Chapter 2 - He Told Me What Kissing Him In Public Had Really Cost Me**
The SUV’s doors locked with a heavy, final thud.
Bulletproof glass separated us from the dark Chicago streets.
Dante sat beside me, his posture straight, his expression unreadable.
I pulled my coat tighter around myself, suddenly aware of how small and exposed I felt.
He didn’t speak for the first five minutes.
Just watched the city lights pass over his face.
Then he turned to me, his dark eyes steady.
“You should know what you did tonight,” he said, his voice low and rough.
“Kissing me in front of all those people. You didn’t just save yourself from Nolan for one night. You marked yourself.”
My throat went dry.
“What does that mean?”
“It means everyone in that room now knows you are under my protection,” he said.
“It means Nolan will never dare touch you again, not if he wants to keep breathing. But it also means you can’t go back to the life you had before. He will hunt you. He will wait. He will try to hurt you just to get back at me for the humiliation.”
I stared at my hands, which were still shaking.
“I didn’t mean to drag you into this.”
Dante let out a short, dry laugh.
“You didn’t drag me anywhere. I chose to step in. No one hurts someone in front of me and gets away with it. Especially not a coward who hits women.”
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small card.
He handed it to me.
On it was an address and a phone number.
“You’ll stay at one of my safe houses tonight,” he said.
“It’s secure. No one knows about it except my most trusted men. You’ll be safe there.”
I looked up at him, tears finally stinging my eyes.
“Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”
He studied my face for a long moment.
“Because I know what it’s like to be afraid,” he said quietly.
“To feel trapped. To have no one to turn to. No one should ever have to feel that way. Especially not someone brave enough to kiss a stranger in front of a room full of powerful men just to survive.”
The SUV pulled up to a large, elegant townhouse in a quiet neighborhood.
Armed guards stood at the gate.
They nodded respectfully when Dante stepped out.
He walked me to the door.
The house inside was warm, beautifully furnished, but still felt impersonal.
Like no one had ever really lived there.
“Clara, my housekeeper, will take care of you,” he said.
“Anything you need, just ask. I’ll have someone bring your things from your apartment tomorrow. And I’ll have men watching the place around the clock. You’re safe here, Elena. I promise you that.”
He turned to leave.
“Dante?” I called out before he could walk through the door.
He stopped and looked back.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He gave me a small, almost imperceptible nod.
“Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
The door closed behind him.
I stood alone in the quiet house, listening to the locks click into place.
For the first time in over a year, I didn’t flinch at every small sound.
May you like
For the first time in a very long time, I actually believed I might be safe.
But I also knew, deep in my bones, that my life would never be the same again.
