Chapter 81:1 need A Ring
+25 Bonus
Chapter 81: I need A Ring
Dante’s POV
For a moment, my entire body went rigid.
Gianna. Escaping.
Fury tore through my chest, burning away every trace of reason. That infuriating, beautiful, treacherous woman who’d looked me dead in the eye this morning with that soft, innocent act, begging to walk the grounds. And I fucking fell for it. I let her go, unsupervised, just to test her.
And she tried to run.
While I was here.
While I was sitting at a table with my daughter.
While I was trying to be a father instead of a captor.
“Fuck.” The word ripped out of me, raw and guttural. “That woman has no idea what she’s just done. No idea what’s coming.”
Behind me, I could feel Seline’s eyes on me, but she was already gone from my thoughts. None of it mattered
anymore.
The only thing that mattered now was getting back to the estate.
Getting back to her.
I forced my voice to stay rough, to sound like the Don, not the man who’d just been betrayed. “Make sure she stays restrained. I’m on my way.”
I hung up before Franco could respond, my mind already racing through possibilities, punishments, contingencies, the exact kind of hell Gianna had just invited on herself.
Seline was watching me, arms crossed, that familiar mix of concern and frustration on her face. “Let me guess, another emergency?”
“I’m sorry, Seline. It’s important. I have to leave. Now.”
She stepped into my path, a final attempt to hold me in place. “It’s late, Dante. And Bruno’s not here to drive you. Why not let someone else handle it and go in the morning?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“What about Ariel?” Her tone sharpened. “She’s waiting for movie night. You’re going to disappoint her again?”
The guilt of letting my daughter down pressed hard in my chest, but duty twisted louder. “I’ll talk to her.”
I moved past Seline toward the stairs, pausing for just a moment. “Thank you, Seline. I’m grateful I can always count on you.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it was all I could give.
1/5
25 Bonus
Ariel was curled up on the couch, remote in hand, her face brightening the moment she saw me.
“Dad! I was just about to start without…” She stopped mid–sentence, her smile shifting as she read my expression. The light in her eyes dimmed. “You’re leaving.”
Not a question. A statement of fact she’d learned too young, too often.
The disappointment etched in her face was so glaring This was supposed to be our night and I’d just ruined it.
“Princess, I’m sorry,” I said. The words felt useless the moment they left my mouth. How many times had I said them? How many promises had I broken? “Something’s come up. Emergency.”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s always an emergency.”
She shifted back into her seat, away from me. She wasn’t angry, anger I could’ve handled. This was worse. It was that quiet acceptance, the kind that came from being let down too many times.
I knelt in front of her, my knees sinking into the plush carpet, and took her small hands in mine. They were soft, delicate. Hands that should only ever know warmth and safety, not the reality of what her father really was.
“I know. And I’m sorry. But I promise we’ll have our movie night soon. Just you and me, no interruptions.”
Another promise I might not keep. Another lie wrapped in good intentions.
She slipped her hands out of mine and pushed farther back into the couch, her lips pressed tight. The small distance between us felt like a wall.
Still, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, just like I used to when she was a baby. For a second, she didn’t move. Then, as I started to rise, I felt her fingers clutch mine. I turned, and she was on her feet, throwing her arms around me.
“Dad. Be safe.”
“Always.” My hand ran gently through her hair, the way I used to when she was little.
She pulled away suddenly, rolling her eyes. “Dad… enough. I’m all grown now.”
That made me smile, but only for a second. I turned to leave when her voice stopped me again.
“If you don’t come back fast,” she called after me, “by the time you do, I’ll have a boyfriend.”
I scowled. “No, you wouldn’t.”
She folded her arms across her chest, chin tilted up in that defiant way that reminded me so much of me. “We’ll
see.”
I had a dozen things I wanted to say. That she was forbidden to have a boyfriend until she was thirty. That any boy who even looked at her would have to answer to me. That she was still my little girl, no matter how old she thought she was.
But I bit it back.
This was a battle I couldn’t win. Not tonight. Not when the truth was it wasn’t her fault. I was never around.
2/5
And that was on me.
