Chapter 5 - The Partnership
I stared at the man who had just neutralized the only lingering threat in my life with the flick of his wrist.
"You didn't have to do that," I said quietly, walking toward him.
"I did," Dante replied, turning to face me. His dark eyes were intense, burning with a new, unshakeable resolve. "You told me yesterday that Rafael wanted to make you smaller. I didn't realize he was trying to diminish the mother of a child."
He stepped closer, stopping inches away from me. The professional boundaries we had maintained for three years were completely, irreparably shattered.
"You hid your son because you thought my world would make him a target," Dante said, his voice dropping to a low, vibrating hum. He reached out, his large hand gently cupping my cheek. "You were wrong, Valentina. My world doesn't make him a target. My world makes him untouchable. Because starting tonight, anyone who looks at you, or looks at Elias, answers to me."
I looked up into the eyes of the devil, and for the first time in my life, I felt completely, perfectly safe.
"I don't need a protector, Dante," I whispered, though I didn't pull away from his touch.
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"I know," Dante smiled, a dark, beautiful expression that shifted the axis of my entire world. "You are the fiercest protector I have ever met. But even queens need kings to guard the gates while they sleep."
He leaned down and kissed me, a devastating, consuming claim that erased the last three years of silence. I kissed him back, knowing that the woman who had answered the phone in the boardroom was dead. I wasn't just the executive assistant anymore. I was the architect of my own life, and the King of New York had just laid his entire empire at my feet.
