She shook off the feeling. getting up from her sit.

"Nina I think I should get going now."

"Wait Victoria, who texted you?" Nina asked again.

"Some other time I'd call you to hangout." she said kissing her cheeks as she made for the other door.

The city buzzed around her as she stepped out.cars honking, people chatting, the faint smell of roasted coffee and gasoline filling the air.

She realized she must have been thinking too much as the car didn't follow her. She adjusted her glasses, heading toward her father's company building two blocks down.

Just as she reached the corner, a black van screeched to a stop beside her.

Her breath caught.

The door slid open.

"Miss Victoria Hales?" a man's deep voice called. He wore  sunglasses, his lips curved into a wide calm smile.

"I-I think you've got the wrong person," she stammered, stepping back.

"Ah... I know it you" the man's laughter covered her ear.

Victoria's heart thumped and she quickly brought out her phone dialing Dante number.

Another man got out. He was bigger with wild tattoos all over, the kind of man whose eyes didn't blink much.

Her phone slipped from her hand.

Before she could scream, a rough cloth covered her mouth. The bitter scent burned her nose.

"Mmph-!"

The world tilted.

People walked by without looking, the noise of traffic swallowing her muffled cries.

At Dante Mansion.

The call went through.

"Hello Vicky" Dante called but no one answered.

Dante's glass shattered in his hand as one of his men rushed in.

"Boss the lady's gone."

For a heartbeat, he didn't breathe.

Then, cold and deadly, Dante stood. "Find her. Whoever touched her... won't live to regret it."

He picked up his phone the list of people who could cross him came to his mind as he dialed the first call.

"Kelvin how can you hurt the woman you claim to love?" Dante cursed at him.

"Where's Victoria? You can't even protect the lady you stole from me all the enemies you have in this city and you think I'm the one" Kelvin snapped back at him.

Dante ended the call he knew it wasn't Kelvin he didn't have the heart he was a little rat.

"Boss we couldn't trace anything again"

 Dante's glass slipped from his hand, crashing against the marble floor. Red wine and blood pooled together, staining the white surface.

The room froze.

"Find her," Dante cut in, his voice calm but low enough to make the air heavy. "Every street, every van, every camera between here and downtown. I want her found."

"Her phone went dark two blocks from Hales Industries," one of his men reported, already pale. "We picked up the van on CCTV for only a second. Professional work. Military pattern. Whoever took her knew how to hide."

WDante's pulse spiked. He knew that kind of efficiency. It wasn't random.

"Boss," Felix, his right-hand man, said carefully, "if it's not Kelvin, then..."

Dante turned toward him, eyes dark.

"It's Enzo."

The room stilled again.

Enzo Moretti.

His stepbrother. The golden child of their father's second wife.

The one who grew up in luxury while Dante was forced to train in silence and bleed for every scrap of respect.

"That bastard," Dante muttered, dragging a hand down his face. "He's been waiting for a reason to move against me. Maybe he finally found it."

Felix frowned. "You think this is about business?"

"It's always about business," Dante said flatly. "He's been begging for control of the eastern docks since Father died. I refused. If he can't beat me in negotiation, he'll try to cripple me emotionally." His fist clenched. "He knows what she means to me."

Felix hesitated. "Then this might not just be a message, boss. This could be leverage."

Dante exhaled through his nose, the sound sharp. "He thinks he can use Victoria to force my hand?"

"He wants me to sign that  contract, the one tied to the Russians. So he can be trafficking young girls. He's aligning himself with them behind my back."

He turned toward the wall where a large painting of his father hung. His lip curled.

"You raised snakes, old man," he murmured. "And now they bite each other."

He picked up his jacket from the chair, ignoring the sting in his palm where the glass had cut deep. The pain grounded him, a reminder that weakness was a luxury he couldn't afford.

"Get the cars ready," he ordered. "And gather intel from the harbor. I want eyes everywhere. If Enzo touched her, I'll make him regret ever breathing my air."

He moved toward the door, but paused his reflection flickering in the window. For a fleeting second, guilt surfaced in his eyes.

You promised you'd protect her this time.

He pushed the thought away.

"This isn't about love anymore," he said under his breath. "This is war."

"Boss," Felix said again, voice cautious, "what if Enzo reaches out? Maybe this is his way of calling you to the table."

Dante smirked coldly. "Then he's about to learn that deals made in blood never end with signatures."

He stepped out, the mansion's massive doors swinging open as his convoy waited outside black cars lined up like soldiers in formation.

