The thought makes my stomach twist so violently I nearly gag.
So I say nothing on the ride home. Not a word.
Alessandro sits beside me, thigh pressed to mine, hand on my knee, thumb drawing protective circles on my skin—but I can’t feel any of it.
Not really. My mind won’t stop screaming.
What if Dante ends the alliance?
What if Alessandro agrees?
What if this is the moment he looks at me and finally sees the burden I’ve always been?
When we get home, I walk straight upstairs—straight into our room—and sit at the edge of the bed like I’m bracing for an execution.
“Dove,” Alessandro says behind me, voice thick with worry. “What’s going on?”
I shake my head, pulling away when he reaches for me.
He doesn’t let me. He catches my wrist—gentle but immovable—and turns me toward him.
“Elena,” he murmurs, face tightening when he sees my tears. “If your father upset you this much, I’ll handle it.”
That is the wrong thing to say. The wrong thing. Something inside me snaps, sharp and painful.
“I CAN’T LOSE YOU!” I scream, voice shattering in the air between us. “You don’t understand—I can’t—”
He steps back, shocked as I keep going, the dam breaking wide open.
“You made me feel wanted. You made me feel like more than a pretty object. More than something my parents displayed like a vase to make the Bratva look polished. I can’t go back to being nothing—”
“Elena,” he says sharply, pulling me closer, but I shove at his chest, frantic.
“What if Dante wants to void the marriage? What if he thinks I’m a liability? What if he—”
Alessandro…laughs.
Actually laughs.
I freeze, betrayal slicing through me like a blade.
“Are you—are you laughing at me?” I choke out.
He steps forward, crowding me until my back hits the wall and he cages me in with his arms.
But his expression—His expression is the one that makes grown men drop to their knees.
Dark.
Possessive.
Unholy.
“Dove,” he says, voice low and lethal, “if anyone—anyone—ever tried to take you from me?” He leans in, breath brushing my lips, his eyes a storm I could drown in. “I would fucking destroy them.”
My heart stutters.
He presses his forehead to mine. “I would burn the world to the fucking ground before I ever left you.”
