Chapter 108: Saving Her
Dante’s POV
The moment her hand moved, I lunged. I didn’t waste a second or stop to consider the consequences. My protective instinct rose so fast it drowned everything else out, and all that mattered was reaching her, stopping her, closing the space between us in a heartbeat.
I grabbed her wrist with one hand. My other hand slid under the blade before I even understood what I was doing. The edge scraped across my palm.
A sharp pain shot through my palm. Blood welled up fast, spilling over my fingers, but I didn’t let go. I couldn’t. I held her wrist tighter, forcing the blade away from her skin as red drops fell, one after another, hitting the ground with small, wet sounds.
Her eyes went wide. Her breath stilled. She didn’t pull back or fight me. She just stared, shaken, confused, stunned that I stepped in.
I yanked the blade out of her shaking fingers and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and dropped.
Her whole face was drained of color.
“Oh my God.” Her voice broke. “You’re bleeding. Dante, you’re…”
I pushed through the sting. “Leave it.”
“But you’re bleeding…”
“We need to focus on you.”
I dropped her wrist and reached for her face with my other hand, making her look at me instead of the blood. My fingers pressed into her skin, probably too hard, but I needed her to focus. I had to force myself to breathe, to stay in control, because if I didn’t, I’d lose it completely.
“What the hell were you trying to do?”
Tears ran down her face. “Why shouldn’t I…”
“So you’d rather cut your wrist than marry me?”
The words came out rough, not from anger, but because the thought of what she almost did left me shaken. The thought of losing her, knowing she was ready to end her life because of me, was a kind of pain I knew I wouldn’t survive.
“Is that how much of a monster you think I am?”
Her lip shook. “It’s not about you being a monster.” Her breath caught. “I know you hate me…”
“I don’t hate you.”
“Yes, you do!” She tried to pull back, but I held on. “You’ve never said otherwise. Every time I asked, you stayed silent. You never denied it.”
My silence should have told her everything.
But even as the thought crossed my mind, I knew how unfair that was. How could she understand my silence when I’d given her every reason to be afraid? When I’d bought her like she was nothing? When I was about to force her into a marriage she didn’t want and kept her locked in this house?
“My silence should have been enough,” I muttered, even though I knew it was a lie.
She let out a short, broken laugh. “Your silence? That’s what you’re going with?” More tears spilled down her face. “You told me you’d make me pay for my father’s crimes. What was I supposed to think, Dante? You made it sound like you were going to kill me.”
Her voice shook harder. “I spent every day wondering when it would happen. That’s why I…” She swallowed hard. “At least if I
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Chapter 108: Saving Her
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made the choice myself, I wouldn’t have to wait for you to decide when my time was up.”
I stared at her, the room tilting around me.
She thought I was going to kill her. She’d been carrying that fear alone. Night after night. Day after day.
“You thought I’d do that?” My voice dropped to barely a breath. “You really believed that?”
“Yes.” The word came out with a sob. “You said blood for blood. What else was I supposed to think?”
F**k. She didn’t get it.
When I said blood for blood, I meant Lorenzo. Not her. Never her.
And the fact that she twisted it into that…
The fact she truly believed I wanted her gone. It hit somewhere deep, a place I didn’t even want to look at.
“Gianna.” I made myself speak slowly, carefully, because if I didn’t, I’d start yelling and make this worse. “You’re smart. Think for a second. If I wanted your life, I wouldn’t be asking you to marry me. I wouldn’t be ready to go against my family for you.”
She drew in a shaky breath and looked away, refusing to let the words in. “Don’t twist this. I know you need this marriage to carry out your revenge plans. Don’t act like it’s something noble. Don’t make it sound like something a man does for the woman he loves.”
Her voice faded on that last word, like she didn’t believe she deserved it.
I swallowed hard. She still didn’t understand.
“I’ve had countless opportunities since I brought you to my home. Every single day. And I didn’t take any of them. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head again. “If you’re not going to hurt me, then why keep everything from me? Why let me think the worst?”
The pain in her voice went through me.
She thought I was toying with her, dragging everything out, letting her fall apart while I waited for her to break. But that was never it. I only wanted her to give in, to trust me completely, so she’d never walk away.
“Because it was easier.” The words felt sour in my mouth. “Easier than explaining. Easier than…” I stopped.
“Easier than what?”
I searched her eyes and saw everything she’d been trying to hide, the fear, the confusion, the way her hands wouldn’t stay still. She was shaking, whether from shock or cold or from her desire to know the truth.
I’d kept her in the dark about so much. Never told her why I’d really brought her here. She had no idea how many things I’d done behind her back to keep her safe. No idea that I’d kept her hidden from Selene for as long as I could, because I knew the second my sister–in–law learned about her, she’d want her gone.
Easier than admitting I couldn’t bring myself to hurt her. Easier than admitting that somewhere along the line, she stopped being Lorenzo’s daughter and became mine to protect.
The truth sat on my tongue, but what came out was simpler.
“You’re not going to die, Gianna.” My voice came out firm. “Not by my hand. Not by yours. Not by anyone’s. I will not allow it. Do you understand me?”
She searched my face, trying to find the lie. The trap. Anything that would prove her fear was right.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
Of course she didn’t. Why would she? I’d given her every reason to be scared of me and almost nothing to hold on to.
Chapter 108 Saving Her
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“Then don’t believe me,” I muttered. “But don’t ever try something like that again. Because if you do…”
I stopped. My hands curled tight at my sides.
“What?” she pushed. “What will you do?”
I didn’t have an answer. Lock her away? Watch her every second? Hold on to her so tightly she couldn’t even breathe? The urge to do all consumed every part of me.
“Just don’t,” I managed. “Don’t make me find out.”
“Promise me,” I urged.
“Why do you even care?” Her voice broke, barely holding together. “Why does it matter what I do?”
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