Chapter 5 - Dangerous Curiosities
The corridor was dimly lit by wall sconces, casting long, wavering shadows against the rough stone walls.
"You have a death wish," Dante said, though there was no real anger in his voice—only a tense, guarded frustration. "Coming down here puts you in the middle of a war zone."
"This entire estate is a war zone," Jamaima retorted, pulling her arm back gently from his grip, though she didn't step away. "And I'm tired of being kept in the dark, Dante. If Vincent Salvatore is coming after me, or after us, I have a right to know what I'm walking into. My uncles didn't just sell me off to a husband; they traded me to a syndicate. I deserve to know the terms."
Dante stared at her, genuinely surprised by the steel beneath her fragile exterior. For weeks, he had expected a timid, weeping girl who would hide behind silk curtains and cry into her pillows. Instead, he had found a woman who marched down into a subterranean syndicate war room without flinching.
"Terms," Dante repeated softly, a humorless smile touching his lips. "You think this is a business negotiation?"
"Isn't it?" she challenged. "An arranged marriage between two rival families to secure peace. That's a business deal written in blood."
"It was supposed to be," Dante murmured, taking a step closer. The dim light caught the sharp angles of his face, softening the terrifying edge of his reputation. "A piece of paper to keep the Valenti dogs from biting our ankles while we dealt with bigger threats. But nobody told me my new wife would have a sharp tongue and a habit of walking in on me in the shower."
Jamaima felt a hot flush rise to her cheeks at the reminder of their first meeting. "That was an accident. The doors in this house are confusing."
"Was it?" Dante’s hand reached out, his knuckles lightly brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead. His touch was warm, impossibly gentle for a man who had orders to kill sitting on his desk inside. "Or were you looking for a way out of your cage?"
"I was looking for the library," she whispered, her breath hitching as his thumb traced the curve of her cheekbone.
"The library," Dante repeated, his voice dropping an octave, becoming a low, gravelly hum that sent shivers racing down her spine. "I'll show you the library tomorrow. Every shelf of it. But right now, you need to go back upstairs. The men are edgy, and Salvatore's attack tonight changes things. We move fast, and we move hard."
"What are you going to do?" she asked, her eyes searching his face for any sign of mercy.
"What I always do," Dante replied, his dark eyes hardening once more into obsidian stone. "I protect what's mine. And nobody touches my wife."
May you like
Before she could process the weight of those words, the heavy steel door of the war room clicked open, and Marcus stepped out, holding a secure encrypted tablet.
"Boss, we got a ping from the primary server," Marcus said, pausing when he saw Jamaima standing close to Dante. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh... Salvatore just sent an encrypted video file to our main terminal. He wants to talk."
