Chapter 3 Being watched

Mandy walked fast, heels in her hand, keys gripped between her knuckles, the streets were nearly empty, the usual hum of the city replaced by a quiet too thick to be comfortable.

She glanced behind her. Nothing.

Still... the hairs on her arms stood up, she wasn't imagining it.

Someone was there.

She turned the corner quickly, cutting through a narrow alley she normally avoided. Her footsteps echoed louder than usual.

So did someone else's.

Mandy stopped, the other steps stopped too.

She whipped around, no one.

She spun back, and froze.

A man in a hoodie stood at the mouth of the alley, shadowed by the dim streetlight behind him.

Not moving, just watching.

Her breath caught.

"Hey!" she barked, trying to sound tougher than she felt. "Back the fuck off!"

No answer.

She started backing away, fast, the man didn't follow... but he didn't leave either.

She reached the street, heart pounding, and ran.

When she got to her apartment door, she fumbled with the keys, shoved inside, and slammed the deadbolt.

Her phone buzzed. One new text.

Unknown Number: You should be more careful walking alone.

Her stomach dropped.

No name, no emoji, just the words.

She didn't sleep that night.

***

Back at the Strip Club Just After Closing

Mandy had just changed out of her costume and was stuffing her shoes into her bag when she heard it.

Boots, heavy ones, getting closer.

She looked up, and froze.

Dante.

Black coat, cold stare, no words.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, already reaching for her pepper spray.

"Put that down," he said, voice calm. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"You broke into my apartment," she snapped.

"I let myself in."

"Same difference!"

He took one step forward. "I tried walking away, I can't."

"You've got issues, man."

"That's rich, coming from a girl who left claw marks on my back."

Mandy flushed. "That was a mistake."

He didn't argue, ust tilted his head.

"You're coming with me."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

Before she could move, his hand wrapped around her wrist. Not rough, but firm. Unbreakable.

"Let go of me!" she yelled.

He didn't. Instead, he looked her in the eye. "Either you come quietly, or I throw you over my shoulder and make a scene. Your choice."

They arrived at a High-Rise Penthouse 20 Minutes Later

Mandy stood barefoot in the center of a sleek, all-glass living room, eyes blazing. She had stopped fighting after the second locked door and a silent elevator ride that went too far up to be casual.

"What is this place?" she snapped.

"My place," Dante said, tossing his coat over a chair. "One of them."

She paced, arms folded tight. "You seriously kidnapped me. You realize that's a felony?"

"You're not in danger here."

"Oh, right, this is just a little light abduction."

He poured a drink, calm like he hadn't just dragged her across the city. "You've been looking over your shoulder all night."

She stopped, her throat tightened. "How do you know that?"

He looked at her. "Because I've been watching."

Her stomach dropped.

"So it was you," she hissed. "That text, the guy in the alley-"

"No." His voice cut clean through her panic.

"No?" she repeated. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I saw you panicking. I followed you home after that."

"Why?" Her voice cracked. "Why not just let me go?"

He stepped closer, jaw tight. "Because someone else is watching you, Mandy, and they're not playing games."

She blinked. "You're lying."

"I don't lie," he said simply. "Not when it comes to danger."

Her chest rose and fell. "You swear it wasn't you?"

"I don't sneak around in alleys," Dante said. "If I wanted to be in your life, I'd take the damn door off its hinges."

She stared at him, pulse loud in her ears.

And that's when she saw it, the flicker.

From the look on his face, he didn't look sure.

Mandy moved to stand by the window, arms folded, staring out at the glittering skyline. Dante was behind her, silent, watching.

"I told you to let me go," she said, voice cold.

"I told you I couldn't."

She spun. "You can't just drag me here and expect me to, what? Fall into bed with you again?"

His eyes darkened, slow and deliberate. "No."

"Good."

"I expect you to want to."

Mandy's lips parted. "You're so full of yourself-"

He crossed the room in three long steps and pinned her gaze. His hand slipped to her jaw, thumb brushing her lower lip.

"I haven't stopped thinking about the way you taste," he murmured. "The way you sound."

Mandy swallowed hard, heart pounding.

"I don't-"

"Liar."

She shoved his chest. He didn't budge.

"I should slap you."

"You should," he said, voice low. "But you won't."

Mandy's breath hitched. Her body was already betraying her-heat curling low, tension winding tighter than it had any right to.

"Say no," he said. "Say the word, and I'll stop."

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Instead, her hand gripped his shirt. She pulled him in. Their mouths crashed, hot, desperate, clashing teeth and tongues. He backed her into the glass, hands everywhere, under her shirt, around her thighs, sliding up.

She gasped as his fingers found her heat through her panties, stroking slow, then rougher.

"Dante-"

"You're soaked," he growled, biting at her jaw.

Mandy moaned, hips arching, her fingers threaded into his hair, she wanted him, goodness help her, she wanted him.

He had her leg hooked around his waist, her body pressed against the window, his mouth on her neck and just as his hand slipped past her waistband-

Bang.

The door swung open.

"Boss, sorry, but it's urgent."

Dante didn't move, his hand still inside her clothes. His eyes burned into the man standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Mandy's breath came in ragged bursts, her body on fire.

The man cleared his throat. "You need to see this, now."

Dante held Mandy's gaze a second longer. Then slowly, reluctantly, he pulled back.

"I'll be back," he said, voice like gravel.

Mandy stayed where she was, trembling, panting, lips swollen and jaw clenched.

And completely unsatisfied.