Chapter 3

“I’m selling myself to you.” My voice rings clear through the room. If I didn’t have Dante’s attention before, I have it now. He stares me down as he waits for me to elaborate.

It tells me he’s not a man of many words. His piercing gray eyes hold mine and it takes everything in me not to lower my eyes. I hold my head a little higher, my back straighter. I explain to him as concisely as I can about my escape from the Regis family and how Serafino Regis now owns me and my sister. “Buy me and save me from death.” 

Dante merely scoffs at my declaration. “Why should I save you? I’m no hero, girl. You’ve stepped into a dragon’s den on your own and now, you’re committing yourself to me? Do you know what that means?” 

I’m taken aback by his voice, deep and low.  He reminds me of a predator, cold and calculating, waiting for the perfect show of weakness before he lunges at his prey.

Impeccably dressed, in a designer white button-down shirt and black pants, he seems like a man who wouldn’t do anything without expecting something in return. 

Slowly, he rounds the large mahogany table and makes his way to me. I stand frozen, not knowing what to do. I don’t know what he wants me to say. 

My eyes track his movements, graceful and lightfooted. His footsteps were barely audible on the hardwood floors; a common and effective assassination technique. Yet not many are able to execute it to perfection.

Is this what it feels like to stare at death? Earlier, as Serafino’s bodyguards pointed their loaded guns at me, I felt fear but this is totally different. Under this man’s scrutiny, I’m trembling in fear.

Dante stops in front of me, hands in his pockets. He looks relaxed but I know he would be able to deflect any blow should anyone attack him right now. Suddenly the air is too thin and the temperature is too cold. The power this man radiates can’t be contained in this room. The room felt as if it were shrinking, proof of how his presence is suffocating.

I can’t take it, his aura is forcing me to submit. I lower my eyes as he crowds my personal space.

“You’re afraid.” He comments, and he’s not wrong. “You should be.”

I can’t speak, frozen where I stand. Dante circles me like a hawk as it circles its prey before it attacks. I don’t budge, fighting the urge to cower before him. I can’t falter now. “You’re right,” I say, not taking my eyes off his shoes, too afraid to meet his eyes. “I am scared. I don’t know what it means to sell myself to you but I don’t care. The only thing I care about right now is staying alive.”

Dante chuckles at my answer, “What makes you so sure, I won’t kill you? Your name is already smeared. Why would I want to keep a lady of the Atwood family?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” comes Luca’s reply. I didn’t realize he was still in the room. Being too focused on Dante, I belatedly realize we’re not alone. 

That interruption earns him a glare from Dante. He whispers a warning and I feel the anger radiating off him. He doesn’t like being interrupted. I make mental note of it, don’t speak unless spoken to. 

“Answer me, woman.” Dante’s anger translates perfectly in his tone. Hearing his voice forces my eyes back to his, which is a mistake because his eyes are boring into mine, demanding and forceful.

“Because it’s me,” I say matter-of-factly to which he smirks, but I need to bank on this. “If you refuse, Serafino Regis will find me and kill me, or probably do something worse. And I’m sure you know I’m worth more alive than dead. You can use me, I can help you.”

“I’m listening.” Dante leans back on the massive desk, arms crossing in front of his chest. “Let’s say I agree to this, to buying you, what’s in it for me?”

His eyes bore into mine as he waits for my answer. “You would have a powerful ally. Another weapon in your arsenal.”

Dante stares at me, weighing my response. He hums as he moves from the desk and walks back to his chair. I can’t lose his interest now, so I keep talking. “The Atwood name may be worth nothing now, but that doesn't mean I’m useless. I’m still of value. ”

“That’s true,” I turn around to face Luca who just spoke. “What? I’m just saying,” he adds with a big shrug as if he’d just said the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Get out.”

“Fine. Sorry, Boss.” Luca says as he opens the door. He winks at me before he closes it behind him.

Luca is amazing. It makes me wonder how close they are that Dante allows the former to speak to him like that. If he’s Dante’s good friend, it would suck to be on his bad side.

Now that I’m alone with Dante, I feel the pressure double. I’m selling myself to a ruthless man. I don’t know what will happen if he agrees but whatever horrors await me here will be worth my freedom. 

I anxiously wait for Dante to speak, and he doesn’t for a long time. He just watches me from where he’s seated in his leather chair. His eyes study me, from head to toe and truthfully it’s making me self-conscious. 

I try not to squirm under his gaze but the silence is killing me. If this is a test, I doubt I’d pass. I’m still bloodied with my parents’ blood, and covered in dirt and debris. I scratch at my stiff jeans of the dried blood to distract myself as I push the tears that attempt to surface. 

When Dante speaks next, I’m surprised by the tone of his voice. He speaks low, but there’s a subtle hint of amusement there.  “There’s something I desperately need, Miss Atwood and I think you can help me get it.” 

Hope flares in me, whatever he needs, if it’s within my power I would do it. “If you buy my freedom from Serafino, I swear I will serve you until you deem my purpose through.”

“Oh?”

With newfound confidence I step closer to him, willing him to feel my sincerity. “The Regis family will pay for what they’ve done. I will do anything to save my sister, and I will stop at nothing until I have Serafino Regis groveling at my feet begging me to stop as I make him bleed.”

“Bloodthirsty. I like it.” Dante’s voice brings me back from the dark place my mind has wandered to. “Alright, Miss Atwood. I’ll bite.”