Chapter 4 - SHADOWS OF THE PAST
The aftermath of the siege left the mansion in ruins, but the nursery remained untouched. The attackers were a rival syndicate, the Marchesi family, retaliating for a territory dispute. As the cleanup began, Dante locked the estate down, doubling the guard. The atmosphere was poisonous, thick with impending violence.
That night, Sera found Dante in the kitchen, patching a graze on his shoulder. Without a word, she took the medical supplies from his clumsy, adrenaline-shaken hands and began to clean the wound. "Why did they attack now?" she asked softly. Dante flinched, not from the alcohol on his skin, but from the question. "They know about the boys," he confessed, his voice hollow. "Elena... their mother... she wasn't a target. She was caught in a crossfire I started. Now, Marchesi wants to end my bloodline entirely."
Sera's hands paused. The weight of his guilt was suffocating. She remembered the six-year-old girl she had lost in the clinic, the crushing belief that she was somehow responsible for failing to save her. "You are not a god, Dante," she whispered, taping the bandage down. "You couldn't control what happened to Elena. But you can control what happens to your sons. You can choose to be a father, not just a warlord." Dante looked at her, the proximity electrifying. He reached up, tracing her jawline with a thumb that smelled faintly of smoke. "If they find out how much you matter to me," he said, "they'll kill you too."
