Chapter 9
Dante’s car pulled up in front of the exclusive Manhattan venue. The moment he stepped out, his crew descended upon him like vultures.
Tyler, Marcus, and Jason crowded around, their faces lit with the anticipation of spectators waiting
for blood sport
“So where are they, Wolf?” Tyler asked, practically bouncing with excitement. “The videos drop today, right? Lima’s gonna lose his shit when he sees them.”
Dante’s jaw tightened as he pulled his phone from his pocket. Under their hungry, expectant gazes, the screen illuminated his face with a soft glow.
But just as everyone leaned in, he slipped the device back into his pocket. “Changed my mind. Not happening today.”
Their reactions were immediate and incredulous.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Marcus blurted out, not bothering to hide his disappointment.
“What the hell, man?” Jason’s face fell. “We’ve been hyping this payback for three years. You can’t just bail now.”
“Yeah, isn’t this the whole reason you’ve been screwing Lima’s sister?” Tyler added crudely. “To bring him down when he sees what his precious little Rosalie’s been doing?”
Dante’s expression hardened, his voice dropping to that dangerous register his business rivals had learned to fear. “I just don’t think the timing’s right. The longer I collect material, the more devastating the impact will be. What’s your rush?”
The three men exchanged confused glances.
“Three years isn’t enough ‘material?” Tyler muttered, making air quotes. “You’ve been acting weird
as hell lately.”
Jason stepped closer, lowering his voice but not his intensity. “Seriously, Wolf, level with us. Have you actually caught feelings for the Lima girl? Because that would be-”
“No!” Dante cut him off with such ferocity that several nearby valets turned to look. His eyes went
The
When I Marned Your Enery My Stepbrother
cold, the way they did before business deals mysteriously fell apart for his competitors. “The videos are mine. She is mine, I’ll decide when and how to use them. End of discussion.”
An uncomfortable silence fell. His friends, recognizing they’d hit a nerve, quickly backpedaled.
“Hey, just asking.” Marcus said, raising his hands defensively. “Your call, obviously.”
“Yeah, totally your play,” Jason added, though he exchanged a meaningful look with Tyler.
Without another word, Dante strode into the venue and immediately began micromanaging the arrangements with an intensity that surprised even the professional event planners.
His eyes scanned every detail, his frown deepening with each passing moment.
“These flowers are all wrong,” he snapped, pointing at an elaborate pink arrangement. “She hates pink. She likes blue–specific shade of blue. Like the ocean at dusk. Replace them immediately.”
The florist blinked in confusion. “Sir, we’d need to-”
“I don’t care what you need to do. Fix it.”
He turned to the carpet. “Too dark. She prefers lighter colors. Change it.”
“And this area looks empty and depressing. Add more balloons–the silver and white ones.”
“Where are all the gifts? I had at least thirty presents delivered. Stack them artfully over there.”
The staff scrambled to accommodate his demands while his friends watched, dumbfounded.
“What the actual fuck?” Jason whispered. “Since when does he care if a carpet is too dark? Remember when he flew that model to Paris just because he was bored, then left her there?”
“I thought this was just another power play,” Marcus responded. “Why’s he freaking out over balloon placement for a girl he’s supposedly using?”
Tyler shook his head. “Something’s seriously off. I’ve known him eight years, and I’ve never seen him like this. Not even close.”
Oblivious to their commentary–or perhaps choosing to ignore it–Dante pulled an elegant blue velvet jewelry box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a necklace that made even his jaded friends momentarily speechless.
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Chapter 5
The diamonds caught the light in a display that bordered on ostentatious, arranged in a design instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with royal jewelry.
He looked up with an expression that almost seemed… seeking approval? “Think she’ll like it?”
jason peered closer and let out a low whistle. “Holy shit! That’s the Spencer diamond recreation, isn’t It? The one Diana wore? That’s gotta be worth what–five, six million? You’re giving that to a dancer you’re supposedly just using for revenge? Bit excessive, don’t you think?”
Something flashed across Dante’s face–vulnerability, perhaps, though it disappeared so quickly they might have imagined it. His voice remained carefully neutral, “It’s investment in the long game. Nothing creates deeper attachment than extravagance, She’ll be even more obsessed with me.”
His friends visibly relaxed at this more familiar calculation. Marcus clapped him on the shoulder
with a knowing grin. “Now that sounds more like the Wolf we know. Had me worried for a minute
there.”
Dante didn’t acknowledge the comment. He carefully tucked the box away and continued his inspection with an intensity that was increasingly difficult to reconcile with mere revenge.
As New York’s elite began arriving–Wall Street titans, tech billionaires, old money socialites–they approached Dante with practiced charm.
“Quite the celebration you’ve orchestrated,” remarked a silver–haired venture capitalist. “When should we expect wedding invitations? The whole city’s waiting for Wolf to finally be tamed.”
Dante’s response was smooth, but there was a warmth in his smile that his friends had rarely seen. “As soon as she says yes. I’d marry her tomorrow if she’d have me.”
The guests laughed appreciatively, commenting on his apparent devotion.
Standing nearby, Tyler nearly choked on his champagne.
“He’s either the best actor on the planet, or we’ve got a serious situation,” he muttered to the others.
“This isn’t right,” Jason insisted, his expression troubled. “I’ve seen Wolf charm investors, politicians, and supermodels. This isn’t that. This is… different.”
As the party officially commenced, the atmosphere was exactly what you’d expect from a multimillion–dollar New York celebration–perfectly orchestrated lighting, a string quartet transitioning seamlessly to a renowned DJ, Dom Pérignon flowing like water.
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The Ultimate Payback: When I Married Your Enemy, My Stepbrother
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But the guest of honor was nowhere to be seen
Dante stood at the center of it all, his eyes repeatedly drifting toward the entrance, tús expression growing more concerned with each passing minute.
He checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, then pulled out his phone. As he scrolled to Rosalie’s contact, his throw furrowed slightly. She’d been acting strange lately–quieter, more distant. For the first time, a flicker of genuine worry crossed his face.
No, he reassured himself. She loves me. She’s always loved me. She’s probably just running late.
But as another fifteen minutes passed with no sign of her, that confidence began to waver.
He was about to call when suddenly, the main doors swung open.
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