Chapter 4 Four

The car rolled back onto the road, tires whispering against asphalt slick with dew and blood. The night swallowed the evidence of what had just happened, but the metallic tang still clung to the air, heavy and undeniable.

Seraphina's hands itched to wipe away the glass dust still clinging to her skin, but she forced them still. The silence between them was oppressive. He hadn't spoken again since the question, and the sound of the engine droning steady felt louder than it should have.

Why is Dante's wife running from him?

The words still hung in the cabin like smoke. She didn't answer yet. Not until she understood what kind of man she was bargaining with.

She shifted slightly in her seat, eyes flicking to him. For the first time, she allowed herself to really look.

Kael wasn't just lethal- he was arresting in a way that made it difficult to breathe. Shadows cut along the sharp edges of his face, high cheekbones carved like stone, a strong jaw roughened with a day's growth of stubble. His mouth was firm, made for command, not softness, though something about the curve of it whispered temptation against her better judgment. His hair was raven-dark, close-cropped at the sides but longer at the top, unruly strands brushing his brow as though they defied being tamed.

But it was his eyes when they shifted toward her that rooted her to the seat. A vivid, cutting green- like polished emerald under glass, sharp enough to flay her where she sat. They were alive in a way she hadn't expected, dangerous but... watching. Always watching.

Even the way he sat radiated danger: broad shoulders relaxed as if the fight hadn't even registered, hands steady on the wheel, veins roping lightly beneath the skin. His black shirt stretched across lean, coiled muscle, the kind of body that wasn't bulk for vanity, but honed for speed, power, efficiency. A predator's build.

Seraphina tore her gaze away, furious at herself.

Really, Sera? You just watched him execute seven men without blinking.

And yet, her pulse still jumped when his eyes cut to her.

"Still waiting on that answer, princess" Kael said at last. His voice was quiet, but it carried weight, like thunder heard from miles away.

Her spine stiffened. She could lie. She'd spent years lying to Dante to survive, weaving her words like silk, careful and precise. But Kael didn't strike her as a man easily deceived. One wrong note and he'd know.

She turned her head toward the dark blur of trees rushing by. "Because being Dante's wife," she said softly, "is a sentence worse than death."

Silence. Then the faintest huff, sharp as a blade. "That's not an answer. That's a sentiment."

She turned back met his eyes on the rearview mirror. "Because Dante decided the only way to secure his empire was to erase mine. He was going to kill my family- every last one of them- and then me. Slowly. Brutally. I heard him give the order myself." Her voice sharpened, steel slipping past the silk. "So I ran. I wasn't about to let him win. I wanted to take my power back."

She let the silence linger, then tilted her chin, matching his stare.

"Besides," she said softly, with a razor's edge under it, "I already told you all this before. You know why I ran. The real question is-" she leaned in, her voice daring him to flinch, "why did you save me? You had every chance to slit my throat and leave me in that car. Dante would've paid you handsomely for it. So why didn't you?"

For the first time, Kael's mask shifted. Not much- just a flicker across his face, like a ripple on still water. But she saw it.

He lit a cigarette, the flame briefly bathing his features in orange light, and exhaled smoke into the cabin, letting it coil lazily between them. His voice came low, roughened like gravel dragged over steel.

"Maybe I don't like taking orders."

"You're an assassin," Seraphina shot back.

Green fire cut toward her. She felt it like a blade pressed to her skin. "Careful, sweetheart. Push too hard, and you'll find out just how thin my mercy runs."

Her pulse stuttered- but she didn't pull back. Didn't cower. Instead, she leaned against the seat, lips curving faintly. "Then admit it. You spared me because you hate the fact that Dante owns you. Just like he owned me."

His jaw worked, slow and deliberate. Smoke ghosted past his mouth before he flicked ash into the tray.

"You're not wrong," Kael said finally. "But don't mistake my choice for charity. I saved you because you're useful. Nothing more."

"Useful," she echoed, tasting the word. "So that's what I am now. A tool?"

"A bargaining chip," he corrected smoothly. "Dante's men will come again. And again. The fact you're still breathing will definitely piss him off. I like that."

Her laugh was short and bitter. "So I'm bait then."

Kael's gaze slid back to her, green eyes glittering with something unreadable. "Not just bait. You said you had information. If you're telling the truth, then maybe you're worth more alive than dead."

Her hand curled into a fist on her thigh. There it is. The hook. The opening.

She straightened, meeting him head-on, the steel in her voice unmistakable. "Then let's make a deal. You keep me alive. I give you everything I know. Names. Routes. Numbers. Enough to carve Dante open from the inside out."

Kael's expression didn't shift, but she felt the air in the car change-charged, electric. His silence wasn't dismissal anymore; it was calculation.

Finally, he stubbed the cigarette out, movements precise. His green eyes locked onto hers, sharp enough to strip her bare.

"You live," Kael said, verdict falling like a gavel. "For now."

The words sliced through the space between them, final and merciless.

But Seraphina didn't look away. Couldn't let him think he'd won.

"Good," she murmured, her lips curving in a shadow of defiance. "Because I'm not done yet."

Not even close.