Chapter 5

Elena POV

I spent the next two days in enforced isolation.

I was confined to my guest suite, but I wasn't sleeping.

I was preparing.

Luca had slipped me a small black case before he dropped me off.

Inside were micro-bugs. Military grade.

I had placed them everywhere.

Hidden in the lamps.

Tucked under the desks.

Wedged behind the paintings in the hallway.

I was always listening.

Suddenly, silence shattered as the door to my room crashed open.

The lock splintered under the force of the blow.

Dante stood in the doorway, his chest heaving.

He was apoplectic.

"You embarrassed the family!" he shouted. "Walking out with a Valenti? Are you insane?"

I sat at my vanity, calmly removing my earrings.

"Get out," I said, not bothering to turn around.

Dante kicked the door shut behind him.

He stormed over to me.

He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, his grip bruising.

"I am trying to teach you to be strong!" he yelled, his face inches from mine. "The auction was tough love! You need to learn your place!"

"My place is not beneath your mistress," I said, my voice ice cold.

Dante's expression faltered, then softened.

It was a terrifying shift, a manic snap from rage to tenderness.

He touched my cheek.

His fingers were calloused and rough.

"Elena," he whispered. "If you just accept Livia... we can be happy. She is family. She needs us."

My skin crawled at his touch.

"She is not family," I said. "She is sleeping with you."

"She is my ward!" Dante insisted. "It is complicated!"

"It's not complicated," I said. "You are weak."

Dante stiffened.

"I am the Don," he growled.

"You are a blind fool," I countered. "She reeks of lust and deception, and you are the only one who can't smell it."

Dante raised his hand.

For a second, I thought he was going to strike me.

Then, his phone buzzed.

He looked at it.

His anger vanished instantly, replaced by a pathetic worry.

It was Livia.

"I have to go," he said, stepping back. "Livia isn't feeling well."

"Of course," I said. "Run along, dog."

Dante glared at me, his jaw tight.

"Clean this up," he said, pointing at the broken door. "And fix your attitude."

He left, the heavy wood clicking shut behind him.

I sat there in the silence.

I looked at my reflection, my face a mask of stone.

I reached into my jewelry box.

I pulled out a cheap, tarnished ruby pendant.

It was the first gift Dante had ever given me, years ago, before he became the Don.

Before he became a monster.

I walked to the fireplace.

I threw the pendant into the dancing flames.

I watched the metal blacken and melt, the ruby cracking under the heat.

"Goodbye, Kael," I whispered, using his real name. "Don Dante killed you long ago."

I picked up my tablet.

I put on my headphones.

I activated the bug in Livia's room.

The audio crackled to life.

Livia was on the phone.

She wasn't sick.

She was laughing.

"He's such an idiot," Livia's voice came through, clear as a bell. "I told him I had a migraine. He's running over here with soup."

She paused, listening to the other end.

"No, I don't love him," she said to whoever was on the line. "I love the power. Once I get the ring, I'll control everything. The Princess is already broken. She's pathetic."

My hand tightened on the tablet until my knuckles turned white.

"I'll have her gone by the end of the month," Livia bragged. "Accidents happen, right?"

I pressed the record button.

The red light blinked.

Recording Saved.

I took off the headphones.

A cold smile spread across my face.

"You think I'm broken, Livia?" I whispered to the empty room.

I looked at the file labeled Evidence.

"I'm just reloading."