Natalie’s whole body was tense. Her heart was beating erratically. Dante was on top of her. He silenced her mouth with the palm of his left hand while his right hand opened the nightstand drawer to retrieve a gun.Shots from outside came raining down on the bed. It was so quick and short, as if they just wanted to kill the owner of the bed, and that was it. There was no sound whatsoever.Dante’s expression was cold. His gaze was watchful. The door to the room suddenly opened. He immediately raised his gun.“It’s me!” Alex shouted in the doorway while raising both hands. Natalie, who saw him coming, felt a little relieved. At least she had survived the shooting incident.“Are you guys okay? Is anyone hurt?” Alex asked anxiously.Dante lowered his gun. He closed his eyes as he looked down deeply. “Who are they?” he asked coldly.“Not sure yet. Our men are chasing them,” Alex replied.“Who are they?” Dante asked again, that time looked at Natalie, who was still pale-faced. He gripped her
Dante rushed out of his office and went to his grandfather’s winery on the edge of town. On the way, he called Jayde.“Stop looking for those people. Jayde, go back and help Alex investigate who Alfonso Verga’s henchmen are hiding in our mansion,” Dante ordered Jayde.“So, Don Verga was the one acting up this morning?” Jayde asked.Dante leaned his back casually. The corners of his lips lifted. “Yes, but I think I can take advantage of him. Just do your job. I'll take care of the rest.”“Okay.”“Don’t forget to keep a good eye on Natalie. I wonder if she has any dealings with the Verga family,” Dante added.Jayde immediately replied, “Understood.”Dante finally hung up the phone. He thought back to the text message Alfonso had sent. Why did the old man say he should be careful with the women around him?His suspicions were, of course, on Natalie. Perhaps Alfonso had arranged for Natalie to be by his side. That wasn’t impossible. However, Dante wasn’t so sure. After all, he’d met Natal
After Cicero left, the door was closed again. The room became silent. Roberto chuckled casually as he shook his head. “You’re quite tolerant of them,” he commented to Dante. He knew all too well how his grandchildren fought each other for power and influence in the underworld. It wasn’t just Dante’s younger siblings. His other grandchildren were the same way. They were family, but really, their relationship was more like competing royalty.Roberto sighed. “Your father’s inheritance was not small, but you didn’t take any of it. And even after all that, Anthony still doesn’t like you.”“I did that not because I wanted them to like me. Who cares how they pay me back?” Dante picked up the empty glass and poured himself some wine.“That’s good,” Roberto said softly. He was a man with five children. In the past, he had tried to be fair to them. However, divisions and disputes within the family persisted. One of his children had even died because of it. Dante had to be more careful than him
Natalie fell asleep with her hands still tied. The door to her room suddenly opened, startling her. She expected it to be Dante coming to untie her, but it turned out to be Cora.Cora entered and began to organize Natalie’s few belongings. It was the stuff that Dante had provided during Natalie’s stay.“What are you doing?” Natalie got up and asked in surprise.“Mr. Vittorio wants to move you tonight,” replied Cora, without looking at Natalie.“Move? Do you know where?” Natalie continued to probe.“No.”Natalie didn’t know if that was good or bad news. Inwardly, she wondered, Where would Dante move her to? What if the next place was worse than this mansion?“Can you untie it?” Natalie asked as she stood up from the bed. “Just let me.” Another voice suddenly sounded from the direction of the door. It was Laura, walking in with a pair of scissors. Cora immediately blocked her.“Miss, you shouldn’t do this, or Mr. Vittorio will be angry!” Cora said in a slightly bluff tone.“Nevermind.
