**Elena’s POV**

“What did you just say?” My voice came out thin, and my brows pulled together on their own.

Dante took one slow, deliberate step toward me. He was smiling, but it wasn’t the smile of my friend. It was the smile of a man who had finally caught what he was hunting. “I said, ‘Welcome home, Ellie.”

My heartbeat pounded against my ribs, a frantic drumming that made my chest ache. I stepped back. Just one step, but he noticed. His eyes tracked the movement like a ...