Sleep didn't come easy.
Not after everything I had seen.
Not after everything I now understood.
War.
The word had weight now.
It wasn't just something Dante said—it was something I felt.
In the tension in the house.
In the way the guards moved.
In the silence between conversations.
Even the air felt different.
Like it was waiting.
By morning, the change was impossible to ignore.
The house was no longer calm—it was controlled chaos.
Men moved in and out constantly, voices low but urgent. Phones rang. Orders were given. Doors opened and shut in quick succession.
Everything was sharper.
Faster.
More dangerous.
I stood by the staircase, watching it all unfold.
No one stopped me.
No one told me to go back.
But I could feel it—
They all knew who I was.
Or rather…
Who I was to him.
And that alone made me… important.
Or maybe just… untouchable.
I wasn't sure which one scared me more.
"Enjoying the show?"
I turned slightly.
Luca.
He stood a few steps behind me, hands in his pockets, his expression calm—but his eyes were observant, as always.
"I wouldn't call this a show," I said.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"No. It's not."
Silence settled briefly between us as we both watched the movement below.
"They're scared," I said after a moment.
Luca glanced at me.
"Some of them," he corrected. "The smart ones."
I frowned slightly. "And the others?"
"They think this is just another fight."
"And it's not?"
His gaze shifted back to the room.
"No," he said quietly. "It's bigger than that."
My chest tightened.
"How bad is it?"
Luca didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he studied me—like he was deciding how much to say.
Then—
"Bad enough that Dante hasn't slept."
That caught me off guard.
I blinked. "You can tell?"
"I've known him long enough."
Something about the way he said that made me look at him differently.
"You trust him," I said.
It wasn't a question.
Luca nodded once.
"With my life."
A pause.
"Do you?" he added.
The question hit harder than I expected.
I hesitated.
Because I didn't have a simple answer.
"I don't know," I admitted.
Luca didn't look surprised.
"That's probably the safest answer you could give."
A sudden movement downstairs pulled our attention.
The front doors opened.
Two men walked in quickly—one of them injured.
Blood stained the side of his shirt.
My breath caught.
Everything shifted instantly.
Men rushed forward.
Voices rose.
"What happened?"
"Ambush."
The word cut through the noise like a blade.
My stomach dropped.
Ambush.
"It was supposed to be a clean run," the injured man said, his voice strained. "They were waiting for us."
Inside.
The thought hit me immediately.
Inside.
Luca's expression darkened slightly.
"Where?" he asked.
"East route."
His jaw tightened.
"That route was changed last minute."
The implication was clear.
Someone knew.
Someone told them.
My chest tightened as I looked around.
At the men.
At the tension.
At the fear starting to creep in.
This wasn't just war.
This was betrayal.
"Get him patched up," Luca ordered.
The injured man was quickly taken away.
The room didn't calm down after that.
If anything—
It got worse.
Voices lower now.
More controlled.
More dangerous.
Like everyone was thinking the same thing…
But no one wanted to say it out loud.
"Everyone out."
The voice cut through everything.
Dante.
The room stilled instantly.
He stood at the far end, his presence alone enough to silence everything.
"When?" he asked.
"An hour ago," one of the men replied.
Dante's jaw tightened slightly.
"Casualties?"
"Two."
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
I felt it.
The shift.
Something in the room changed.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Something colder.
Controlled anger.
"Clear the room," Dante said.
No one argued.
No one hesitated.
Within seconds, the space emptied.
Until only a few remained.
Dante.
Luca.
And—
Me.
Dante's gaze landed on me.
Sharp.
Focused.
"You should be upstairs."
The words were calm.
But this time…
I didn't move.
"No."
The answer came before I could think.
Before I could stop myself.
Silence.
Luca glanced between us, but said nothing.
Dante's eyes darkened slightly.
"Elena."
A warning.
But I held my ground.
"I saw the car last night," I said. "I heard the meeting. And now someone just walked in bleeding."
My voice didn't shake.
Not this time.
"You said things are changing," I continued. "So stop treating me like I don't need to see it."
The room went still.
Even the air felt like it paused.
Dante stared at me for a long moment.
Long enough to make my heart pound.
But I didn't look away.
I didn't back down.
Not anymore.
Finally—
He exhaled slowly.
Not annoyed.
Not angry.
Something else.
"Stay," he said.
My chest tightened slightly.
But I nodded.
Dante turned his attention back to the table.
"Talk."
Luca stepped forward.
"The route was changed last minute. Only a handful of people knew."
"Names."
Luca listed them.
One by one.
Each name felt heavier than the last.
Because any one of them—
Could be the reason two people were dead.
Dante listened.
Silent.
Still.
Dangerous.
"Lock it down," he said finally. "No one moves without clearance."
"And the next shipment?" Luca asked.
Dante's eyes sharpened.
"We use the original route."
Luca frowned slightly. "That's risky."
"It's necessary."
A pause.
Then—
"We bait them."
My breath caught.
Bait.
"They'll hit it," Dante continued. "And when they do…"
His voice dropped.
"We'll be waiting."
A chill ran through me.
This wasn't defense anymore.
This was strategy.
Calculated.
Precise.
Deadly.
The plan unfolded quickly after that.
Orders given.
Positions assigned.
Movements coordinated.
And through it all—
Dante never hesitated.
Not once.
He made decisions like they were instinct.
Like he had done this a hundred times before.
Maybe he had.
At some point, I realized something.
No one questioned him.
Not really.
They might suggest.
They might argue briefly.
But in the end—
His word was final.
Because they trusted him.
Or feared him.
Or both.
The room began to clear again as the plan settled into motion.
Until it was just the three of us once more.
Luca looked at Dante.
"This is a risk."
"I know."
"And if it goes wrong—"
"It won't."
The certainty in his voice was absolute.
Luca studied him for a moment.
Then nodded once.
"I'll handle my side."
And just like that, he left.
Silence settled.
I looked at Dante.
"That didn't look like waiting," I said.
His gaze shifted to me.
"It wasn't."
A pause.
"You're attacking back."
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"This is really happening."
His expression didn't change.
"It already started."
Right.
The injured man.
The ambush.
The deaths.
This wasn't the beginning.
This was escalation.
"Are you going to be there?" I asked quietly.
A flicker crossed his eyes.
"Yes."
Of course.
That shouldn't have surprised me.
But it did.
"You could get hurt."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Silence followed.
Then—
"That's part of the job."
My stomach tightened.
"That's not a reassuring answer."
"It's an honest one."
I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
And for the first time…
Fear wasn't just for myself.
It was for him.
That realization hit harder than anything else.
Dante stepped closer.
Not invading.
Not controlling.
Just… there.
"You stay here," he said.
I shook my head immediately. "No."
His brows pulled together slightly.
"Elena—"
"I'm not saying I'm coming with you," I cut in. "I'm saying don't expect me to just sit and not think about it."
A pause.
Then—
"That's not something I can control."
Something about that felt like a small shift.
Like he wasn't trying to.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I asked quietly:
"What happens if the person inside you're looking for… is someone you trust?"
Silence.
Heavy.
Real.
Dante's gaze didn't waver.
"Then they made a mistake."
A chill ran through me.
"And mistakes," he added calmly…
"have consequences."
My breath caught.
I believed him.
Completely.
As he turned to leave, he paused.
Just for a second.
Then, without looking back—
"Stay close," he said.
Softer this time.
Less command.
More… something else.
And as I stood there, watching him walk away—
I realized something that should have scared me more than it did.
The danger outside those walls was growing.
The war was getting closer.
And somehow…
I wasn't thinking about running anymore.