My fiancé. The man who'd tried to rape me when I was sixteen. The man who'd sent me that card.I'm watching, little spitfire.
The man I'd put in the hospital and still had nightmares about.
Cold terror flooded through me. Made my heart race. Made it hard to breathe.
He smiled. Slow and predatory. Like a cat cornering a mouse.
"Hello, little spitfire. Miss me?"
I forced myself to meet his eyes. To not show the fear screaming through every nerve. "Go fuck yourself, Dante."
His smile widened. "There's that fire. I've missed it. Missed you. Did you really think you could run from me? That I'd let you go that easily?"
"I was never yours to let go. The engagement was your arrangement with my father. I never agreed to it."
"You wore my ring for two years. That made you mine." He moved closer. Circled the chair like a predator circling prey. "Running to New York. Hiding with the Vitales. Playing housewith Elio Marino. Did you think I wouldn't find out? Wouldn't come for what's mine?"
"I'm not yours. I'll never be yours."
He stopped in front of me. Reached out and touched my face. I jerked away but couldn't go far. He grabbed my jaw. Forced me to look at him.
"You've always been mine. Since you were a child. You just needed to learn to accept it." His thumb traced my cheekbone. Possessive. Violating. "I tried to teach you gently when you were sixteen. You weren't ready. Fought back. Put me in the hospital. But that was then. You're older now. More mature. Ready to accept your place."
"My place?" I spat the words. "You tried to rape me. I defended myself. That's not fighting back. That's survival."
"You led me on. Accepted my ring when you were fourteen. Let me believe you'd submit. Then attacked me when I tried to claim what was mine." His hand tightened on my jaw. Painful. "That's betrayal, Julian. You betrayed me. Your family paid everyone off. Blamed you. Made me look weak. Do you know what that did to my reputation? How hard I had to work to rebuild after you humiliated me?"
"Good. You deserved worse."
He slapped me. Hard. My head snapped to the side. Pain exploded across my cheek. I tasted blood.
"Watch your mouth." His voice was cold. Dangerous. "You're going to learn respect. Going to learn your place. We're going to finish what we started five years ago. And this time, there's no way to fight back. No one to save you. Just you and me."
He let go of my face. Walked around behind the chair. I couldn't see him but I felt him. Felt his presence like a physical threat.
"Your boyfriend's probably looking for you," Dante said conversationally. "Elio Marino. Head of security for the Vitales.Very competent. Very dangerous. But not smart enough to find you. I've been planning this for weeks. Bought this property through shell companies he'll never trace. Used professional contractors who disappeared the moment they delivered you. There's no trail. No evidence. No way for him to find you."
"He'll find me." My voice was steady even though my heart was racing. "He'll figure it out. And when he does, he's going to kill you."
"Maybe. But that'll take time. Days. Weeks, even. And we have so much to catch up on." His hand touched my shoulder. Slid down my arm. "So much lost time to make up for."
I tried to jerk away. The chair didn't move. His hand stayed on my arm. Possessive. Claiming.
"Don't touch me."
"I'll touch you whenever I want. You're mine, Julian. Have been since you were fourteen. Running didn't change that. Elio Marino didn't change that. Nothing changes the fact that you belong to me."
"I belong to myself. And I chose Elio. I love him. Not you. Never you."
Dante's hand tightened. Bruising. "You'll forget him. After we're done here. After I've reminded you who you really belong to. After I've finished what I started. You'll remember your place."
He walked back around to face me. Looked at me with possession and obsession in equal measure.
"I've waited five years for this. Five years of watching you from a distance. Following your life. Waiting for the right moment. When you ran to New York, I thought I'd lost you. But then your name got leaked. Your face in the papers. Everyone knowing you were with the Vitales. With Elio. That gave me exactly what I needed. A target. A location. An opportunity."
"You're insane."
"I'm persistent. There's a difference." He crouched down in front of me. Eye level. "We're going to be here for a while. Days, probably. Long enough for me to teach you everything you should have learned at sixteen. Long enough for you to accept your place. And then we're leaving. Going somewhere far away. Somewhere your boyfriend can't find us. And you're going to be the perfect lover you should have been all along."
