furrowed. “How can we be safe with either of them? I know you said that you have feelings for Luca, but he kidnapped you and forced you to marry him. Watching him drag you away from me and throw you into that SUV was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced.
And then Dante took you away from me too.
They’ve both forced you into marriage against your will. How can you trust either of them?”
“I love Luca,” I said gently. “He’s earned my love. He’s sacrificed his pride for me, working with Dante in order to keep me safe.”
Her lips pursed with doubt. “If you’re sure of your feelings for him, then we have to get him away from Dante too. He can shelter us and take control of the organization, like he was meant to do before Dante started this war.”
My jaw firmed. “I can’t leave Dante.”
“There has to be a way out of here.” Giana misread the meaning behind my words. “He can’t hold you captive forever. I’ll figure out a way to free you, Nora.”
I shook my head. “I mean I don’t want to leave him,” I clarified. “I…care about him.”
When I thought about my feelings for Dante, emotion swelled inside me: affection tinged with betrayal. It was wrong of me to want Dante when Luca possessed my heart.
But it was more than physical desire. I longed to heal him, to erase the pain of his devastating losses. He’d been alone for so long, ever since his brother had been killed. I couldn’t bring myself to abandon him.
“But how can you feel anything for him?” Giana asked, voice soft with horror. “He’s a monster, Nora.”
I bit my lip. Yes, I’d thought of him as a monster, my own personal Devil.
“I used to think that too,” I said quietly. “I’ll never be able to forget some of the things he’s done, but I understand him now. He’s been devoted to me from the very beginning.”
Even if that devotion had been fervent to the point of obsession, it didn’t frighten me anymore. He’d been overbearing and controlling, but everything he’d done had been out of a desire to possess me completely. He’d apologized and promised to change, to be a better man for me.
“I’ve forgiven him,” I admitted, the truth clicking into place in my heart. “And I forgave Luca a long time ago.”
Giana cocked her head at me, studying my face as though she could read my soul. “Luca wants to kill Dante,” she said, reasoning with me. “Dante is trying to steal his birthright. In the end, one of them will die.”
“No!” My denial was immediate and vehement. “Neither of them will die. I won’t allow it.”
She looked deep into my eyes, trying to impress the truth on me. “There can only be one Boss. You can only have one of them, Nora.”
My eyes stung, and I blinked rapidly to clear away the tears of frustration before they could fall. “I don’t think I can choose.”
“But you love Luca.”
I shook my head. “It’s more complicated than that. I can’t bear to see Dante hurt. Not after everything he’s done for me.”
Both men wanted me, and I wanted both of them. I owed my life, my sanity, to Dante and to Luca.
It was an impossible decision.
I took a deep breath and gathered my resolve.
The two mortal enemies would sit down and talk about what happened on the night Dante’s brother died.
The truth would be revealed, and I could only hope that it would be enough to set Luca free.
Once he was no longer a prisoner, we could all come together as equals.
No one would die.
I wouldn’t lose either of them.
I couldn’t.