Chapter 3 Dinner with the Devil

Alina hadn't expected a dinner invitation.

Not from Dante Moretti.

Not after she had spent the entire night plotting how to bring him down.

The sleek black car pulled up outside her apartment before sunset. A man in a dark suit stepped out and opened the door for her.

"Mr. Moretti is expecting you," he said.

"Of course he is," she muttered under her breath, climbing in.

Dante's penthouse sat high above the city, wrapped in glass and silence. No guards inside. No weapons on the table. Just two wine glasses and a rare bottle of Bordeaux waiting beside a perfectly set dinner.

Alina stepped inside like she belonged there. She didn't - but her mission did.

"You live like a ghost," she said.

"I prefer the quiet," Dante replied, walking toward her. "People talk too much when it's loud."

She smirked. "And you listen?"

"I listen to everything."

They sat across from each other. He poured her wine, watched her as she sipped. His eyes never left hers.

"Tell me something true," he said.

Alina tilted her head. "Why should I?"

Dante leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Because I can't read you. And that makes you dangerous."

Dangerous. The word rolled through her veins like fire.

He had no idea how right he was.

"Maybe I'm just shy," she teased, cutting into the steak he'd had prepared for her.

"I don't believe in shy," he replied. "Only secrets."

Halfway through dinner, he asked, "Who are you, really?"

Alina paused.

Her real answer was: I'm the daughter of the man your people murdered.

But what she said was:

"No one special. Just a girl who wandered into your club."

He narrowed his eyes. "A girl who dances like she's been trained... speaks like she's hiding pain... and looks at me like she's hunting something."

Her fork froze in midair.

"You're paranoid," she said coolly.

"I'm alive," he corrected. "There's a difference."

For a moment, they just stared.

The air between them sizzled - not just with tension, but with something deeper. Darker.

"You should be careful with me," she whispered.

Dante's voice dropped to a whisper too. "I don't want careful. I want the truth."

And just like that, her plan cracked a little.

Because she didn't know if she was pretending anymore.

After dinner, he walked her to the elevator.

"No guards, no cameras," she said, glancing around. "You trust me already?"

Dante smiled faintly. "No. But if I don't give you the chance to betray me, how will I know if you're worth keeping around?"

As the elevator doors closed, Alina's heart pounded.

He was dangerous.

But she was more dangerous.

And tomorrow... the game would go deeper.