“Where are you taking me?” Natalie asked immediately when Dante pulled her out of the mansion. He didn’t reply to her question.“Get in!” he ordered as he opened the car door. His expression was unreadable. Either he was in a good or bad mood.Natalie didn’t want to invite trouble. So she got into the car. Her luggage was already in the trunk. Then Dante got in and sat in the driver’s seat.There was no driver at that time. It was just the two of them. Dante drove the car, while Natalie was just silent with uncertain feelings. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. Wouldn’t that be a good opportunity to escape?Natalie bit her lip as she looked down to hold back a smile. Dante glanced at her and secretly smirked. ‘What idea is she thinking of?’After quite some time, the car they were in finally entered the Manhattan area. Natalie kept quiet until they finally arrived at the basement of a luxury apartment building.Her forehead immediately creased deeply. She turned to Dante with a sus
“You’re... joking.” Natalie’s voice sounded a little shaky. She lay tense under Dante’s body. There had been several times the man had shown a desire for her body. However, she always managed to avoid him. What if she couldn’t avoid him anymore?The man smiled. His back was to the light, making his smile look grim and gray. She was not sure if he was smiling or smirking.“You’re afraid to fuck, aren’t you?” whispered Dante. His eyes flashed with malicious intent, like a beast ready to pounce on its prey. “What if we try it? Maybe you’ll like it.”Natalie swallowed. Her tongue felt tongue-tied. “Can you just ignore me? If you want to arrest me or detain me, do it. You can lock me up, but please don’t touch me.”She said it earnestly. Natalie was already too broken in the past and didn’t want to be even more broken in the future. She had to save her body before another man played with it.Dante seemed to tilt his head, as if considering. Then he shook his head. “How could I waste a woma
“This is so beautiful.” Words of adoration escaped Dante’s mouth when he noticed the pink, hairless valley. He touched it with his long fingers and played with it seductively.Passion and desire erupted in Natalie’s head unpreventable. Her head was dizzy, holding back the various feelings that were raging. She could only bite her lips to hold back the moans and pleasure in her intimate parts.“You can still hold it in, huh?” Dante smirked. Natalie was like a little cat lying down and struggling desperately. Ruthlessly, his thumb pressed and twisted on her clitoris. Both of her bony legs instantly trembled.“I... I won’t moan,” Natalie insisted with a stutter. She gritted her teeth with determination. No matter what happened, she would try to hold it in.“Oh, really?” Dante seemed to remain calm. “That would be hard for you. Do you believe I can make you moan with just my fingers?”“You... you won’t be able to do it!” Natalie hissed coldly. She tried to intimidate with a glare, but the
That night, everything was painful and humiliating for Natalie. Dante was fucking her, but she couldn’t resist. Her body betrayed her. She should have stayed silent, but the overwhelming pleasure made her moan time and time again.Not only did she hate Dante, but she hated herself as well. How was she supposed to face him next after her prestige and pride were shattered?Natalie closed her eyes in exhaustion. Her body was limp after experiencing several orgasms. She already didn’t care about Dante, who hadn’t climaxed yet.The man continued to move on top of Natalie. Sweat was already soaking the shirt attached to his body. His breathing was hot and labored. He pounded his hips harder when signs of his peak came.Moments later, he pulled his cock out quickly. His pleasure juices spurted onto the floor in large quantities. It made him growl in satisfaction.It had been quite a while since he had achieved such satisfaction. Dante was actually not a man who had frequent sexual encounters
The next day, Dante drove Natalie and her grandmother home. Alex came with him, too.When they arrived, there were already several bodyguards standing guard at Minerva’s house. Natalie was surprised and asked Dante as soon as they got out of the car. “You arranged this?”“Your grandmother asked for it,” Dante replied casually.Minerva, who heard that, immediately coughed. How could that man take advantage of an old woman like her?“Grandma?” Natalie looked at Minerva in surprise. She never thought her grandmother would ask something like that of Dante.“You don’t mind, do you?” asked Minerva, supporting Dante’s lie. After all, the man was pretending not to know about the attack that night.Natalie shook her head slowly. The placement of bodyguards was a good thing. It wouldn’t be easy for Leon or George’s gang to get to her if there were bodyguards. It was better that she didn’t make a big deal out of it.“Thank you,” she said to Dante. She was just worried that he already knew someth
When Dante arrived at the hospital, it was midnight and past visiting hours. However, he could sneak in with Alex’s help.In front of a closed door, he stood uncertainly. Moments later, he knocked softly on the door. It didn’t take long for Minerva to open the door.“Dante?” The old lady looked surprised, not expecting to see Dante there. Hadn’t Natalie hidden their whereabouts at the hospital?Dante pressed an index finger to his lips, asking Minerva to keep quiet. He glanced into the room and saw Natalie already sleeping. “Sorry, my arrival was too sudden and intrusive,” he whispered.Minerva immediately shook her head. “Not at all. Natalie must be happy to have you here. Please come in,” she said gently.Dante did not enter immediately. Instead, he walked to a waiting chair outside the room. Minerva sensed he had something to say, so she closed the door and followed him.“What is it? Do you have something to say?” Minerva asked.The man sighed. “Natalie hid everything from me. She
Dante wasn’t very busy that day and didn’t want to overthink about Natalie, so he came to visit his grandfather’s winery in Napa Valley. It was only about an hour and a half away from where he was staying.Roberto’s winery and vineyard in Napa Valley was much bigger than the branch in New York. However, the old man was more comfortable living in New York, where he could oversee his family’s illegal business.The manager and person in charge of the winery was Javer, one of Dante’s uncles, with whom he had almost no dealings. Javer only focused on taking care of the winery and never wanted to deal with the Vittorio family’s illegal business. So Dante also rarely interacted with him.When Dante came to visit, Javer was naturally surprised. The tall man met him immediately. “Dante, what’s so magical about you coming here?” His tone was sarcastic.“Uncle, I see your vineyard is getting busy,” Dante said as he watched the planters tending to the vines.Javer snorted. “Does the sunrise from
At night, Dante sat on a bar stool, massaging his forehead. His eyes were closed. The whiskey glass before him was empty, but his mood still hadn’t improved.Alex walked over and patted him on the back. “What are you going to do after this?”“I don’t know,” Dante muttered. He looked lethargic and lackluster. His cell phone rang for the umpteenth time, but he ignored it.“Do you hate her?” Alex asked, after seeing how Dante repeatedly ignored Natalie’s phone calls. It made him wonder how he felt about her.“I don’t know.”Dante asked the bartender for another whiskey. He seemed reluctant and lazy to talk about Natalie. However, the more unwilling he was to talk about her, the more obvious his fear of facing his emotions and feelings became.Alex, who had worked with Dante for years, could certainly recognize his abnormality. Although the man didn’t say or express it, Alex knew Dante must be disappointed with Natalie.“You wouldn’t just leave her, would you?” Alex sat down next to Dante
Natalie had received many stitches on her arm. The palm of her left hand was also stitched up. She was hospitalized and didn’t regain consciousness until the morning.When she opened her eyes, the first person she saw was her grandmother. The old lady was sitting on the sofa beside the hospital bed with her eyes closed. Her face and skin looked tired.Unconsciously, Natalie’s tears fell. She cried and sobbed not because of the pain in her body, but because she remembered the horrific incident of last night. She still felt scared and shocked.Minerva, who couldn’t sleep well, heard Natalie’s sobs. Both of her eyes opened. “Oh, my dear...”She got up and approached her granddaughter. Her hand gently rubbed Natalie’s head. “Are you feeling sick? I’ll call the doctor,” she said.Natalie shook her head. She wanted to grasp her grandmother’s hand, but she couldn’t move her hand. It was excruciating. Her left palm was also bandaged, and she couldn’t hold on to anything.“Don’t move too much.
