“Dante, let go!” Bella screamed, stumbling as he pulled her into the open.

“Too late now!” he shot back, voice half snarl, half laughter. “You’re in it!”

Gunfire spat sparks around their feet. Mateo’s voice bellowed behind them furious, panicked. “Get her back here! Are you out of your mind?!”

“Probably!” Dante yelled, hauling Bella forward.

The SUV roared past, back doors still open, muzzle flashes bursting from inside. One masked gunman leaned out, rifle spitting fire.

Bella shrieked, ducking. Dante spun with her in his arms, his body absorbing the impact as bullets shredded the pavement inches away. He shoved her flat against a burned out car, firing three sharp shots in return.

The gunman dropped out of the SUV, body hitting the asphalt with a sickening thud as the tires screeched over him.

Bella gasped. “Oh my God”

“Your first assist,” Dante grinned wickedly, still shielding her. “Congratulations, bella.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Exactly. You didn’t faint. That’s progress.”

Mateo stormed up, gun blazing at the retreating SUV. “You son of a what the hell are you dragging her into?!”

“Survival,” Dante snapped. He pulled open the door of a nearby car, hot wiring it in seconds. “You want your men back? Get in.”

Mateo froze, eyes flicking from Dante to Bella who was clutching the pistol like it was a rattlesnake.

“You’re not taking her,” Mateo growled.

Dante smirked, sliding into the driver’s seat. “Oh, she’s coming. She’s my lucky charm.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

The SUV’s taillights flared as it sped down the block, hostages inside. Time was vanishing.

Bella’s voice cracked through their stand off. “Shut up, both of you! People are being taken! Just drive!”

Dante’s grin widened, eyes gleaming with feral delight. “Knew I liked you.”

He slammed the gas as soon as she and Mateo dove into the car. Tires screamed, the chase ignited.

The city blurred past in streaks of neon and smoke. Dante weaved through traffic like the devil owned the road, laughter rumbling in his chest even as bullets sparked from the SUV ahead.

Mateo gripped the roof handle, cursing. “You’re going to kill us!”

“Not my style.” Dante flicked him a sideways look. “I like slow deaths. Intimate.”

“Jesus Christ,” Bella muttered, bracing herself as the car swerved. “Can you two save your pissing contest until after we’re not being shot at?!”

“Can’t promise that,” Dante said smoothly.

Another burst of gunfire ripped through the windshield. Bella screamed as glass shattered across her lap. Dante ducked, grinning like a madman.

“See? This is why I don’t drive rentals.”

Mateo snapped, “Focus!” and returned fire out the shattered window.

Bella clutched the pistol tight, chest heaving. Her hands shook, but she raised it anyway, sighting down the barrel at the glowing taillights ahead.

Dante glanced at her, his grin softening for half a second into something sharper, darker. “That’s it, bella. Look dangerous. It suits you.”

Her finger hovered over the trigger. “Shut up, Dante.”

“Make me.”

And she fired.

The SUV fishtailed hard, back end swinging wide as sparks exploded off a parked truck. The gunman inside shouted in that strange, guttural language.

“Bella!” Mateo’s voice was half fury, half shock. “What did you just do?!”

She stared at the gun in her hands, chest heaving. “I just shot”

“Damn right you did,” Dante cut in, his laughter rolling like smoke. He jerked the wheel, keeping their car steady in the SUV’s wake. “Not bad for your first time. Most people miss the whole road.”

“I wasn’t trying to hit it!” she snapped, still trembling.

“Intentions are boring,” Dante said. “Results are sexy.”

“God, you’re insane,” she muttered.

“And you like it.”

Mateo ground his teeth so hard the sound almost drowned out the engine. “She doesn’t like anything about this. And when this is over, you stay the hell away from her.”

Dante flicked him a sideways glance, grin curling. “You keep saying that like it’s your choice.”

“Focus!” Bella yelled, her voice cracking through both of them. She jabbed the pistol toward the SUV. “They still have your men, don’t they? Maybe argue later?”

For once, both men fell silent.

The SUV swerved again, nearly clipping a fire hydrant, then roared down a narrower side street. Neon signs buzzed overhead, alleys flashing past in streaks. The chase funneled tighter, more dangerous.

Dante leaned forward, eyes alight, every muscle tuned to the hunt. “They’re panicking.”

“Or leading us into a trap,” Mateo shot back.

Dante’s grin widened. “Either way, fun.”

Bella clutched the pistol tighter, her stomach in her throat. She was wedged between them Mateo rigid with fury, Dante vibrating with adrenaline and all she could think was how absurd this was.

She had wanted a quiet night out. Instead, she was in a stolen car, chasing kidnappers, while one man she’d known since childhood glared murder, and another she’d known barely an hour looked at her like she was the prize at the end of a blood soaked carnival game.

Up ahead, the SUV’s back doors slammed open. Another masked gunman leaned out with a rifle, aiming low this time.

