The night was heavy with silence, the remnants of gunfire and smoke still lingering outside, but inside the safehouse, the tension was almost unbearable. I pressed my back against the wall, knees drawn to my chest, trying to calm the storm raging inside me. My pulse was still erratic, every nerve on fire from the events of the night, but it wasn’t just fear this time.

Dante moved across the room, his presence impossible to ignore. Even in the dim light, his every step carried power and command, the kind of presence that made the air crackle around him. My gaze followed him despite myself, heart hammering in my chest,...