Again, it was about Dante. Natalie took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Why do you think I know about that? He’s an acute paranoid. Do you think he’d tell me every time he traveled?”The man shoved the muzzle of his gun harder into the back of Natalie’s head. “If he were wary of you, he wouldn’t treat you like a lover,” he said coldly.Natalie clenched her hands into fists. “You must not know him. He’s good at acting.”“Where did he go?!” the man snapped slightly while pushing the gun hard out of impatience. Natalie’s head hurt from the weapon. She stifled her groan.“I don’t know,” Natalie hissed. She secretly held the scissors under her pants. If the situation was urgent, she might use it to stab the man.“You don’t seem to be taking my threats seriously.” Suddenly, the man kicked Natalie’s leg so hard that she fell to her knees. Both knees hit the floor, and it hurt a lot.Natalie’s eyes watered slightly. She gritted her teeth against the pain and anger. “Are you George and
That night, Natalie spent time with her grandmother in bed. She lay down and hugged the old woman warmly. “Grandma, what’s been going on for the past two years?”Minerva gently stroked Natalie’s head. “Nothing special. I went to London a few times when I was bored.”Before Natalie was imprisoned, she often took her grandmother out to shopping, to social gatherings, or simply to travel abroad on vacation. However, since her arrest and imprisonment, Minerva rarely went out.“Darling, can you tell me what really happened back then? I know you couldn’t have committed a crime, so who framed you so cruelly?”Natalie closed her eyes. “It wasn’t Brent,” she whispered.“Are you sure it wasn’t your ex?” Minerva asked to make sure.Natalie nodded. She had been imprisoned for premeditated murder. She was accused of hiring a hitman to kill Beverley by running her over with a car. However, Chris, Brent’s twin brother, saved Beverley, which made him hit by the car and killed.Brent Oliver investigat
An old lady wearing a cardigan and a long skirt came out of the house. Her graying hair was neatly put in a bun. She looked so elegant despite her age.The old lady walked to the fence of the house. Even her steps looked calm and graceful. Natalie, who saw the lady, immediately smiled with emotion. “My grandma hasn’t changed,” she murmured.“So gorgeous,” Dante praised. He was amazed by how graceful and gentle Natalie’s grandmother was, like a noble lady.“Grandma!” Natalie called out to her grandmother. The old lady, who initially felt a little confused, immediately smiled.Minerva Wentworth immediately asked her housemaid to open the gate. “Please, open the gate!”The housemaid opened the gate. Natalie immediately ran inside and hugged her grandmother. Her long-held longing turned into tears.“Grandma...”“Oh, my dear, you’re finally home,” Minerva whispered as she rubbed Natalie’s back. Then, gently and lovingly, she kissed her granddaughter’s head.“Grandma, I’ve missed you,” Nata
Natalie slept in Dante’s arms. The fever made her dream of something unwanted.In her dream, she saw a group of assassins chase Dante and injure him badly. However, the dream suddenly changed, showing a scene where the man slashed her body with a knife and whipped the incision until it tore.“Why did you betray me, Cavendish?!” shouted Dante angrily. He whipped and tortured her body until it bled.She screamed and cried, but Dante cried, too. He tortured her while shedding tears. His eyes were filled with pain and disappointment.“I’m sorry...” she whispered.On the bed of the private jet, Dante frowned. He looked down at Natalie’s tear-streaked face. Her expression looked so painful. It confused him.“Cavey?” He tried to wake her up. However, Natalie seemed to be lost in her dream. She kept mumbling apologies while crying.“Cavey, wake up!” Dante shook Natalie’s body until she gasped. Her eyes opened, and she immediately got up to sit. Her face was pale, and her breathing rose and fe