24. Dante
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DANTE
Years of living under Salvatore’s thumb had taught me to look for surveillance everywhere. The sensation of being watched prickled at my neck as Shaw walked beside me.
He kept his voice low. “What time should I come by?”
I glanced sideways at him. Determination burned in his eyes. “Nine o’clock. I look forward to seeing more of this confident side of you. It’s fucking hot when you take what you want.”
Before Shaw could respond, I spotted Renato. He leaned against a lamppost with infuriating ease. His white cashmere sweater clung to his chest in a way that made passersby slow their pace, and tight jeans left nothing to the imagination. Fuck. Things had gone from bad to catastrophically worse.
“Stop by tonight and find out,” I said.
His confused curse followed me as I walked away. Salvatore had specific rules about employees fucking outside the brothel, enforced with broken bones and blood. The last thing I needed was Shaw witnessing Renato’s flirtations.
“What the hell are you doing here, Lorenzo?” I used his professional name deliberately.
Renato pushed off the pole with a sway of his hips that drew my gaze. “I thought you’d be happier to see me.”
“You’re not allowed to be here.” I stood my ground when he invaded my personal space, bringing with him that intoxicating cologne.
He pressed closer, his breath warm against my ear. “Oh, I get it. You’re happy I’m here, but you’re afraid Daddy might catch us.”
My eyes darted around, checking for anyone who might report to Salvatore. “You would be if you knew what punishments he has for breaking the rules.”
“I told you before, I don’t give a fuck about his rules.” His smile turned smug when I didn’t contradict him. “Wow, I’m impressed. You’re not denying you’re glad I’m here.”
The truth stung. Every time Renato came near, my body betrayed me as hunger overwhelmed whatever instinct for self-preservation I had left. The real problem wasn’t him but the way I responded to his advances. “You need to leave.”
“Relax, I have permission to be here right now. Daddy wants to see you. Ishi couldn’t make it, so she sent me to come get you.” He gestured toward a black stretch limo waiting around the corner. “You should be grateful it’s me and not Natalia.”
Once inside the limo, I settled onto the leather seat. “What does the bastard want now?”
“Apparently, he wants to speak with you,” Renato answered with a shrug. “Ishi didn’t give me any details.”
My stomach twisted. Salvatore’s “talks” usually meant he’d discovered something I’d hoped to keep hidden.
“Who was the hottie you were with?” Renato asked.
“No one you need to concern yourself with.”
Renato hummed. “He’s a pretty little thing, isn’t he? I wouldn’t mind if he paid me a visit.”
“He won’t,” I snarled, possessiveness surging through me with unexpected violence.
“Planning to keep him all to yourself?” His eyes widened with realization. “You are, aren’t you? He comes to Gennaro Corporation?”
“You need to drop it.”
“Come on, you know a threesome between us would be heaven on Earth.”
“It’s not up for discussion.” Though the image of the two men together, both focused on pleasing me, sent blood racing south.
Renato moved to straddle my lap. “I can make an extremely persuasive argument.” When I glared, he laughed and captured my lips in a kiss. “Are you going to tell me this isn’t allowed, or can we make the most of our stolen moment?”
“Do you not understand how dangerous Salvatore is? He could kill you in the blink of an eye. Or worse, make me murder you to prove a point.”
He studied me. “Do you think you have what it takes to kill me, tesoro?”
The term of endearment, which meant “treasure” in Italian, hit me square in the chest. No one else had ever dared to call me by a term of affection since my parents’ untimely murder. “I’ve had enough training, so I’m more than capable of doing it. You wouldn’t be my first victim.”
“I’m confident you can pull the trigger of a gun. But emotionally, could you handle murdering me when you want me so much?”
The answer soured my stomach. “I don’t want to talk about this.” I couldn’t admit Renato had already become one of the few people I’d refuse to eliminate, even under Salvatore’s orders.
“If Daddy Don said you couldn’t be with me anymore, do you really expect me to believe you wouldn’t defy him to be with me?”
“It’s too dangerous.” For both of us.
His smile remained infuriatingly carefree. “You’re worth the risk, tesoro.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” He cupped my cheek. “Daddy dearest won’t stop me from having you. Not when you’re meant to be mine.”
He silenced my protest with a kiss. I slid my hand into his silken hair, using my grip to pull him closer before common sense broke through the fog of lust. “Damn it, we don’t have time for this, Lorenzo.”
He smirked. “I told the driver to take the long way back.”
