Rain fell over Bellagio Heights like a warning. It drummed softly against the windows of Elena's small apartment, a rhythm that made the city seem quieter than usual. She stood at the window long after Mateo had fallen asleep, the lights of the street below flickering in puddles like shards of broken glass.
She couldn't stop thinking about him.
Dante Moretti.
The name felt like a secret she shouldn't say aloud. The man who had saved her life, the man who'd pointed a gun at someone else's head without hesitation and the same man who had looked at her with something that wasn't quite cruelty.
Something else.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face in the alley, the sharp line of his jaw, the shadow of stubble, the glint of his eyes like polished steel under dim light. He wasn't just dangerous. He was composed, terrifyingly controlled. The kind of man who could end a life without blinking but would lose sleep over a promise.
And he had promised her protection.
Elena rubbed her arms, trying to shake the chill. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she couldn't shake the feeling that things were shifting, that her life once small and predictable had stepped off its track into something darker, deeper.
The knock came at midnight.
Soft, deliberate.
Her heart stopped. She reached for the baseball bat beside the door, an old habit but before she could speak a voice called through quietly.
"Elena. It's me."
Dante.
Every muscle in her body went rigid. She hesitated, fingers trembling on the lock.
"How do I know it's really you?" she asked through the door.
"Because the first thing you said to me," he replied, "was 'please don't hurt me.'"
Her breath caught. She hadn't realized he'd remembered that.
Slowly, she unlocked the door.
He stood in the hallway wearing a dark coat that glistened with rain. His hair was damp, his expression unreadable. The air between them seemed to hum, heavy with things unspoken.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered.
"You didn't call," he said. "But you should have."
Before she could respond he stepped past her and scanned the apartment eyes moving over the small living room, the toys on the floor, the dishes in the sink. His presence filled the space like a storm.
"Everything's fine," she said defensively. "I didn't need to call."
"You were followed again tonight," he said flatly. "Two cars trailed you from the diner. My men intercepted them."
Elena's stomach turned to ice. "Intercepted them? What does that mean?"
"It means you don't have to worry anymore."
She stared at him. "You're saying someone tried to…."
"Yes." He looked at her then, really looked and something softened in his eyes. "They know you were there that night. You're not safe here."
Her throat tightened. "You think I don't know that? But I have a son. I can't just run…."
"I'm not asking you to run." His tone was calm and measured but beneath it was something fierce. "I'm asking you to let me protect you properly. Both of you."
Elena shook her head backing away. "You can't just take over my life."
"You don't have a choice" he said quietly. "Not anymore."
The words hung in the air between them, colder than the rain outside.
Dante walked past her toward Mateo's room. The door was cracked open and the faint sound of soft breathing filled the hallway. He paused at the threshold, his expression unreadable.
"He's small," Dante said softly, almost to himself. "How old?"
"Six," she whispered.
He nodded once. His gaze lingered on the tiny race car decals on the wall, the nightlight shaped like a moon.
"I'll have one of my men bring a carseat," he said.
"What?"
"You're coming with me."
"No." Her voice trembled. "I can't just pack up my child and go live with some….some criminal."
He turned eyes flashing. "You think this is a choice between safety and pride? It's not. It's life or death Elena. You saw something no one else did. That makes you a target. And if you stay here your son becomes one too."
Tears stung her eyes. "And what, you expect me to trust you?"
His jaw tightened. "No. I expect you to survive long enough to decide whether you can."
The silence that followed was thick. Rain whispered against the glass.
Finally, she spoke, voice breaking. "He's all I have Dante."
He took a step closer. "Then let me make sure you don't lose him."
She didn't move when he reached out, she just stood there, breath caught as his hand brushed her arm. His touch was warm, startlingly gentle for a man who'd killed in front of her eyes.
Elena looked up meeting his gaze. Something unspoken passed between them, a truce, a warning and something else entirely.
When his thumb traced the edge of her wrist she felt her pulse leap beneath his fingers. He must have felt it too because he stilled, looking down at her with a kind of quiet disbelief.
"I'll send men to help you pack." he said finally stepping back. His voice was rougher now. "You'll stay in the South District in one of my houses. No one will find you there."
She swallowed. "And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll move you anyway."
Her chest rose and fell. "You can't just…."
"I can," he said softly. "And I will."
Then before she had chance to argue he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something, a folded piece of paper.
"This is where you'll go tomorrow morning," he said setting it on the table. "Pack light."
He hesitated, his gaze softening for a fraction of a second. "And lock the doors tonight. Every single one."
She nodded slowly.
When he turned to leave she whispered, "Why are you doing this?"
He stopped in the doorway, rain pouring behind him.
For a long moment he didn't answer. Then, quietly he said "Because you looked at me like I was still human."
And then he was gone.
That night Elena sat beside Mateo's bed, watching him sleep. His small hand curled around hers, warm and innocent.
Outside thunder rumbled low across Bellagio Heights. The city never slept, not really but tonight it felt like the whole world was holding its breath.
Elena brushed a hand through her son's hair and hummed softly, an old Spanish lullaby her mother used to sing.
When the melody trailed off she whispered into the dark, "What have I done?"
But she already knew the answer.
She hadn't just witnessed a crime.
She'd been pulled into the orbit of a man whose world could destroy her and she wasn't sure she wanted to escape.