Chapter 310: You’re Going To Kidnap Her

"I have sources," Dante said simply. "I know everything about your life, Isabella. I know when you eat. I know when you sleep. I know who you talk to and what you say to them. I know everything."

Isabella felt a chill run down her spine.

"That’s... that’s not okay, Dante. That’s not..."

"That’s love," Dante interrupted. "That’s what it means when a man cares about you the way I care about you. He knows you. He watches you. He keeps you safe by being aware of every detail of your existence."

"That’s not love," Isabella said quietly. "That’s control."

"It’s both," Dante said, standing. "Come. I need to show you something."

He took her hand and led her through the safe house, to a room with multiple computer monitors displaying security feeds and intelligence reports.

"This is our operations center," Dante said, pointing to various screens.

He pulled up a file on one of the monitors.

The penthouse. Dimitri’s building. Eve’s daily routine.

"What is this?" Isabella asked, though she already sensed what it was.

"Insurance," Dante said.

Isabella stared at the file, at the photos of Eve, at the security protocols and extraction plans.

"You’re going to kidnap her," Isabella said flatly.

"I’m going to take what he loves," Dante corrected. "And I’m going to use her to break him. And when he’s sufficiently broken, when he understands that he’s lost everything, then I’m going to bring you back to Rome as the woman who stood by me while he fell."

"Dante, that’s...."

"That’s justice," Dante said coldly. "He rejected you. Made you feel worthless. Now he’s going to understand what it feels like to lose someone he loves."

Isabella felt something cold settle in her chest.

This wasn’t love. This was obsession wrapped in rationalization, dressed up as devotion but fundamentally driven by Dante’s need to possess her and prove his dominance over Dimitri.

"What if I don’t want this?" Isabella asked quietly.

Dante’s expression changed. The tenderness disappeared, replaced by something harder. Something darker.

"Then you don’t get a choice," he said simply. "Because you’re mine now, Isabella. You belong to me. And what belongs to me, I keep. No matter what I have to do to keep it."

He reached out and touched her face, his thumb stroking her cheekbone with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the threat underlying his words.

"I’ve given you everything," Dante continued. "I’ve shown you pleasure no other man ever will. I’ve loved you in ways you never knew existed. And in exchange, all I ask is your loyalty. Your devotion. Your complete and utter submission."

"And if I can’t give you that?" Isabella asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Then you’ll give it anyway," Dante said. "Because you have no choice. Because I own you. Because the alternative is worse than anything you can imagine."

He kissed her forehead, and it felt like a benediction. A blessing. A promise of both infinite tenderness and absolute cruelty.

"Come," he said, taking her hand. "We have dinner waiting."

Isabella followed him, her hand in his, understanding with absolute clarity that she’d made a devil’s bargain.

She’d escaped her father’s control only to fall completely under Dante’s.

But the strange thing was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to escape.

Because Dante’s obsession felt like love, even when she knew it was something darker.

Because his possession felt like protection, even when she understood it was entrapment.

Because she’d spent so long being rejected by Dimitri that she couldn’t quite believe anyone, let alone a man as powerful as Dante...actually wanted her that completely.

So she let herself fall.

Let herself believe in the twisted version of devotion he was offering.

And didn’t think too hard about what it would cost her in the end, despite her father’s warnings.

***

POV: DIMITRI

The call came at 4:23 PM.

Dimitri was in his study, reviewing financial reports when Marco called him.

He answered on the first ring.

"Talk to me," Dimitri said without preamble.

"We have a development," Marco said, his voice carrying the kind of controlled intensity that meant the information was significant. "Isabella. She left Rome approximately 36 hours ago. We tracked her to a private airfield in New Jersey. She hasn’t been seen since."

Dimitri felt something cold settle in his chest.

"Where is she now?"

"That’s the thing, boss. We don’t know. But we have chatter from our sources in Dante’s organization. Word is that Isabella was extracted from Rome by Dante’s people and brought to a secure location. The timing, the coordination, the involvement of Dante directly....it all suggests she’s with him."

"Isabella is with Dante," Dimitri repeated, processing the information.

"That’s our assessment," Marco confirmed. "And boss, there’s more. We’ve intercepted communications about operational planning. Multiple references to ’the asset’ and ’extraction protocols’ and ’secondary locations.’ We don’t have specifics yet, but it’s clear Dante is planning something."

Dimitri understood immediately.

"He’s planning to take Eve," Dimitri said flatly.

"That’s what I’m thinking," Marco said. "He brings Isabella out of Rome, consolidates his forces, and makes a move. The question is when and how."

"When doesn’t matter," Dimitri said, already thinking through scenarios. "Because if I were in his position, wounded and desperate to prove something, I’d use the asset I had to get leverage on the asset I wanted. He brings Isabella to prove he’s serious. Then he takes Eve to break me."

"That’s assuming he still has the capability to execute something like that," Marco said. "The warehouse hit cost him significantly. Men, resources, operational capacity...."

"Desperation makes men dangerous," Dimitri interrupted. "And Dante is desperate. He’s wounded, he’s lost face, and now he’s brought Isabella into the situation. Which means he’s committed. Which means we need to assume he’s going to move."

"What do you want to do?" Marco asked.

"I want to assume our worst-case scenario is accurate and prepare accordingly," Dimitri said, his mind already working throughthe entire scenario. "Which means we need additional security, protocol changes, and a response plan in case they actually try to take Eve."