Engines roared to life, headlights slicing through the night as they sped down the long driveway.

"If it's truly Enzo... then Victoria's in more danger than she knows." One of the men muttered.

...

And far away, in the dim backroom of a cargo dock, a man poured himself a drink.

A silver ring gleamed on his finger the same crest Dante wore.

"Welcome back to the game, brother," Enzo murmured with a cold grin. "Let's see what your heart is worth."

Just as Dante approached the old mansion his phone rang.

"Don't bother searching for her" the person at the end of the line said.

"If anything happens to her you are going to regret it." Dante hissed.

"Quick track the call" he barked at his men who were in the car their devices all working to find Victoria.

"Boss we couldn't get anything" one answered.

The line ended with Enzo grinning widely seeing his brother show affection for something finally.

"So I was right it was you back then and now again" Enzo laughter filled the room.

"Let me go I mean nothing to him" Victoria hoarse voice screamed.

After being kidnapped she opened her eyes in this unknown place and the man in front of her had a similar look to Dante but he was more of a lesser version compared to the cold and handsome face of Dante.

"If Dante doesn't find me... I might never leave this place alive." Victoria's body tensed up.

"You don't know anything about Dante he's a stubborn person so if I have you then he'll do my bidding" Enzo had a disgusting smirk plastered on his face.

At the thought of being used against Dante Victoria shot up instantly " I'm telling you we've not seen each other for more than five years do you think I matter to him."

"We'd find out very sooner " enzo said.

"Looking at you now I see why my selfish brother could let you get married to that loser."

"Let me go he wouldn't come here I'm nothing to him" Victoria rambled on and on.

"Shut up!!" Enzo barked at her.

"You're a piece of shit kidnapping an innocent lady to threaten your brother" Victoria hauled curse at him.

"Tie her mouth" Enzo shouted at the bodyguard who quickly tied her up. She tried screaming only muffled groans escaped her lips till she finally quieted down .

"Know your place!" Enzo hissed. "In the Moretti family there's no such thing as fair play or how do you think we build wealth"

She sat there cold and tired. Earlier she hadn't touched her meal, the sound of her stomach growling made Enzo look at her.

"Get her something to eat she needs to survive till the deal is done" he called one of the bodyguards.

They brought the food shortly and the guard untied Victoria so she could eat freely.

"For your safety don't try anything funny" Enzo warned her.

"What can I do to all his hefty men here" Victoria hissed at him as she grabbed the spoon eating and stuffing her face.

This made Enzo smile remembering a girl who always ate like this stuffing her face but they were different worlds apart.

...

"Boss what do we now" one of Dante men asked seeing that all effort to trace Enzo was futile and their boss was beginning to act like a beast looking for who to devour.

"Keep searching call all our men search the sea side I know a few contact over there" Felix Dante right hand man stepped in only he knew the extent to which Victoria meant to Dante.

"Was I wrong for coming back for her should I have left her ?" He asked Felix.

"Could you stand seeing her marry to Kelvin?" Felix asked him. "We've known each other for years but right now I would say finding her was the best decision but if she had gotten married to him I'm sure you wouldn't be sane too."

"I promised to kill Enzo if he touched just even a strand of her hair" Dante gritted his teeth.

He pulled out his phone once more impatiently. He couldn't wait all day knowing the kind of brother he had.

He had wanted to mobilize the police but it seems they did more slower job compare to his team.

The line went through. "What do you want? If you dare harm her" Dante warned.

"Relax." Enzo's voice sharpened. "It's just a precaution. A conversation starter. You've been... avoiding me."

A conversation?" Dante spat. "You kidnapped an innocent woman."

"Innocent?" Enzo scoffed. "Nothing about your little  sweetheart is innocent anymore. She walked into the lion's den the moment she ran into Don of Moretti."

"In this family we have to fight for everything, We earn it how are you sure she can survive here don't you think the other members of Moretti family would want to see that?" Enzo laughed.

Dante swore under his breath, pacing. "If you hurt her...  she doesn't have to do anything to belong in the moretti family I can take care of my woman"

"Then stop threatening and start cooperating," Enzo cut in. "Father is gone now and someone has to handle that deal."

"Never! there's no way we are doing that trade this family has to be purged." Dante snapped at him.

"Purged? How do you think father made those money and the uncle in the family do they know about this great purge you're about to embark on?" Enzo voice raised making Victoria drop her spoon realizing she might have been the cause of this outburst.

The air thickened with tension.

Dante jaw tightened . "Bring her to me we can talk she has no business in this."

