Chapter 4 - The Scars We Hide
That night, the estate was on lockdown. The bodies were cleared, the glass swept away.
Clara was in the bathroom, trying to clean a shallow cut on her forearm from the flying glass. The door creaked open. Dante stepped inside, holding a first-aid kit. He didn't ask; he simply took the cloth from her trembling hands.
"You protected him," Dante murmured, his rough fingers carefully applying antiseptic to her skin. "You fought for a child that isn't yours."
"He feels like mine," Clara whispered, the truth slipping out before she could stop it.
Dante paused. He looked up, his dark, dangerous eyes searching hers. "Leo's mother didn't just leave, Clara. She sold out my shipping routes to the Marzanos. She traded her son for a payout."
Clara felt a sickening twist in her stomach. "How could anyone abandon him?"
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"Because in this world, love is a liability," Dante said, wrapping a bandage around her arm. His knuckles brushed against her skin, sending a dangerous, electric heat radiating through her veins. "But watching you today... I realized I’ve been surrounding him with guards, when what he needed was a mother."
He leaned in, the scent of gunpowder, rain, and expensive cologne intoxicating her. For a second, Clara thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he rested his forehead against hers, a gesture of absolute, terrifying vulnerability from a man who ruled with an iron fist.