My heart sank. All it took was a single report to Salvatore for my time with Renato to be over. “Shit, who’s the driver?”
“Massimo. Real sweet guy.”
I exhaled a shaky breath. “If it was anyone but Massimo, Salvatore would punish us both.” Massimo was one of the Gennaro soldato enforcers who’d inexplicably protected me from Salvatore’s wrath before. “If you want me as much as you claim, why put us both in danger?”
“Because we had a very interesting discussion in Italian on the way to pick you up. He’s loyal to you and hates Salvatore, so there was no risk. He also confirmed there was no recording equipment in this car, so relax. We’re safe.”
“I haven’t been safe a single day since I became part of the Gennaro family.” Not since the day I witnessed Salvatore kill my birth parents and claim me and Raphael as his “sons” in payment for their lives.
“Wrong. You’re safe whenever you’re with me, tesoro.” Each Italian endearment sank his hooks deeper into my heart, a place where he had no right to claim territory.
Renato leaned forward, his lips meeting mine with unexpected gentleness. His fingers traced my jawline, then slid into my hair, cradling me as if I were breakable. When his tongue sought entrance, I parted my lips, unable to deny him.
I’d been trained to respond to lust, to violence, to pain, but his devoted worship left me floundering. Renato deepened the kiss with a reverence that made my hands tremble where they gripped his sweater.
He drew back just enough to whisper against my lips, “I’ll protect you.”
The worst part was he believed the lie. And for one dangerous moment, as his forehead rested against mine and his breath mingled with my own, I wanted to surrender to the fantasy that someone could shield me from Salvatore’s world, that I could be something other than a weapon or a whore.
I forced steel back into my voice. “You don’t have the power to do that.”
“How can you be so sure?” Renato challenged, his thumb tracing my lower lip. “What do you really know about me? About who I was before coming to Gennaro territory?”
He was right. I knew nothing about his past, his connections, or his capabilities. I didn’t even know his last name.
“I know enough,” I lied.
“There’s more to me than a pretty face and a talented cock.
More than Salvatore could ever imagine when he recruited me.
” His hand slid down to rest against my throat in a silent claim.
“I’ve survived things that would make your Daddy Don piss himself.
I’ve built and broken empires you’ve never heard of. ”
While I wanted to dismiss his words as empty bravado, I recognized the hardness in his eyes that I only saw in the Mafia world. “Trust doesn’t come easy to me.”
Renato’s voice softened. “Of course. You’ve been betrayed by everyone who should have protected you.” His fingers traced the scar at my collarbone, evidence of one of Salvatore’s early “lessons.”
He pulled back, his expression shifting to something ancient and solemn. His hand moved to his chest, pressing over his heart in the traditional gesture of the old families.
“I swear to you on the blood of my ancestors, on my mother’s sacred grave, on my father’s sword and honor, that I stand with you.
” His voice dropped to a murmur that carved itself into my bones.
“Your enemies die by my hand. Your pain becomes my vendetta. Your freedom is my obsession. I will burn this world to ash, slaughter every person who’s fouled you with their touch, and bloody my hands to dethrone your keeper before I let anyone cage you again.
This oath binds me to you until death claims me or you command me to stop breathing. ”
It wasn’t a pretty promise whispered in the heat of passion. It was the ancient oath of fealty, the same one capos demanded of their most trusted. Breaking such an oath meant death.
“You can’t.” My voice cracked. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I’m well aware of my promises to you.” His eyes held mine. “I do not give my loyalty lightly.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I see you, Dante. The real man beneath the scars, whose iron will refuses to break. I would follow you into Hell itself and set the universe ablaze, if that’s what it takes to set you free.”
The earnest conviction in his voice stripped me bare. Nobody had ever looked at me as if I were something worth fighting for, worth dying for. Like I was more than Salvatore’s property or a body to be used.
My throat closed up. “You can’t make those kinds of promises,” I whispered.
His thumb brushed my cheek. “When the time comes to take him down, I’ll fight beside you.”
I turned away, my mind scrambling for safer ground out of desperation to change the subject before I did something stupid like believe him. “That’s you. Why would Massimo be loyal to me?”
“He has strong feelings about the dishonor Salvatore has brought on the Gennaro family by forcing his son to be a sex worker. Apparently, there are a lot of members who feel the same as him. You have more support than you think.”
“Please never take that risk again. I have too much to lose.”
“Raphael?” Renato asked.