The fire crackled inside the cabin.
Outside, snow had begun to fall in slow, heavy flakes, blanketing the woods in white silence.
Raven stood at the window, watching the trees sway. Her reflection in the glass looked like a stranger—hair messy, lips swollen, skin bruised by Dante's touch.
Her body still ached from the night before.
But she couldn't stop trembling.
Not from the cold.
From the feeling that something—or someone—was coming.
Behind her, Dante stirred on the couch. He sat up slowly, wincing as his arm throbbed from the stitched bullet wound just beneath his shoulder.
"You're not sleeping," he murmured.
She turned to him. "Neither are you."
He gave a dry chuckle. "Sleep is a luxury when your enemies have faces you once called friends."
She padded over to him, barefoot and silent, and sat beside him on the worn leather. He pulled her into his arms like instinct—like a habit already carved into him.
"I killed for you," she whispered into his chest.
"I know."
"They won't stop."
"They never do."
She looked up. "So what happens now?"
He brushed her hair from her eyes, fingers lingering.
"Now," he said, "we fight fire with hell."
🖤 Later That Night – Truth and ScarsThey sat in the candlelit kitchen. No electricity. No signal. Just silence, shadows, and sharp memories.
Dante poured whiskey into two chipped mugs.
"I grew up in Naples," he said, voice low. "My father was a killer. My mother a shadow. By the time I was sixteen, I had more blood on my hands than most soldiers do in a lifetime."
Raven stayed silent.
"I never wanted power," he continued. "I just wanted control. Of something. Of anything."
He looked at her.
"But then you walked into Inferno. Like a challenge carved in silk."
She met his eyes. "And now?"
"Now I want to own you."
Her breath caught.
"But not like before," he added. "Not like a thing. I want to own the parts of you no one else has seen. The pain. The rage. The fire."
"You already do," she said, barely a whisper.
He reached across the table and took her hand, turning it over slowly.
"You know what this is?" he murmured, tracing the inside of her wrist. "This is where your pulse betrays you."
She leaned closer. "Then read me."
🔥 Bedroom – Bound in SilenceShe didn't protest when he bound her wrists again.
Didn't flinch when he fastened the collar around her throat—the same one he'd kept locked in his penthouse drawer, like a secret meant for no one but her.
She wore it like a crown.
Dante didn't rush.
He laid her down slowly, fingers worshipping every inch of her skin, mouth trailing behind like fire.
"You're mine," he whispered as he slid inside her. "No matter where this ends."
Raven arched into him, desperate, undone.
"Yes," she breathed.
The night stretched endlessly.
And when they came together, it was a breaking point.
Not of bodies.
But of fate.
🕯️ After – Pillow Talk and PoisonShe lay tangled in sheets, sweaty and sore, blinking up at the wooden ceiling.
Dante lit a cigarette and passed it to her.
"Smoke," he said. "It helps after pain."
She took it. Inhaled.
Let the fire fill her lungs.
"I want to disappear after this," she said softly. "Start over. No names. No agencies. No blood."
He smiled bitterly.
"There's no clean exit from this world, sweetheart."
She turned to him.
"But maybe there's a way out for us."
He didn't answer.
But his hand slid over hers.
And squeezed.
⚠️ Elsewhere – Bratva CompoundLuca stood in the center of the room.
His hands were tied.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
"You gave them the safehouse coordinates," the Bratva officer sneered. "You betrayed the Devil for a girl."
"I didn't betray him," Luca spat. "I saved him from himself."
"He'll never forgive you."
"He won't have the chance."
The Bratva leader leaned in.
"Tomorrow. Midnight. We wipe them off the map."
🩸 Safehouse – The Next MorningRaven woke up alone.
The sheets beside her were cold.
Panic surged.
Then the front door creaked.
Dante stepped in, holding a brown paper bag.
"Food," he said.
She ran to him. "Where were you?"
"Down the hill. There's a town fifteen minutes away."
Her brow furrowed. "You went alone?"
He gave her a look. "You think I'm easy to kill?"
She wrapped her arms around him.
"No," she said. "I think I couldn't live if they tried."
🖤 A Decision Is MadeLater that afternoon, she stood at the mirror, staring at herself.
Not Evelyn.
Not Raven.
Just... her.
And for the first time, she saw someone worth saving.
She walked back to the living room where Dante was cleaning his weapons.
"I want to help you burn them down," she said.
He looked up, stunned.
"I'm not leaving," she added. "Not running."
His eyes locked on hers.
"You sure?"
She stepped forward, straddled him, and kissed him hard.
"Yes," she whispered. "Let's be monsters. Together."
He laughed softly, darkly.
Then kissed her like he'd already set the world on fire.
🕯️ Nightfall – A Silent PromiseThey sat side by side, guns ready, eyes locked on the tree line.
Dante reached over and took her hand.
If they came tonight...
If the cabin burned...
They'd go down together.
Not as enemies.
Not even as lovers.
But as the only truth either of them had ever known.