Page 99 of Beneath the Shadows

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When I come to, my head is heavy, and my mouth is dry. I’m in a car, the low vibration of the engine thrumming beneath me. I blink, trying to focus, but the world tilts around me.

“Finally awake?” Antonio’s voice cuts through the fog.

I try to sit up, but my body feels like lead, and when I turn my head, I realize I’m in the back seat of an SUV. Dante’s driving, his expression as cold and unreadable as ever. Antonio sits beside me, watching, waiting.

“What did you do?” My voice is hoarse, barely more than a rasp.

Antonio holds out a bottle of water, unscrewing the cap before handing it to me. “Drink slow,” he says, his tone softer now but still firm. “I couldn’t let you stay, Alessia. Not with everything happening.”

I hesitate, but my throat is too dry to resist. The cool liquid grounds me as I bring it to my lips. The water is a small relief. I want to scream, to hit him, but my limbs won’t cooperate.

“I hate you,” I whisper, the words tasting bitter on my tongue.

“I know,” he says quietly, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. “But you’re safe with me.”

Safe. The word twists like a knife in my chest. Safe isn’t what I want. What I want is my freedom, the life I built. But with every mile we drive it slips further and further away.

Silent tears blur the world outside, and I know that, like my life here in Alabama, it’s fading away.

Antonio

The SUV glides along the highway, the steady rhythm of the tires on asphalt filling the silence in the car. Alessia’s out cold beside me, her body slumped against the door. The drug I gave her hasn’t worn off yet, but I know the peace won’t last much longer. When she wakes up, there’ll be hell to pay.

Dante casts a sidelong glance at me from the driver’s seat, his jaw set, tension radiating from him even though he stays silent. He hasn’t said a word since we left her apartment, but I don’t need him to. The tight grip on the steering wheel says it all—he’s not happy about how I handled this.

I didn’t have a choice.

Now, hours later, she stirs beside me, a low groan slipping from her lips. Her eyelids flutter open, and the instant Alessia realizes where she is, a fierce spark ignites, her anger unmistakable.

“Finally awake?” I ask, my voice steady.

She straightens, her breath coming faster as her eyes lock onto mine. “What did you do?” she demands.

I twist open a bottle of water and hold it out to her. “Drink slow,” I say, keeping my tone calm. “I couldn’t let you stay, Alessia. Not with everything happening.”

She hesitates, her eyes flicking between the bottle and my face. But I know she needs it, the drugs will have made her throat dry. After a beat, she snatches it from my hand.

“I hate you,” she whispers, the venom in her voice unmistakable.

Her words cut deeper than I’d like to admit, but I don’t flinch. “I know but you’re safe with me,” I reply quietly.

“Safe? You drugged me,” she whispers the accusation.

There’s nothing I can say that’ll make this situation better. Nothing that’ll take away the betrayal she feels. She wants her freedom, but she can’t have it. Not in the way she wants. What she doesn’t know is that I’m the only thing standing between her and an even worse fate.

As we drive, the tension between us thickens. I need to tell her. I have to explain what this is really about—why I had no choice but to bring her back. But how do I tell her that this isn’t just about going back to the life she tried so hard to leave behind? How do I explain that I’m taking her into a new kind of prison, one where I’ll be holding the keys?

But I’m not Valentino. I’ll never be him. He took pleasure in control—in breaking her.

Yet, no matter how much I try to convince myself that I’m different, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m about to take away her freedom. The thought makes my stomach turn, but I push it down. This is the only way to ensure everyone’s safety.

Out of the corner of my eye I watch her. Alessia’s beautiful, even now, with tension etched into every line of her body. But that beauty is nothing compared to the storm brewing in her eyes. A storm she’ll undoubtably unleash on me when I tell her the truth.

A few hours later, Dante exits the highway and steers into the lot of a roadside convenience store. The sun is higher in the sky now, casting harsh light across the pavement. He parks the SUV, cutting the engine. The sudden silence is almost deafening.

“We should stretch our legs,” Dante says, his voice low as he glances at me. “Take a break.”

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