“I am focusing,” Dante said.

He let go of my wrist, only to cup the back of my neck, pulling me slightly closer.

“When I saw those lights in the rearview mirror, my first thought was not about my business,” he murmured.

“What was it?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.

“It was you,” he said, his dark eyes searchingly honest. “And Lily.”

The mention of my daughter made my chest tighten, but looking at Dante, I saw a vulnerability he had never allowed me to see before.

The cold, ruthless syndicate boss was gone, replaced by a man who looked genuinely afraid of losing something.

“I cannot lose you, Sophia,” he said, his voice cracking slightly. “I have built a wall around myself for years, but you broke through it.”

My defense mechanisms, the psychological walls I had built to survive James’s betrayal, began to crumble.

“I spent so long running from people like you,” I said, my voice shaking. “But with you, I feel like I can finally stop running.”

Dante did not say another word.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.