"You won't be trapped." His voice was absolute, like he was making a decree the universe had to obey. "You're Mrs. Taviani because you chose it. Because you decided that power matters more than freedom.Because you realized that sometimes the only way to be untouchable is to stand beside someone equally untouchable."
I pulled back to look at him, and his icy blue eyes were unreadable.
"And what about the part where I could destroy you?" I asked. "Where I could take everything you've built and burn it?"
"I'm counting on it," he said softly. "I need a wife who could destroy me. Anything less would bore me."
He kissed me slowly, and I tasted the truth underneath the words—that he was as trapped as I was now, that the ring on my finger bound us equally, that we were both standing at the edge of something neither of us could control or escape.
The fake marriage had already become something terrifyingly real.
CHAPTER 15
Dante
The message came through encrypted channels at 6:47 a.m.
I was in the gym, working through a heavy bag like it owed me money, when Marcos appeared with his phone. He didn't need to speak. The look on his face told me everything.
"The Castellano crew," Marcos said, already pulling up data on his tablet. "They're making a move. Calculated. Deliberate."
I stopped mid-punch, my knuckles still pressed against the bag's worn leather. Sweat dripped down my chest. My breathing came heavy, controlled.
"Details."
“Intercepted chatter suggests they're targeting the charity event. The one Julietta's attending in two hours." He swiped through screens, cross-referencing intel. "They want to send a message aboutthe marriage, destabilize the Altieri alliance before it takes root. The timeline suggests coordination with someone inside—”
My jaw tightened. The charity event was a calculated move—public appearance, plenty of witnesses, proof that the marriage was legitimate and that Julietta was secure. Strategic. Smart. Necessary.
And now a liability.
"How many men?"
"At least six confirmed. Possibly eight."
I unwrapped my hands slowly, methodically, letting the rage settle into something cold and purposeful. This was the business. People died when alliances shifted. People bled when territory threatened to realign.
But not my wife.
"Pull her from the event," I said.
"She won't like that."
"I don't care if she likes it."
Marcos hesitated—he knew me well enough to recognize when I was lying. I cared exactly how much she liked it. But I cared more about keeping her breathing.
"I'll inform her," he said.
Julietta was in the library, reviewing quarterly reports for the trafficking operation when I found her. She looked up from the laptop, already sensing something had shifted in the air between us.
"The event is cancelled," I said.
"Why?"
"Security threat."
She closed the laptop with deliberate slowness. "Dante."