“Down!” Mateo shouted, grabbing Bella’s shoulder and shoving her beneath the dash just as bullets tore through the windshield.

Dante jerked the wheel, swerving them out of the line of fire. Glass exploded across his lap, slicing his arm. He only hissed through his teeth, blood slicking the cuff of his shirt.

Bella scrambled back up, horror in her eyes. “You’re bleeding!”

He smirked, eyes never leaving the SUV. “Better than you bleeding.”

“That’s not funny!”

“Didn’t say it was.”

Mateo ripped the gun from her hands, firing two sharp shots at the SUV. “Stay down, Bella!”

“No!” She yanked it back, voice rising. “I’m not useless, Mateo!”

Dante laughed, blood dripping down his arm. “Careful, Alvarez. She bites.”

“Shut up, Marino!”

The SUV lurched again, sparks flying as it clipped another car. Smoke belched from its engine, the chase reaching a boiling point.

Bella’s finger trembled on the trigger. Her breath hitched, Dante’s heat ghosting her ear.

“Easy,” he murmured, voice a velvet snarl under the thunder of the chase. “Don’t think. Just want it.”

“Stop talking!” she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut for half a heartbeat then opening them wide, steadying her aim.

Mateo’s voice cracked like a whip. “Bella, don’t!”

She pulled the trigger.

The shot exploded, deafening in the ruined car. For a second, nothing then the SUV jolted, sparks erupting as its rear tire shredded.

The sound that followed was pure chaos: metal grinding, rubber screaming, gunmen shouting. The SUV fishtailed wildly, skidding sideways across both lanes, nearly flipping as it clipped another parked car.

“Shit!” Mateo braced against the dashboard.

Dante’s grin was feral, eyes alight. “Beautiful.”

Bella’s heart slammed against her ribs. She dropped the pistol, hands shaking violently. “II hit it”

“You crippled it,” Dante growled approvingly, wrenching the wheel to keep their car on course. “And now they’re cornered.”

The SUV screeched to a half spin, metal screaming, before slamming nose first into a dumpster. Smoke belched from under the hood. One of the back doors flung open, slamming against the brick wall beside it.

Gunmen spilled out, dragging hostages with the two men bound and bloodied, their faces pale in the glow of headlights.

Bella gasped. “Oh Godthey’re alive.”

“Not for long if we sit here,” Dante snapped.

Mateo cursed under his breath, racking his gun. “This is where it gets ugly.”

Dante killed the engine, slid a fresh magazine into his pistol, and gave Bella a look that was equal parts wicked and warning. “Stay down, bella.”

Her chin lifted stubbornly. “Not a chance.”

“Thought you’d say that.” His grin was wolfish, blood dripping lazily down his arm as he flung open his door.

The gunmen were already shouting, dragging the captives into a defensive line. Shadows flickered in the alley beyond them, more movement reinforcements.

Bella’s stomach sank. “There’s more of them.”

Mateo’s jaw tightened. “An ambush.”

Dante’s laugh cut through the night like a blade. “Finally, something fun.”

The night split open with gunfire. Bullets slammed into the stolen car, punching holes through metal, shattering what little glass remained. Bella screamed and ducked instinctively, her ears ringing.

“Move!” Mateo barked, shoving her down against the seat. He leaned out the shattered window, firing in sharp bursts, every shot answered by another thunder of return fire.

Dante, already outside, didn’t duck. He moved through the storm like it was a dance, pistol raised, grin carved into his bloodied face. Sparks lit him up, shadows slicing across the cruel angles of his jaw.

“Get behind me, bella!” he shouted, voice ragged with adrenaline.

“I’m not leaving the car!” she screamed back, clutching the pistol so hard her knuckles whitened.

A bullet tore through the headrest beside her, sending stuffing flying. She gasped, frozen until Mateo yanked her collar hard, nearly ripping her dress as he shoved her lower.

“Stay down, Bella!” His voice cracked with fury and fear both. “You’re going to get killed!”

“I’m already in it!” she shot back, teeth gritted. “Stop treating me like I don’t exist!”

Another burst of gunfire shredded the hood. Mateo cursed, fumbling for a spare clip.

Then she heard it muffled cries. The hostages.

Her eyes darted up just in time to see one of the masked men drag a bound hostage into the open, pressing a pistol to his temple. He shouted something in a language she didn’t know, but the meaning was clear enough: come closer and he dies.

Dante froze mid step, his grin flickering into something sharper, colder. His gun stayed raised, but his body stilled.

Mateo swore under his breath. “They’re baiting us.”

Bella’s breath came fast, chest tight. Her gaze flicked to the dropped pistol in her lap, then back to the gunman pressing the hostage forward like a shield.

Her whole body trembled, but something inside her hardened.

She wasn’t just watching anymore.

Her hands moved on their own fingers curling back around the pistol grip.

Dante’s voice cut through the chaos, low, dark, and far too steady for a man standing in a rain of bullets. He didn’t even look at her.

“Bella,” he said, calm as sin itself. “Do not miss.”