"You think I'm stupid?" Enzo laughed.

"Father always favored you. I'm just claiming what I deserve."

Enzo," Dante warned. "This isn't a deal. This is war you are about to start."

"Hm. No, brother. It's leverage."

A pause.

"Try to be smart. Or you'll pick up what's left of her in a box."

The call ended.

Felix stepped forward. "Boss..."

Dante lifted his head, eyes ice-cold, deadly calm.

"Enzo wants a war?"

"Boss, we found the location."

Dante's eyes lifted  cold, lethal.

"Prepare the men. Enzo goes down tonight."

Dante cold eyes scanned the room; after confirming the location, all the men geared up.

He had long closed that deal. He hated trafficking women even as a ruthless don. They were things he couldn't stand. After shipping women for years for his dad, after the burial, he cut all ties and closed the border, but now Enzo was trying to force him to hand over the deed.

"He thinks he could hide from me.""Gear up, everybody; we are raiding the warehouse, and someone call the police thirty minutes after we attack." Dante gave orders.

Felix nodded. "The men are already mobilized.."

Dante slammed the car door shut and stepped out into the open garage, the sound of engines roaring to life vibrating through the floor.

Every man in black stepped back the moment they saw him, Dante Moretti, calm but burning, the kind of calm that meant bodies would fall tonight

.

Felix came to his side with a tablet. "Warehouse by the old pier. Enzo has at least ten men inside."

"Ten men," Dante repeated, jaw ticking, "and one woman he shouldn't have touched."

He loaded his gun, clicked it once, then tucked it into his holster.

Once we get Victoria," Felix said, "what do you want us to do with Enzo?"

Dante didn't blink.

"Hold him down," he said.

"And leave the rest to me."

They waited for it to get dark. As Dante's men arrived, he could understand this little brother of his.

They'd just step over a field when the bomb activated.

"Fuck take cover!" Felix's loud voice rang as the bomb exploded, sending some of Dante men flying and wounding them.

"Thank God I never underestimated you," Dante hissed. A slight wound appeared on his shoulder, cloth torn

.

"The rest of us, we keep moving. Anyone injured should return." Dante grabbed his gun.

The explosion alerted Enzo and all the men inside.

The door suddenly burst open, one guard rushing in.

"Boss! Movement outside."

Enzo's lips curved into a grin. "Ah! Big brother is here."

Victoria tensed up instantly seeing the twisted smile on his face; her body surged with panic. "Why was he here? Would he risk his life for her?"

  Enzo walked toward Victoria, crouched in front of her, and pushed a strand of hair from her face.

"Time to see how much you're worth."

Victoria jerked back, disgusted. "Don't touch me!"

He chuckled. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Dante will get here before anything happens." "But after he hands over what I want... that's when the real fun begins."

Before Victoria could react, a deafening BOOM shook the building.

Lights flickered.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

Gunfire exploded outside.

The guards scrambled.

"HE'S HERE!" someone yelled.

Enzo's smirk vanished.

He grabbed Victoria, pointing his gun at her head as he held her closer to his body.

"Kill anyone that dares trespass.." Enzo barked orders at his men.

...

Dante's first shot had already been fired at someone who had jumped at him.

There was no turning back. His eyes scanned the empty room and some people who were locked up.

"Release everyone," he said to Felix.

"This is not why we are here," Felix coughed through the smoke.

"I know, but you know how much I hate seeing people get sold." "Fine," Felix nodded, giving the go-ahead as all the cages tore open one by one.

Dante already headed for the basement while Enzo dragged Victoria out of the basement.

"We must find her and not mistakenly shoot at her." Another shot at him from the balcony.

Dante didn't hesitate, one clean bullet between the eyes.

"Boss, be careful; Enzo is close by." Felix had already caught up to him.

Felix  slammed the door open violently.

Victoria stood there, eyes widened.

Their eyes met. Dante wanted to rush over, squeezing her in a tight hug.

"Dante..." she whispered.

He crossed the room in two strides, grabbing her face gently but desperately.

"Are you hurt?" he rasped.

She shook her head, tears burning her eyes. "I'm... I'm okay."

His forehead rested against hers for a second.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Just then Dante realized Enzo was missing.

"Looking for me?" Enzo's voice rang behind Dante.

"Not another step, brother," Enzo smirked.

"Or I shoot your little weakness."

Dante's entire body stiffened.

"Enzo," he warned, voice shaking with rage. "Put the gun down."

Enzo's finger tightened on the trigger.

"Let's see," he whispered,

"how much Victoria is worth to you."