Chapter 3

DANTE

Tonight had not turned out as I imagined it might. We had gone to the club to do business on neutral ground, or so we thought. When we had arrived, it had been busy, too busy, and the person I had expected to meet was a no show, however his men had been there, in huge numbers, but fortunately because we take no chances and I am a very suspicious man, we had numerous allies there too.

Seeing Anna had been the biggest surprise of all. I couldn't quite believe it when I had seen her on that podium, wrapped around a pole in very little clothing. I had been furious knowing that those men there saw so much of her and likely viewed her in the most basic and disrespectful of terms. She shouldn't have been there, not ever. The sight of her had distracted me from the hell fire that was about to descend and she had appeared rooted to the spot. Once the first shots were fired, she had been my destination. I had been looking for her for weeks, never expecting to find her there, but now I had found her, I wasn't going to lose her again, and more than that, I needed to keep her safe.

Her resistance to me was to be expected, and I hated the sick swirling in my gut that I might be the likely reason for her ending up in that place, especially with a child. That had been a real surprise and as cute as Amina was, I had been shocked by her existence. There were so many questions, where was the baby's father, why would he allow the mother of his child to work in that place never mind allowing his child to be there too, but my biggest question, who the fuck was he?

Sitting in the back of the car, I looked across at Anna, still swamped in my jacket but shaking with shock more than cold now, cradling her sleeping daughter. She was beautiful, always had been, but now she was sublime. Perhaps the sight of her as a mother added something, the way she had been willing to walk through the middle of a warzone tonight in order to save her daughter, the mama bear that she was definitely added to her beauty for me. She cast me a sideways glance, affording me a brief look into her big, dark brown eyes that looked a little dimmer than I remembered them. Could I turn the light back on in them? I didn't know, but I wanted to do that more than anything. Turning her attention back to the baby, her dark hair fell over the side of her face . . . it was longer than it had been when she'd left. I liked it longer, although, I probably shouldn't tell her that because I didn't doubt she'd shave her head simply to spite me at the moment. A smile curled my lips as I considered how beautiful she would be bald and realised that there was no doubt in my mind that no matter how her hair was styled, she would always be beautiful to me. Allowing my gaze to move down, I took in the expanse of her legs that were toned and tanned, reminding me of her on that pole. I'd seen her climb trees, fences and walls with ease when we'd been children so it should be no surprise to me that she could bend around that pole and hold herself in position. I felt a combination of anger and arousal at the memory of her and that pole.

"Where are you taking me?" she eventually asked, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Home."

"You know where I live?" Confusion tinged her words.

"Anna, you are safe, at least from me."

She frowned.

"Back there, people will have seen us, and it won't be hard for them to figure out our family connection, your father was Papa's right hand man and his funeral sent a message that our families were one."

"Yes, right up until you murdered my brother."

I roughly ran a hand through my hair, irritation filtering through. "I will not discuss this now, maybe never, but not in front of the baby. And at this moment you should be more worried about your own safety rather than thinking about your brother. You have a target on your back as being connected to my family, so, no, I do not know where you live, but I am taking you home with me."

Her glare remained fixed on me, but with my words resonating and her understanding of what it meant to be on the wrong side of people in our world without protection and allies, I noticed something in her eyes. Relief perhaps.

The car was silent aside from the snores and sighs of the sleeping baby until we approached the house. Security was always tight here, but after news had filtered home about our evening, things were tighter. The team on the gate checked the vehicles and the occupants and whilst nobody questioned Anna's presence, a couple of them clearly recognised her, and another couple covertly took in the amount of skin she had on show, even with my jacket covering much of her top half. Their looks of appreciation irritated me, something they quickly became aware of.

"Would you like a DNA swab or can I enter my own home?" I snapped and received no reply beyond the gates opening.

Arriving at the house, I looked across at Anna and wondered who or where to direct her to once we entered. I knew my mother and sisters would be happy to see her. They had fought against the repercussions of her brother's betrayal, stressing that if Aldo was exiled, which he was always going to be, exiled and eventually made to pay for his actions, then Anna would have to choose between our family and her own. Presumably she had because she disappeared when he did. I wasn't ready to face their knowing glances, particularly not Mama's. Gina or Jess would be happy to find some clothes and supplies for her and the baby. Yes, they would be a better choice, especially Gina as her daughter was a similar age to Amina.

Carlo was expecting us and would be waiting to meet and discuss the evening's events, the ones involving business, not Anna.

"Dante, I need some clothes," Anna said as the car's engine stilled. "I will not disrespect your parents by entering their home dressed this way."

I smiled, remembering the girl I had grown up with, the one who was kind, polite and respectful to her elders and those she held dear, my parents included. I also knew the other side to her, or at least I had, once upon a time. The feisty, sassy, ‘take no crap' from anyone, tomboy she had once been.

"Thank you."

She looked confused by my appreciation. "I'm not doing this for you."

The firecracker I remembered was still within her. "I know, but I appreciate your consideration of my parents." I had already pulled my phone out and was dialling my sister-in-law. "Gina, can you grab some clothes, your clothes. Some sweats or jeans and a t-shirt or hoody and send it down to the front door, please?"

I laughed as Gina began to ask questions and then cut herself off with a simple, whatever. I was never sure she would get how things worked in our family, but she was beginning to get the hang of things.

In minutes an outfit had arrived.

"You can go," Anna told me, but I was going nowhere without her and Amina who had begun to rouse.

Ignoring her protests, I took the baby from Anna and when she had put the clothes on, I exited the car and offered her a hand to climb out.

Suddenly, I noticed how nervous she looked as she began to scope out her surroundings. "It's okay, you're safe, you're amongst friends." She looked dubious but didn't dispute it so I pushed a little more. "Family."

"Yeah, right, family! The only family I had was murdered by you, so now, it is me and Amina alone."

Clearly my timing was off. She reached for the baby who was staring at me, smiling and gurgling. "Give me my baby."

I heard a couple of stifled sniggers from the men nearby. Fuck! I remembered this with Carlo and Gina; the number of times my brother had needed to take her down in front of our men to prove that he was in charge everywhere, and to also send a clear message that if he wasn't going to take shit from his wife, he certainly wouldn't take it from anyone else.

"Inside, now." My voice was flat and my tone detached. "We need to lay some ground rules." I didn't wait for any response but simply walked ahead, through the door and headed for the stairs, leaving Anna to follow me.

I felt eyes on me as I strode through the house.

"Evening, Dante." Carlo called and without seeing him, I knew he was laughing at me. "Anna."

"Dante has a baby," Gina said, making her husband laugh loudly until Anna spoke.

"Dante does not have a baby!" she all but roared. "I have a baby and he has kidnapped us both."

From halfway up the stairs, I stopped and turned. "You are welcome. Now get your ass up here and stop with the dramatics."

She glared but had the good sense to follow me.

I spoke to one of the housekeeping staff. "Can you find a crib and have it brought to my room, please?"

She nodded and scurried off, presumably to find a crib.

Running to catch up with me, Anna eventually came alongside me. "I am not leaving my baby alone in your room."

Turning as we reached the top of the stairs, I pointed down the hallway to my left. "End of the corridor. My rooms, and you're right, you won't be leaving the baby alone with me because you'll be there with us."