Dante's POV
I was 5 minutes away from her apartment's streets when I decided to turn back. But when I did, I saw Marco heading up the stairs leading to Leona's apartment. That was when I recognized his car the second I saw it parked outside. The sleek black Maserati, the same one he used when he wanted to go unnoticed.
The bastard knew where she lived. That was a problem.
A big one. I stayed in the shadows, watching. But I didn't see her. Not once. Not that night. Not the next morning.
It made my blood run cold.
Leoan wasn't the type to stay locked inside for days. She was fire, she burned too brightly to be confined. And yet… she wasn't coming out.
Was it because of Marco? He had trapped her, one way or another. I pulled out my phone, dialing Nico.
"Camp by her apartment," I ordered the second he picked up. "Watch the building. Tell me when she leaves."
His response came the next evening.
"She hasn't left."
Shit. This wasn't just Marco getting territorial. He was controlling her, tightening his leash around her throat. I clenched my jaw, my grip on the steering wheel so tight the leather strained beneath my fingers. Leona was too damn proud to admit she needed help. She'd rather burn than let me be right. And I would have let her. If I thought she could get herself out.
But this time…it seems she couldn't. And that meant **I had to intervene. Even if I knew she hated me for it. Because if I wanted to break Marco's hold on her, I needed to make her choose.
…..
2 days after. I waited by INFERNO. I watched all night. Until I finally saw her. It was nearly midnight when she slipped out the back entrance of Inferno. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't slept in days. Dark circles clung beneath her eyes, her lips pressed into a hard line.
But what caught my attention most was the way she moved. Careful. Tensed. Like she was expecting to be watched. Like she was afraid. That wasn't the Leona I knew.
Marco was suffocating her. I could see it now. And yet, she still refused to run. That was fine. I'd just have to push her. I stepped out of the shadows as she entered the alleyway, blocking her path.
She stopped short, her entire body going rigid.
Her fingers twitched like she wanted to grab a weapon, but the second she recognized me, her expression twisted into something sharper.
Anger. Or maybe… relief. She'd never admit it if it was the latter.
Her voice was like ice. "Are you seriously following me now?"
I smirked, shoving my hands into my pockets.
"You finally left the apartment," I said. "Thought I'd celebrate the occasion."
Her glare could have burned holes through me.
"Get the hell out of my way, Dante."
I didn't move.
"You can keep pretending Marco's the better option," I said, my voice calm. Even. "But we both know where this is going."
Her jaw clenched. "And where's that?"
I took a step closer, watching her every breath.
"Nowhere good."
She shoved me. Hard. I barely moved, but the force behind it told me exactly what I needed to know.
She wasn't just angry, she was scared.
I leaned in, my voice a whisper.
"He's got you on a leash, doesn't he?"
Her breath hitched.
"Shut up," she snapped.
But there was something else in her eyes. I took another step closer, my voice dropping lower.
"You're trapped," I murmured. "Tell me I'm wrong."
Her hands balled into fists.
"You know nothing about me."
I tilted my head. "Don't I?"
Her breathing was uneven now, and I could feel the energy between us shifting. Like she knew I was right. Like she hated that I could see it. I leaned in, letting my lips hover just beside her ear.
"Run," I whispered. "Before it's too late."
She stiffened. And then, she shoved me again. Harder this time. But I caught her wrist before she could yank away. She froze. For a second, neither of us moved.
Her pulse thrummed beneath my fingers. She blinked, hesitation creeping in. I let her wrist go, stepping back just slightly. Then I said the one thing I knew would get to her.
"Then make me stop falling for you."
Silence. A sharp, slicing kind of silence. I saw the way her breath caught, how her fingers twitched like she wanted to hurt me just for saying it.
I wanted her to react. To prove that I was wrong.
But she didn't. She just stood there.