Chapter 6
“I was just thinking out loud,” Rosalie replied evasively. “Don’t read too much into it. The future is never set in stone, that’s all I meant.”
“What’s uncertain when I’m in the picture?” Dante pressed, clearly unsatisfied with her vague
response.
Before he could dig deeper, Darcy smoothly interjected. “Miss Lima,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “I understand you trained at Juilliard? Such a shame to keep someone of your… background… cooped up in this VIP room. Perhaps you’d like to dance a little?”
Rosalie shook her head. “No thank you. I’m not feeling up to it.”
“Oh, don’t be so modest,” Darcy persisted with fake warmth. “I’ve secured the entire floor privately.
No audience to intimidate someone who’s used to… smaller venues.”
Dante’s expression darkened; he clearly wanted to continue their conversation about Rosalie’s
cryptic comment.
But Marcus and Tyler jumped in. “Come on, Wolf,” Tyler said, clapping Dante on the shoulder, “let the lady show what she’s got. We’ve been hearing about these famous dance skills for years.”
Marcus leaned close to Dante’s ear, whispering something that made his jaw tighten. After several seconds of visible internal conflict, Dante reluctantly nodded.
As Darcy led her toward the exit, Rosalie felt a distinct sense of unease creeping up her spine. What had once been a sanctuary–Dante’s world–now felt like a labyrinth with dangers at every turn.
She needed to get through whatever this was and then get away–from this club, from this city, from him. The man who had been her sun and stars was now the black hole threatening to consume her.
They had barely reached the main dance floor when Darcy executed her performance–a sudden stumble followed by a dramatic collapse.
“Oh God!” she cried, clutching her ankle with perfectly manicured hands. Tears instantly appeared on command, careful not to disturb her makeup. “Dante, it’s excruciating! You need to take me to the
ER right now.”
Dante’s irritation was palpable, but Darcy grabbed his sleeve, her voice hitting that precisely
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Chapter 6
calibrated note of feminine distress that men like Dante were conditioned to respond to
“Our families have been allies for generations,” she reminded him with calculated vulnerability “You wouldn’t just abandon me like this, would you?”
Dante’s jaw clenched, but he finally relented. Turning to Rosalie, he said, “Tll get her checked out Stay and enjoy yourself–I’ll be back as soon as possible. My driver’s waiting outside when you’re ready to leave.”
Rosalie nodded mutely, her unease growing stronger by the second.
The moment Dante disappeared, she immediately moved to follow, but Jason and Tyler smoothly blocked her path.
“Where’s the rush?” Jason asked, his smile not reaching his eyes. “Night’s just getting started.”
Effectively surrounded, she had no choice but to return to her seat, the pulsing music from the dance floor now seeming ominous rather than energetic.
The men kept her engaged in superficial conversation before abruptly standing. “Just need to make a few calls,” Tyler announced with suspicious casualness. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Rosalie’s heart raced. She needed to leave–now.
The moment they disappeared, she grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the exit.
Before she could reach it, the door burst open.
Instead of Dante’s associates returning, three men she’d never seen before entered. They were large. with hard eyes and prison tattoos creeping up their necks, scanning the room before locking onto
her.
“Well, look at that,” the tallest one drawled, flashing a predatory smile. “Brown’s information was spot–on. Dance girl all alone, just like promised.”
Rosalie backed away, fear crawling up her spine. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“We’re just here to deliver a message,” another replied, rolling his shoulders. “Someone wants you to remember what happens when you reach above your station.”
They began moving toward her with practiced coordination.
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Chapter 6
Rosalie grabbed a champagne bottle from a nearby table, holding it out defensively. “Stay back! I’m warning you!”
The men exchanged amused glances. “Ooh, she’s got spirit. Let’s see how long that lasts.”
They lunged forward together. Rosalie swung the bottle hard, connecting with one man’s shoulder, but another grabbed her wrist, twisting until pain shot up her arm and she dropped her makeshift
weapon.
The third man seized her other arm, and they forced her to the ground.
“Get off me!” Rosalie screamed, fighting with everything she had as they pinned her down. The leader pulled out a switchblade, the metal catching the club lights.
“Nothing too deep,” he said, bringing the blade toward her face. “Just enough to make sure you never dance professionally again. Boss was very specific about that.”
Terror washed through her in waves. Despite everything, despite knowing what Dante had done, had planned to do, his was the name that formed in her mind.
“Dante!” she screamed, some primal part of her still calling for the man who had been her protector for three years. “DANTE, HELP ME!”
Her cries disappeared into the music. As the knife inched closer to her cheek, one desperate thought flashed through her mind: Please don’t let this be another of his plans. Please let him be better than this.
Just as the cold metal touched her skin, the door exploded inward.
Dante stood in the doorway, his expression transformed into something terrifying–pure, unleashed fury.
He moved with lethal precision, crossing the room in seconds and seizing the knife–wielder by the throat. The man was airborne before he knew what happened, crashing into a table with bone–breaking force.
The other two attackers abandoned Rosalie to face this new threat, but they never stood a chance.
Dante fought with cold, efficient violence. Each strike was calculated for maximum damage.
In less than a minute, all three men lay groaning and broken on the floor.
Dante stood among them, knuckles split and bleeding, his designer shirt ruined, chest heaving. But it The Ultimate Payback: When I Married Your Enemy, My Stepbrother
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3.2%
Bosalle grabbed a champagne bottle from a nearby table, holding it out defensively. “Stay back! I’m warning your
The men changed amused glances, “Ooh, she’s got spirit. Let’s see how long that lasts.”
They bunged forward together, Rosalie swung the bottle hard, connecting with one man’s shoulder, In another grabbed her wrist, twisting until pain shot up her arm and she dropped her makeshift
The third man seized her other arm, and they forced her to the ground.
“Get off me!” Rosalie screamed, fighting with everything she had as they pinned her down. The leader pulled out a switchblade, the metal catching the club lights.
Sothing too deep,” he said, bringing the blade toward her face. “Just enough to make sure you never dance professionally again. Boss was very specific about that.”
Terror washed through her in waves. Despite everything, despite knowing what Dante had done, had planned to do, his was the name that formed in her mind.
“Dante!” she screamed, some primal part of her still calling for the man who had been her protector
for three years. “DANTE, HELP ME!”
Her cries disappeared into the music. As the knife inched closer to her cheek, one desperate thought flashed through her mind: Please don’t let this be another of his plans. Please let him be better than
this.
Just as the cold metal touched her skin, the door exploded inward.
Dante stood in the doorway, his expression transformed into something terrifying–pure, unleashed
fury,
He moved with lethal precision, crossing the room in seconds and seizing the knife–wielder by the
throat. The man was airborne before he knew what happened, crashing into a table with
bone–breaking force.
The other two attackers abandoned Rosalie to face this new threat, but they never stood a chance.
Dante fought with cold, efficient violence. Each strike was calculated for maximum damage.
In less than a minute, all three men lay groaning and broken on the floor.
Dante stood among them, knuckles split and bleeding, his designer shirt ruined, chest heaving. But it
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The Ultimate Payback: When I Married Your Enemy, My Stepbrother
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Chapter 6
was his eyes that caught Rosalie’s attention–wide with what kaked mistakably like granian terror as they fixed on her.
“Rosie,” he gasped, rushing toward her.
Relief flooded her system. He had come for her. Whatever else was true, whatever Mes had beess told, in this moment he had saved her.
As the adrenaline drained from her body, darkness crept into the edges of her vision. The last thing she saw before consciousness fled was Dante’s face, twisted with what looked like actual concern
Thank God you came, she thought as the world went black.
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