Chapter 50
GRAVES SAFEHOUSE
6:34 PM
I barely set down my bags in this hideout when a chill runs through me. It’s the exact opposite of the luxury hotel we left behind.
We’re in a tiny cabin with only the essentials: a fireplace, an armchair, a wicker basket, a small table, a wooden stool, and a few bins.
“Wasn’t expecting a hideout like this.”
“You thought it’d be a villa,
didn’t y
t you?”
“Honestly? Yeah.”
“I’m not stupid enough to have a villa in a remote place like this–it’d draw attention. This place is safe, even if it’s not comfortable.”
He’s right.
“How are you going to get your weapons if we’re staying here?”
“I’ll manage.”
“How long until we can leave?”
“Two days, max.”
I sit down on the floor.
Alexander lights a fire, then goes to the back of the cabin and pulls out two pizza boxes.
“Where did that come from?”
“Dante did the shopping.”
Shopping, right? His guys…
I try to open my pizza box. I’m so cold it’s hard to move. Alexander watches me from the corner of his eye for a few minutes. He goes to another bin and pulls out a blanket at least two meters long, handing it to me.
“Sit closer to the fire, it’ll warm you up.”
Why aren’t you taking one too?”
He looks at me indifferently.
“There’s only one. I doubt you want to share it with me.”
I hesitate, but eventually say:
“I’ll let you share it—as long as your hands stay in their place.”
He settles beside me, satisfied. I catch the intoxicating scent of his cologne.
“Dante was one of your guys?”
He eyes me, then gives a half–smile.
kerou expecting an answer to that?”
Net really
“We’ll be here for a while. I doubt there’s any signal, so we might as well talk,
can go two days without talking.”
“Icant.”
He rolls his eyes, then looks back at me with a smile.
“I’ll make you a deal.“
“I’m listening.”
“I answer your questions if you answer mine.”
I don’t like this.
“How do I know you won’t lie?”
“The answers probably won’t please you.”
Well, why not?
“Who is Dante?”
“You’ve guessed he’s not just a foot soldier.”
“I’m guessing a mercenary.”
“Right. He worked for me a few years ago.”
“Didn’t think you liked independents.”
“Our paths crossed. I needed a killer, he needed a leader. It was a fair exchange.”
“What did he do to disappoint you?”
He hesitates.
“He had a target and missed. That’s partly why he left the country.”
A target?
“What did you do for him that made him willing to risk his life to save us?”
He blinks quickly, like recalling painful memories.
“Dante had problems with some shady guys. They kidnapped and tortured him, but I stepped in.”
I try to hide my surprise.
“You saved a guy who wasn’t really in your gang?”
“He failed his mission, but he was one of mine.“.
Interesting.
– Chapter 30
hi gave him his freedom so he could sit over. He those to live in Italy, I never thought i’d sen hint agains–senpartially no toite,
You saved him without asking for anything in return?”
Itry not to look shocked, I thought he was incapable of such humanity.
“With my enemies, I show no mercy. I’ll fuck anyone over to get what I want.”
Good to know.
“But if you’re one of mine, I’ll protect you with my life and spill blood for you. I never put anyone in a bad spot for my own gain”
1 sense his sincerity. He genuinely wants Dante to be happy, even if he seemed hostile toward him earlier,
He’s not all bad after all. But I prefer to focus on his worst traits. I can’t see him as a good person.
I glance at the ring on his finger. I adjust the blanket over myself, then look at him.
“Your ring… does it mean something important to you?“.
He frowns.
“You’re curious.”
“A deal’s a deal, right?”
“I’d give up my entire empire and fortune if it meant keeping this ring.”
Didn’t expect that answer.
“It’s not a gift from a parent who abandoned me, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s from my uncle. Not a farewell gift either.”
“I wasn’t thinking that.”
I shrug.
“Women always dramatize everything. You think every object carries emotional baggage.”
1
I let out a small laugh.
“If I ask why you wanted to go to prison, you’ll probably tell me to fuck off, right?”
He takes a bite of pizza.
“You guessed right–though I’d have said fuck off hard.”
At least I tried. I’ll get my answers eventually, even if it takes years.
“Your turn to answer my questions.”
I’d almost forgotten about that part.
“Go ahead.”
“When I came to your place to go after your father, I noticed you called him Khalid, not Dad.”
I’m surprised he noticed that detail.
“So?”
Chapter 30
“Why
“We share Blood, but he’s my best. I show respect by not revealing we’re related,”
Do you have a good relationship with him?”
His gaze is suspicious, and it puts me on edge. He couldn’t have figured it out- I made
“Yeah.”
I’m lying. But I can’t let him know that part of my private life.
“The bruises and injuries on your body–were they from fights or something else?”
Hook away, feeling his stare grow heavier.
“What are you insinuating?”
I’m getting slightly defensive, but he doesn’t stop.
no
mistakes.
“Nothing. Just… your fights are supposedly only with women, and you tend to win. Your injuries are so visible, it looks like a man did that- and it keeps happening.”
How did he analyze my wounds so precisely? I’ve never even let him see that much of my body, even in recent days.
“I fight women and men.”
He doesn’t seem convinced.
“Are you treated well in your gang?”
I feign indifference.
“Why all these questions about my gang and my father?”
“I’m just curious about what it’s like for a woman in a gang full of men.”
“You’re the first to say a woman doesn’t belong in this world, aren’t you?”
“Exactly.”
I grab his arm to force him to look me in the eyes.
“I don’t know what you think, but my gang is and always will be my family. Like any family, we have ups and downs. But I’m one of them. If anyone ever tries to hurt them, I’ll kill without a second thought, you hear me? No one comes before the gang.”
He doesn’t look away.
“Why are you telling me all this? You think I’m trying to turn you against them?”
“I don’t think you’re stupid enough to believe you could, right?”
He smirks, then brushes my hand off his arm. He stares at my lips and slowly leans in.
“I’m not stupid, trust me.”
He moves closer, and my eyes fall to his lips just centimeters from mine. I feel his breath. I know what he wants, what he’s going to do, but I can’t react. My brain shuts off, letting my body wait for the touch of his lips.
