Chapter 5 Between two monsters

Chapter 5 Between Two Monsters

​"You look beautiful when you're destroying a man," Dante murmured.

​They were in the back of the Rolls Royce, the scent of Silas's defeat still clinging to the air. Dante's hand was a heavy weight on Elena's thigh, his thumb tracing slow, possessive circles that made her breath hitch.

​"I didn't destroy him," Elena said, her eyes cold as she stared at the city passing by. "I just took back what he stole. Now, I want him to watch me thrive while he rots."

​Dante pulled her closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. "And you think using me is the way to do that? You think I don't see the way you look at me? You're using my shadow to hide your own darkness."

​"Does it matter?" Elena turned her head, her nose inches from his. "You bought me to win a war. I'm giving you the victory."

​Dante's eyes flared with something hotter than business. He didn't want a victory anymore; he wanted the woman. "I didn't buy you for a war, Elena. I bought you because four years ago, I let you walk away with that pathetic excuse for a man. I've spent every night since then imagining this moment."

​He didn't wait for her to respond. He crushed his mouth against hers, a kiss that wasn't a request-it was a reclamation.

​The Uninvited Guest

​When they arrived at Dante's secondary penthouse-the one directly across from Silas's now-seized building-the lobby was in chaos.

​Silas was there.

​He looked disheveled, his expensive tie pulled loose, his eyes bloodshot and wild. Security was holding him back, but the moment he saw Elena, he let out a guttural roar.

​"ELENA! Look at me!"

​Dante's grip on Elena's waist tightened to a bruising level. His entire body went rigid, radiating a lethal intent. "Ignore him," Dante hissed.

​But Elena didn't ignore him. She stopped. She pulled away from Dante's hold and walked toward the man who had treated her like a slave for three years.

​"Silas," she said, her voice like ice. "You're trespassing on Vane property."

​"Trespassing?" Silas laughed, a jagged, broken sound. He lunged forward, the security guards barely catching him. "I don't care about the building, Elena! I don't care about the company! You're mine. Do you hear me? You belong to me! I don't care what papers I signed-I'll kill him before I let him keep you!"

​"You had three years to keep me, Silas," Elena said, stepping close enough to smell the desperate whiskey on his breath. She reached out, straightening his crooked tie with a mocking tenderness. "You traded me for a bailout. Remember? You put a price tag on my head. Dante just happened to be the one with the biggest wallet."

​"I'll get it back! I'll win it all back!" Silas's obsession was naked now, stripped of his usual arrogance. He looked like a man starving for the very air she breathed. "I'll crawl for you, Elena. Just come back. I'll let you ruin me, just don't let him touch you!"

​Dante appeared behind Elena, his presence like a dark curtain falling over the scene. He wrapped an arm around her neck, his fingers splayed across her collarbone in a silent show of absolute ownership.

​"She's already been touched, Silas," Dante rasped, his eyes locking onto his rival's with a sickening triumph. "She was touched in the car. She was touched in my bed. And she'll be touched again the moment we go upstairs. Every inch of her skin now knows the difference between a boy and a man."

​Silas let out a scream of pure agony, fighting the guards with a renewed, frantic strength. "I'll kill you, Vane! I'll burn this city down with both of you in it!"

​Elena didn't flinch. She leaned back into Dante's chest, looking Silas right in the eye. "Good luck, Silas. You're going to need it. You're broke, you're alone, and your mistress is already calling Dante's office for a job."

​She turned her back on him, walking toward the elevator with Dante.

​

​As the elevator doors closed on Silas's fading screams, the silence inside the gold-plated car was suffocating.

​Dante didn't let go of her. He pinned her against the back wall, his hands shaking slightly-not with fear, but with a jealous rage so intense it was terrifying.

​"You enjoyed that," Dante growled, his face inches from hers. "You enjoyed seeing him beg for you."

​"I enjoyed the justice," Elena shot back, her eyes flashing.

​"Was it justice? Or were you making sure he still wanted you?" Dante gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Tell me the truth, Elena. Are you using me to make him jealous? Are you waiting for him to 'save' you?"

​Elena reached up, gripping Dante's wrists. She wasn't the weak girl anymore. "Silas is a ghost, Dante. But if you keep acting like him-if you keep trying to cage me with your insecurity-then you're no better than he was. I chose to get in your car. Don't make me regret it."

​Dante froze. For the first time, the "Beast" looked vulnerable. He let out a ragged breath, his forehead dropping onto hers.

​"I can't let him have you back," Dante whispered, his voice raw with a sudden, desperate obsession. "I've waited too long. I'll destroy the world before I let you go back to him."

​"Then show me," Elena challenged, her voice dropping to a low, seductive lure. "Show me that you're the one who deserves to own the debt."

​Dante didn't hesitate. He swept her up, the elevator doors opening into the penthouse as he carried her toward the bedroom, his obsession turning into a fire that threatened to consume them both.