Twisted Loyalty

Chapter 28: Unforgivable

Dante

The crowd around me hums with idle conversation, the noise of clinking glasses and murmured power plays filling the air. I stand at the edge of it, pretending to listen to a group of businessmen droning on about some deal or another, but my mind is elsewhere. My eyes keep scanning the room, flicking back to where Sienna was supposed to be with Nico. I had to handle some quick business, but I can't shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at me.

Then I see them.

Nico moving through the crowd, Sienna by his side.

Immediately, I can tell something's wrong.

Sienna's head is down, her shoulders tense, her steps shaky. Nico has that look—calm on the outside, but simmering with anger just beneath the surface. He's leading her toward me, his expression tight, his gaze flicking toward me with a seriousness that makes my gut tighten.

I excuse myself from the conversation without a word, my eyes never leaving them as I cross the room. The moment I reach them, I know this isn't just nerves or the weight of the night getting to her. This is something more. Something bad.

Nico catches my eye, his jaw clenched. "We need to talk," he says, his voice low, but there's a dangerous edge to it. The kind of edge that tells me if it were up to him, there'd already be bodies.

I look down at Sienna, her face pale, her eyes darting between Nico and me like she's trying to keep herself together. But I can see the cracks in her composure, the slight tremor in her hands as she presses them together. My chest tightens, a knot of anger starting to twist inside me.

"Let's talk somewhere quieter," Nico suggests, his hand resting protectively on Sienna's back.

I nod sharply and guide them away from the crowd, toward a small alcove at the edge of the room, where we're mostly shielded from prying eyes and ears. The moment we're away from the chaos, I turn to Nico, but before I can ask again, Sienna speaks.

"My father," she says, her voice barely a whisper, but the weight of those two words is enough to make my blood run cold.

"What about him?" I ask, my jaw clenching as I step closer to her.

Sienna looks down at her arm, and my eyes follow. There, wrapped around her forearm, is the faint outline of bruises—finger-shaped bruises. Luca's bruises. My blood turns to fire.

"He... he grabbed me," Sienna continues, her voice shaking, though she's trying to stay strong. "He threatened me. Said I'd regret this. Said I belonged to him."

The words hit me like a sledgehammer, but it's the look in her eyes that sends a wave of fury through my entire body. The fear, the hurt—she's never seen Luca like that before. I can tell. She's shaken, and she's trying to hide it, but I can see right through it.

Nico steps forward, his voice low and steady, though I can hear the anger beneath it. "I walked in just after he let her go. He downplayed the whole thing, tried to act like it was nothing. But he's losing it, Dante. He's not thinking straight."

My hands curl into fists, my knuckles turning white as I struggle to keep myself in check. Every instinct in me is screaming to tear Luca apart, to end him for putting his hands on her, for thinking he could control her like this.

"He grabbed you?" I ask, my voice dangerously calm, but the rage beneath it is barely contained. I don't even realize I'm stepping closer to her until I'm towering over her, my gaze locked on the bruise marring her skin. "He hurt you?"

Sienna nods, her eyes meeting mine, and I can see the pain there, the fear she's trying so hard to keep hidden. But she's strong, standing her ground, even now. That only makes me want to protect her more.