Elara POV:
Isabella led Dante on a tour of her restaurant, her voice laced with a silken triumph. "It's exactly as I described it to you, all those years ago. The velvet booths, the gold accents... every detail."
"'A place where danger and beauty can drink together,'" Dante recited, his voice a low rumble. Words she'd spoken a lifetime ago, yet he had them etched in his memory.
A delicate hand flew to her chest in feigned surprise. "You remembered."
He smiled, a true, unguarded smile I hadn't seen in years. "Does your offer to make me a partner still stand?"
"A Don is too important for that," she demurred, her eyes glittering with a predatory light.
I followed them like a shadow, a weight settling so heavily in my chest it stole my breath.
In the private dining room, Dante ordered for the table without a glance at the menu. Pan-seared scallops, truffle risotto, a bottle of vintage Barolo. All of Isabella's favorites.
"You know me so well," she purred, then her gaze flickered to me, a calculated performance of pity that felt more like a dismissal. "Dante, let your wife choose something. We should be good hosts."
He slid a menu across the table to me. "I don't know what you like. Order for yourself."
Three years of marriage, and he didn't know if I preferred fish or steak. I felt erased, as if the last three years of my life had been written in invisible ink.
"Excuse me," I mumbled, pushing my chair back and fleeing to the restroom.
Isabella followed me. She cornered me by the marble sinks, her reflection in the mirror sharp and predatory.
"He's only with you out of duty to your father," she whispered, her voice a silken, venomous thread. "A vow of honor. It has nothing to do with love. A real woman knows when to walk away."
Suddenly, a deep, groaning sound echoed from above. The massive crystal chandelier hanging over our heads swayed violently, its supports giving way. Sabotage. A message from a rival Family.
It plummeted towards us.
Dante moved like lightning, a predator reacting to a threat. In a blur of motion, he crossed the room, yanked Isabella into his arms, and shielded her with his body as the world exploded in a shower of glass and metal.
I was thrown sideways by the impact. A searing pain shot through my side. I looked down and saw red blooming across my dress.
The world went black.
I woke up in a sterile hospital room. I was alone. The pain in my side was a dull, throb-bing ache. Wincing, I reached for my purse on the nightstand, my fingers fumbling for the black ledger inside. I subtracted ten points.
A nurse bustled in, her eyes, kind and curious, falling on the book.
"What's this, dear?" she asked, her voice soft.
"A marriage ledger," I whispered, my voice a hoarse rasp. "When it reaches zero, I'm getting a divorce. Only ten points left."
The door opened. Dante stood there, his expression unreadable, his suit immaculate. He'd heard me.
"What ten points?"
