Dante’s POVHer body trembled beneath my touch, but not from pleasure—not yet—but from fear.

Good. Fear was honesty, and it showed me more about a person than words ever could.

I withdrew my hand and stepped back, watching her chest rise and fall. She looked both terrified and confused, and I couldn’t decide which pleased me more.

“You can leave,” I said.

She nodded quickly, adjusting her dress and rushing toward the door.

When it shut behind her, the room went silent again, and for a long moment, I stood still.

Luca entered quietly, breaking the silence.

“She’s back in her room, boss,” he said.

I nodded once.

But he didn’t leave, and that meant bad news.

“What is it?” I asked.

He hesitated.

“We found something. In her bag.”

My eyes narrowed. “What?”

He stepped forward and dropped a small silver device on my desk. It was in the shape of a coin.

“A tracker,” he said.

I froze.

“Where did you find it?”

“It was hidden under the lining,” he replied. “Whoever put it there knew what they were doing,” he added almost immediately.

My fingers clenched around the edge of the desk. I’d suspected something off about her the moment I saw her file. It was too clean, and too perfect for someone being sold off by a desperate father.

“Does she know about this?” I asked quietly.

“No, sir,” Luca said. “I don’t think so. But…”

“But what?”

“We traced the signal. It’s active, and someone’s been monitoring her location from the outside.”

I exhaled slowly, trying to contain the irritation burning through me.

So this wasn’t random. Someone wanted her close to me.

“Destroy it,” I said.

Luca hesitated again.

“You don’t want us to trace who’s receiving?”

I looked at him sharply.

“I already know who it is.”

Matteo Valenzi. Yes, it was him.

The bastard had been quiet for months, and now suddenly a girl with eyes too calm for her situation ends up in my house with a tracker.

Was it a coincidence? Never.

I turned toward the window and watched the rain begin to fall.

“She’s not to know anything about this,” I said.

“Not yet.”

Luca nodded. “Understood.”

When he left, the room fell silent again, and I could hear only the sound of the rain against the glass.

Something about her presence had stirred something dangerous, not just for her, but for me too.

Because never in my existence have I seen a girl as bold as she is.

And the worst part was, I already knew I would.

The door burst open. One of my guards stumbled in again with his face pale.

“Boss! We found Marco. He’s the one who leaked the shipment routes.”

I turned slowly. “Where is he?”

“Downstairs. He’s begging for forgiveness.”

“Bring him.”

Moments later, they dragged Marco in. He looked terrified. He was one of the people that worked with me, and he happened to be one of those I trusted the most.

“Boss, please, I swear I didn’t mean to…”

“Who paid you?” I cut in.

His lips trembled.

“I... I don’t know. A man contacted me through an untraceable number. Said he’d triple my pay if I gave small updates. I didn’t know it was about her…”

I took my gun from the desk and pointed it at him.

“You never know,” I said quietly, “until it’s too late.”

I shot the gun at his chest, and it echoed once, then silence. Everyone else in the room froze.

“Clean it up,” I said, putting the gun back.

When they left, I sat down again, calm as if nothing had happened. But my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My head just couldn’t get off that girl that caught my attention as soon as she got into my house—Helen.

Every step she took in this house was now dangerous. Matteo was already watching, and he never watched anything he didn’t plan to destroy.

By the time night fell, I told myself to forget her and to focus on business.

But at midnight, I found myself standing in front of her door. I didn’t knock. I just looked through the small crack of light under the door. It was dark inside, and there was no sound.

I turned to leave, but then I froze. I heard a rough sound coming from her room, and I stepped closer, my hand going to my gun.

By the time I pushed open Helen’s door, the room was empty. The window was open, and the curtains were flying open.

The sheets on the bed were rumpled, but she wasn’t there. My chest tightened, and for the first time in years, panic hit me hard.

“Luca!” I shouted.

He came running in. “Boss?”

“She’s gone.”

His eyes widened. “What? How?”

I pointed to the open window.

“She didn’t walk out the front door. Check the grounds. Now!”

I walked to the window and looked out into the darkness. The rain had stopped, but the ground was wet. There were footprints leading to the woods.

My heart dropped. Was she taken?

“She didn’t run,” I said quietly.

“She was taken.”

Luca’s voice came over the radio.

“We’ve got movement near the east fence. They’re two vehicles, unmarked with no plates.”

That was Matteo.

I clenched my jaw and turned away from the window, my hands shaking slightly though I wouldn’t admit it.

He dared to step into my house, and he dared to touch what was mine.

“Get the cars ready,” I said, with my voice as firm as it could go.

“Nobody rests until we find her.”