. . .
DANTE
The arena was large and filled with every luxury that could fit in the place. The walls were lined with bars, and the waitress walked around the place, serving drinks. Conversation and alcohol flowed. In the middle was the cage.
It was larger than the one we had. It was the only object illuminated by light; the rest of the arena was dark. Something that didn't sit well with me, especially when I knew no innocent man was around me,
Giovanni was beside me. Fabiano was in Italy, handling business. At least one Valentino had to be in Italy.
Here was the world's true power: the men who ran the world from the shadows.
I spotted arms dealers, people from the triad, and the Spanish mafia. I spotted Luca and his brother, Cassian, talking to Elliot Monet.
Elliot fucking Monet
I ripped my eyes away from him before I smashed his head into something. "They aren't here," I said to Giovanni.
"They'll make an entry soon enough," said Luca as he approached with his brother. Giovanni's eyes lingered on Cassian, his intentions clear on his face. Cassian grinned in return. I shook my head.
"No bloodshed on the first day," I said. "We need to show a united front; the Valentino mafia and Camorra are at peace with each other."
Luca shrugged. "If you want to fight, get in the cage."
"You wouldn't mourn your brother?" Giovanni smirked, his knife glinting.
"You'd both die," I said. "Because I'd shoot you."
The doors opened, and I watched as they walked in. Zavier and Ashton Creed
"Fun," said Cassian. "Are you going to kill them?"
I frowned. I hadn't thought about it. I had plans to kill ten men here already and was still deciding if Elliot would join the list.
"If we have to," Giovanni said, shrugging.
. . .
LILY
Teddy Baby soaked my tears for the next few days; if he were alive, he'd have drowned himself. I spent the days in my bed, now unable to write a single word. I just looked at the picture of him and her, a beautiful ring on her finger, and them standing together. They looked beautiful together.
I always knew Dante wasn't mine to keep, but I had let myself get too swept away by whatever had been between us. But he wasn't going to put his life on hold just because mine was. He was marrying a beautiful woman—a woman that he had been seeing behind my back. Or I was the one he had been seeing behind her back. I didn't know.
I almost didn't want to know.
My heart had been shattered many times through the years, but this was my first romantic heartbreak, and this hurt on another level. My whole body, everywhere he had touched, felt dirty. I wanted to scrub his touch away, but my body was not the only thing he had touched.
He had touched my heart—a lot more than any man ever had. His marks were on it, and I didn't know how to scrub them away.
The ship was quiet. Many people went to the arena where the fights were taking place. Elliot had asked me if I wanted to accompany him, and I had said no instantly.
I didn't know if I could ever face Dante again.
I pressed my phone to my ear.
"Sebastian says it's an arranged marriage," said Henry soothingly. "He is marrying her to decrease the uproar caused by his brothers announcing their engagement to Leyla."
"He could have told me."
"Yeah. And you wouldn't have allowed yourself to get attached to a man promised to another."
"Exactly!" I said. "All of this heartache could have been avoided. Why didn't he tell me?" I mostly asked myself.
"Sebastian says he doesn't like her," he said. "Maybe he wanted one last hurrah before getting tied down?"
"He is a mafia man. He can have hurrahs his whole life. Divorce isn't even a thing in his mafia."
"You're right," he said. "Are you going to meet him?"
"Hell no." I made random lines on the page of my journal. "I don't want to see his face again."
"He has a pretty face."
"He is the most handsome man I have ever seen," I admitted. "And he..." I gulped. "He was so nice."
I could almost see the gentle smile on Henry's face—the smile he gave me whenever he tried to calm me down. "I know, Lily. You always fall for the devilish gentleman."
I laughed. "I was vulnerable, and he was just there, my knight in shining Armani."
"Isolation must have heightened whatever you felt for him, you know? I think it will pass in a few days. He was just a dick with a good dick."
"I didn't say he has a good dick."
"You didn't have to. I've seen him."
I smiled, sniffling. "I hope he... is happy with her, you know? He has this sadness inside of him, this chaos in his frozen eyes. I hope she notices that too.
"You're going to make me cry." He sniffled. "He is a dumbfuck for letting you go."
"I'm a dumbfuck for thinking he wouldn't."
. . .
DANTE
"I thought you quit smoking," Ashton said from behind me. I turned, watching the blond dissolve in the darkness. I held the thin stick to my lips, letting the smoke fill my system.
"Are you going to kill me?" I asked instead of answering, smoke escaping my lips.
"Killing you in a parking lot?" He chuckled. "That's the least interesting way. When you get killed you, it'll be interesting."
When.
I smiled. "We were surprised. We hadn't expected an invitation."
"There wasn't going to be one," he said. "Till I found out about the whore you've been fucking."
I resisted the urge to burn his eye out with my cigarette and took another drag. "Lily?"
"She killed Kylie."
"Pity," I said.
"It is," Ashton said softly. "I will make sure Samuel sends you whatever remains of her when he's done with her."
"That's generous."
"He will kill you next."
"I've been waiting for him," I said. "Don't have a scratch on me yet."
"He will come, my brothers and I will join him when he finally captures you. I know what makes you break," said Ashton softly, finally stepping into the light. His glasses glinted. "You're a dead man walking."
"Call him," I said. "He can kill me."
Ashton smirked. "As I said, it will be interesting." And then he walked away, disappearing in the darkness.
I crushed the cigarette on my palm, barely noticing the sting.
