**Elena’s POV**

I awoke with a start as the bedroom door groaned open. I wasn't a heavy sleeper anymore; every creak of the floorboards, every shift of the wind against the glass, sent my heart into my throat.

It had been three days.

Three days since Dante dragged me through that dark parking lot. Three days since I felt the cold bite of his knife against my skin. Since then, Stefano had been a shadow that never left my side.

He was there when I slept and there when I woke. There when I ...