Chapter Twenty Eight
Nina's POV
I stayed in Enzo's arms for a long time.
My cheeks were wet. My chest hurts. My hands still shook from the gunshot, from the sand, from the way Dante had laughed like it was nothing.
Enzo held me tight, one hand on the back of my head, the other on my waist. He did not say much. He just breathed with me.
Dante stood a few feet away.
He rubbed his jaw where Enzo had hit him. His eyes were dark and cold. He looked at us like we were a problem he needed to fix.
"You done?" Dante said at last.
I flinched.
Enzo did not answer. His arm tightened around me.
Dante took a slow breath. "Listen and listen well. She is a prisoner here. Not a princess. Not your little charity project."
I stiffened in Enzo's arms.
He kept going. "Just because she has a nice body does not mean she is special. We have lost men because of her. Good men. And it is not like her father's debt will even bring us that much money in the end."
Each word was a knife.
Enzo's fingers flexed on my shoulder. "Dante," he said quietly, "enough."
"No," Dante said. "You keep that in mind. Both of you. She is here because of numbers. Because of money. Because her father is an idiot. That is all."
He turned and walked away, still limping a little, but not looking back.
The door slammed somewhere down the hall.
My whole body felt empty.
Enzo tipped my chin up so I would look at him. "He is an idiot when he is scared," Enzo said softly. "He says cruel things so he does not feel things."
"I am not money," I whispered. "I am not a deal."
"I know," he said. "Nana knows. Nikolai knows. Even he knows. He just does not want to."
I pulled away. I suddenly felt too hot, too raw. "I want to go to my room," I said.
Enzo walked me there and did not try to touch me again. At my door he stopped.
"If you need anything, call me," he said.
I nodded and went inside.
A few minutes later Nana came in with a cold cloth and a little plate of fruit. Her eyes were full of worry.
"Ay, mija," she said. "What happened now? You look like you fight ten demons."
"I think the demons are downstairs," I muttered.
She gave me a tight smile and pressed the cloth to my forehead. "You want tea? Food? You did not eat since morning."
"I do not want anything." My throat closed. "I just want to go back to school. I want my life. I want my mom."
Nana's face softened. She sat beside me and pulled me into a warm hug. I let my head fall on her shoulder.
"I know," she said. "But for now, you are here. We must keep your mind busy. You can watch TV. Only the channels they picked, but it is something."
I snorted. "One news channel and one football channel."
She laughed a little. "We also have telenovelas sometimes."
"I wish I had a laptop," I said. "I could at least read my school notes. Catch up on lectures. Pretend I am still a med student and not… this."
Nana sighed. "Maybe one day they buy you one. For now, you rest. Your head has been through too much."
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
The day passed slowly. I did not turn on the TV. I did not sleep. I just thought about guns, about blood, about Dante saying I was just a prisoner with a nice body.
By evening, Nana came back to tell me dinner was ready.
"I am not hungry," I said.
"You must eat," she said. "You lost blood. Your arm still healing. You need food."
"I said I am not hungry," I repeated.
She looked sad and left.
Ten minutes later, there was a hard knock on my door.
"Miss Nina," a guard called. "Boss says you must come down for dinner."
"Tell him I am not hungry."
A pause. "He says that is not a request."
I ignored it.
The door opened.
One of Dante's guards stepped in, big and serious. "I am sorry," he said, but his voice was firm. "You have to come down."
"I am not a dog," I snapped. "You cannot drag me like a bag of rice."
He did not touch me, but he stepped aside and gestured to the hallway. "Please do not make this worse," he said quietly. "He is already angry."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something. Instead I stood up, too tired to fight with a man twice my size.
I did not bother with proper clothes. I kept on my very short nightie that barely covered my thighs and a thin tank top with no bra. My feet were bare. My hair was a mess.
Good.
Let them look.
I walked down the stairs, heart pounding, face cold.
The dining room was full.
Dante sat at the head of the table, in a black shirt, sleeves rolled up, tattoos showing. His eyes were on some file in his hand. Next to him sat Isabela, in a tight red dress, her hair perfect, lips glossy.
Nikolai sat on one side, talking softly, pointing at a tablet that showed some report with maps and numbers. "CIA chatter is rising," he was saying. "They are watching the docks and the old routes. If we push shipment there, it will be a mess."
Enzo sat opposite Nikolai, listening with a tense jaw, fork in his hand.
When I stepped into the room, the conversation stopped.
All three men looked at me.
Nikolai's gaze dropped to my bare legs, then snapped back up to my face. He looked away quickly, his ears a little pink.
Enzo's eyes softened for a second, then he masked it.
Dante's stare was hot and cold at the same time. His jaw tightened. His fingers drummed once on the table.
Isabela made a small cough and sat up straighter. "Come in," she said in a sweet voice. "I have good news for you, Nina."
I ignored her.
I walked to the seat next to Enzo and slid in, my skin prickling under all the eyes. My nightie rode up when I sat, but I pretended not to notice.
Enzo quietly shifted his chair closer, so my thigh was half hidden by the table leg and his body. He reached for a clean plate and started dishing food onto it for me.
"Eat," he said softly. "You need it."
Dante made a low sound. Not quite a growl, not quite a grunt. More like a warning.
I kept my eyes on my plate.
Isabela's smile faltered. She pushed back her chair and stood up, heels clicking on the marble.
She walked around the table with a little sway in her hips, every movement slow like a performance.
"I said I have good news," she repeated, voice a bit sharper. "You should at least look at me when I am trying to be nice."
My fork froze halfway to my mouth.
Slowly, I raised my eyes.
Isabela reached into her designer bag and pulled something out.
A slim silver laptop.
She held it up with both hands like an offering.
"For you," she said. "A little gift. I thought you might miss your schoolwork. Your lectures. Your little med student life."
The room went very quiet.
Nikolai stopped breathing.
Enzo's eyes narrowed.
Dante's head turned, his gaze locking on the laptop, then on her, then on me.
I stared at the laptop, then at Dante, confusion rolling through my chest like a wave.
Why would she buy me this?
Why did she say it like that?
Why did Dante look like he knew something I did not?
I looked from the laptop to his face again, my heart beating fast, my mind full of questions I did not have words for yet.
"What is this witch up to " I thought to myself