Undisclosed location
“I checked the security footage outside the councilwoman’s office but that and any nearby cameras were wiped clean.”
“Why would she wait all this time? What could she possibly be after? Money? Power?” Hendrik deliberates.
“It could be anything at this point. I mean who knows how long she has being following us, waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“We’ve dealt with worse and if need be this mysterious woman will meet the same fate as my father.”
“Gisele is with Athena and Alessio, she’ll stay with them until you get home.” Hendrik voices after reading a text message from his beloved.
“Good, have you filled her in on the situation?”
“Yes and she knows not to say anything to Athena.”
“Go over the description of this woman one last time with me, there must be something we’re missing.” Fernando stated as he rubbed his temples in frustration.
“Long golden locks that draped over her shoulders, she obviously spent a lot of time in the sun considering her natural tan. She was tall, she could easily tower over Antonio.”
“Come on boss, I’m not that short.” Antonio protests.
“Brother, you’re 5’2. You had to wear shoe lifts so your prom date wouldn’t see you as a midget.” Hendrik laughs.
“I told you that in confidence.”
As the men continued to argue about height, Dante tried to remember every detail of the woman that was haunting him.
“She had a tattoo.”
Silence fell upon the room.
“I saw a partial print of it as her sleeve rolled up when she grazed my shoulder.”
“What did it look like?” Fernando handed Dante a pen and piece of paper to scribble on.
“Some sort of bird in mid-flight with darkened feathers. There was also an inscription but I couldn’t make it out.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Fernando exclaims as Dante handed him the sketch.
“What is it?” Hendrik enquired.
“I’ve seen this tattoo before and I know exactly who it belongs to.”
“Well don’t keep us waiting, spit it out.”
“Since my father died, I’ve had access to all his files and paperwork which included the names of his associates. I believe the woman you’re looking for is Carolina Debreu, small time gang leader of the jet crows.” Fernando hands off his phone to Dante so that he may identify the woman.
“That’s the bitch.”
“So you’re telling me, Pedro found a way to screw you from the grave. That bastard, what are we going to do about her boss?” Antonio questioned.
“We are not going to do anything until I get my hands on all possible recordings of that night. If need be, I’ll just have to play whatever sick game she has in mind until I beat her.”
“I think I should go back to Mexico and find out more about Carolina, see if there’s anything we can use against her.”
“Fine, just be careful. If she thinks we’re sniffing around, who knows what she might do. Any fights booked tonight Hendrik? I need to blow off some steam.”
“I can move some people around, you’ll have your time in the ring.”
“Thank you bratva.”
At Dante’s penthouse
“Have you thought what you’re going to do career wise?”
“Well the last time I worked for a company, I fell in love with my boss and had a sociopath kidnap me so maybe I should try something different this time.” Athena jokes as she lays out a charcuterie board.
“Open up your own firm, that way your hours are flexible and you have more time with this precious.” Gisele beams as she hands Alessio a toy and he reaches for it.
“So when are you going to tell Hendrik?”
“Soon, I just hope he’ll take the news well.”
“He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met and he’s besotted with you, I have no doubts that he will love that baby growing inside of you.”
“Didn’t you and Hendrik used to have a thing for each other?” Gisele laughs.
“Oh my god, we just danced together albeit quite dirtily but I was just trying to make Dante jealous.”
“Oh Hendrik told me the story, about how Dante came over and claimed you on the dancefloor, then took you upstairs and fucked you.”
Athena blushed scarlet at Gisele’s comment, remembering the intense passion Dante and her shared.
“Oh, Hendrik just texted. Dante has a fight tonight.”
“Really?”
“And I wasn’t supposed to tell you about it.” Gisele confesses as she reads the rest of the message.
“That’s strange.”
“He probably doesn’t want you to worry about him. How about we go out and have a girl’s night? Julie can take care of Alessio.”
“There’s a new club on Maine street that serves personalised cocktails that I’ve been dying to go to and don’t worry they do non-alcoholic ones.
“Then we better start getting ready.”
Later that night
Dante’s p.o.v
The adrenaline that courses through my veins when I’m fighting is the second best thrill I’ve experienced, the first being Athena below me, moaning my name as her body shivers under my touch.
I high kneed the sucker that dared enter the ring with me and watched as his blood splattered across the tarp before he collapsed, unable to get up. One- Two- Three, the referee counted before lifting my hand up victoriously as I took in the chants of the crowd, praising me.
I stepped over my opponents defeated body, ready to hit the showers and pick up Athena from her girls night out but was interrupted by a whisper in my ear.
“Carolina is here.” Alek voiced and I immediately began scanning the crowd to find her.
There she was, breath-taking and for all the wrong reasons. I watched as men swooned over her yet she couldn’t care less about them. Our eyes met and I gestured her to follow him back into the change rooms.
“You put on quite the performance Mr. Romano.” Her voice almost sultry.
“When you said that you’ll be in touch, I didn’t think you meant this soon.” I quip, trying to contain my emotions.
“Well when I know what I want, I don’t waste time getting it.”
“And what is it that you want?”
“Do you know where your girlfriend is at this moment?” Carolina dodged my question and my patience was wearing thin. The mention of Athena had my fists balled yet I knew she was safe with Gisele and my men watching her.
“She’s out.” I answer ambiguously.
“Good, maybe I didn’t want her disturbing us.” She came closer to me and subtly ran her finger down my glistened chest causing me to take a step back.
Carolina lifted up her hand, clearly reaching for my face. I grabbed her wrist and held it with force, she didn’t even try to fight me but instead looked deep into my eyes.
“I want you Dante, question is how far are you willing to go in order to protect the ones you claim to love?”
Her advances shocked me as I stayed silent for over a minute, the only thing I could hear was my own heart pounding.
“Am I interrupting something?”
My angel’s sweet voice cut through the intense situation, wait what the hell was Athena doing? I discarded Carolina’s arm and beamed at the sight of my love who definitely was seething yet kept a calm composure.
“I’m sorry but this man just beat the crap out of my boyfriend so I wanted to give him a piece of my mind.” Carolina was a completely different person now, her lies were almost believable.
“Well your boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to go up against MY MAN, so his defeat is his own.” Athena hissed, emphasising that I was hers. I was proud of her strong stance but also worried about Carolina’s reaction to it.
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Carolina ran out of the room, faking tears along the way and I was left alone to deal with Athena who was hopefully drunk enough not to remember this tomorrow.
“Let’s go home sweetheart.”
“Not so fast.”