The thought hit hard: if I didn’t change things, she’d start looking for the attention and validation I’d failed to give her somewhere else.
Right then, I made a promise to myself.
That would never happen.
Things had to change, and I’d make damn sure they did.
I took the stairs two at a time, my mind already shifting from father to Don. I grabbed my bag from my room, always packed, always ready for emergencies like this.
I tried Bruno as I stormed back down the hallway. One ring. Two. Three. Straight to voicemail.
“Fuck.”
Of course. It was late, he was off duty, and I’d given him the night off myself. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
I’d have to drive myself.
The guards stationed outside straightened when they saw me, reading the tension in my shoulders, the storm in my expression.
“Don? Is there a problem?”
“Emergency at the estate. I need to leave now.”
“We’ll go with you…‘
“”
“No. Stay. Protect them.” My voice cut them off. I was already past them, heading for the garage. They didn’t argue, they knew the look.
The garage was cool and dark. My Aventador gleamed under the lights like a beast built for speed, escape, and hunting down whatever needed hunting.
I yanked the door open, slid in, and slammed the car out of the driveway harder than necessary.
The drive didn’t calm me. If anything, every mile fed the heat inside me. How long had she been planning this? Days? Weeks? Had she schemed from the first moment I brought her here, or had she only seen a chance and taken it?
How the hell did she find a secret exit nobody else knew about, a tunnel that was meant as a failsafe? Only two people in my organization knew that passage existed. I trusted Bruno with my life. He wouldn’t betray me. He wouldn’t.
Her little picnic on the grounds.
The memory hit with sudden clarity. I’d been the one who allowed it, gave her permission to step outside, supervised but free enough to wander. She’d pleaded, and I’d caved, thinking I was being generous. A bit of sunlight. A taste of freedom after days locked inside. Building trust. Showing mercy.
Maybe that was when she found it. Wandering, observing, using every moment to study the estate. And during
3/5
Chapter 8t need A Ring
those few hours I’d left her unsupervised, she’d likely mapped out every inch of the property.
The thought ate at me as streetlights blurred past. All those soft conversations, the careful obedience, her talk about understanding her situation and wanting to cooperate, was it all an act to make me drop my guard?
It clicked into place with sick clarity.
I’d started to trust her. To see past the defiance and the fear to the woman underneath. The intelligence, the stubborn tilt of her chin, the small laugh that escaped when something genuinely amused her. I’d felt things I had no right to feel, dangerous, impossible things, desire that had nothing to do with revenge and everything to do with the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t watching.
I felt a soft, stupid compassion for her, a mercy I had no right to feel for the daughter of the man who’d murdered my wife.
And she’d spat on it.
“She wanted to go against me?” I muttered, gripping the steering wheel so hard that pain shot through my palms. “I’ll show her exactly how I break my enemies. There’ll be no mercy. And when I’m done, she’ll be begging for an easy way out.”
The words were promises I meant to keep, especially with what I’d planned.
Most jewelry stores were long closed at this hour. But Rossi’s wasn’t for the public, it catered to men like me, the kind who didn’t shop by day, who preferred privacy over pleasantries, who didn’t ask where the money came from.
He answered on the third ring, his voice thick with sleep and surprise. “Don… this is unexpected. A night call. How can we assist?”
“I need a ring.” The words came out flat, emotionless. “The most expensive one you have.”
There was a pause before Rossi’s tone switched to that eager, practiced enthusiasm that only surfaced when money was involved. “Ah, that’s wonderful, Don. We have a stunning selection, certified and rare. How soon would you like to see them? We can bring them to you, or you can come to us. Whatever suits you best.”
“Tonight.”
Another pause. “Like… tonight?” he stammered. “Don, it’s past midnight. How about tomorrow morning, first thing? I’ll have the full collection displayed…”
“I’ll be at your store in twenty minutes.” I changed lanes, cutting off a car that had the nerve to be in my way. “I know your house is about a fifteen–minute walk from there. I’ve been there before, remember?”
“Don, you see, the thing is, tomorrow morning would really be…‘
>>
“Twenty minutes, Rossi.”
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
