Chapter 3 Someone Is Watching
POV: Annabelle
The hand clamped down over my lower face, choking off my attempt to scream, so I immediately kicked back as hard as I could, driving my heel straight into the attacker's shin. He let out a muffled groan and loosened his hold just enough for me to sink my teeth directly into his fingers, making him swear and pull his arm back, which gave me the split second I needed to wrench myself free, throw my body against the lock, and yank the door open into the hallway.
"Help! Someone is in my room!" I screamed into the corridor, running toward the main stairs while my voice echoed off the walls.
Two campus security guards came rushing around the landing with flashlights drawn, shouting, "Miss, stop right there, what happened?"
"There's a man inside my dorm," I gasped, pointing back toward my open door while my chest heaved, "he broke in, cut the lights, and grabbed me from behind."
"Stay here while we check it out," the older guard ordered, both of them moving past me with their lights raised, but when they stepped inside, the room was empty, and the window leading to the fire escape was wide open.
"He's gone, miss," the guard said, coming back out into the hall, "looks like he dropped down the metal ladder before we reached the floor."
Before I could reply, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Dante appeared at the end of the hallway, moving past the security guards like they weren't even standing there and coming straight up to me.
"Are you hurt?" Dante asked, taking my face in both of his hands and turning my head side to side while his thumb gently wiped a smudged mark off my cheekbone, his touch sending an unexpected jolt of heat through my skin.
"Get your hands off me, Dante," I said, pushing his chest back, though my heart was hammering so hard against my ribs that I could barely maintain my composure. "How did you get up here so fast, and how did you even know I was in trouble?"
"Answer me first, Annabelle," Dante said, his dark eyes searching my face with a terrifying intensity as he refused to give me any personal space, "did that bastard lay a hand on you?"
"I'm fine, but you need to answer my question right now," I demanded, glaring up at him while the guards stood behind him looking confused. "Were you watching me again?"
"I've had my men stationed outside your dorm building since the day your father died," Dante admitted without an ounce of hesitation, leaning down slightly so his face was inches from mine.
"You've been spying on me for three whole months?" I asked, a wave of anger washing over me as I took a half-step back against the wall, feeling completely exposed. "How could you do that without telling me, and what gives you the right to track my every move?"
"I did it because every single person connected to your father's investigation is disappearing, Annabelle," Dante said, his voice dropping low enough that only I could hear his words. "A university professor who helped your father examine company receipts vanished last month, a city auditor who took his call went missing two weeks ago, and a student council member asking questions about campus funds disappeared three days ago."
"Wait, a professor and a student from this school?" I asked, staring up at him as the pieces started fitting together. "Are you saying my father's death is actually tied to this university?"
"Yes, and that's why you are coming with me tonight," Dante said, catching my arm with a firm grip and steering me toward the stairwell.
"I am not going anywhere with you," I argued, trying to pull away from his hold, but he held on easily, his large body completely blocking my path to the hallway.
"You aren't staying in a room with a broken lock, and I am not letting you out of my sight after someone just put their hands on you," Dante said, his gaze locking onto mine with an arrogant authority that left no room for debate, "so you can walk down these stairs on your own feet, or I can carry you out to my car."
"You are unbearable," I snapped, but the sheer size of him and the sharp, protective line of his jaw made a strange, reluctant warmth settle in my stomach, forcing me to let him lead me down to his black SUV.
He opened the passenger door, helped me inside, and drove us straight to his private apartment complex near the edge of the campus, leading me inside his top-floor suite and locking the heavy door behind us.
"Sit on the couch," Dante ordered, taking off his coat and walking into the kitchen area before returning with a damp cloth and a glass of water.
"I told you I'm fine," I said, but as I reached for the glass, my hands started shaking so violently that Dante sat down right beside me on the cushion, taking the glass from my hands and setting it on the table before taking my wrists into his palms.
"Hold still, Annabelle," he murmured, his voice surprisingly gentle as he used the damp cloth to clean a small cut on the side of my hand that I hadn't even noticed getting during the fight.
His fingers were warm against my skin, and standing this close to him under the soft apartment light, I couldn't ignore how handsome he was, or how safe I felt despite knowing exactly who his family was. I looked up, catching his dark eyes staring directly at my lips before he met my gaze, the tension between us growing so thick that neither of us moved for a long moment.
"I don't like you controlling everything I do," I whispered, breaking the silence while my chest rose and fell fast.
"I don't care if you like it, sweetheart," Dante replied, his thumb brushing over the soft skin of my wrist before he let go and stood up, "as long as it keeps you alive."
He insisted I take the bedroom while he stayed in the main living space, but I barely slept, sitting up against the headboard until the morning light finally showed through the window. By eight in the morning, Dante drove me back to campus so I could grab my books, but as soon as we stepped into the main plaza, students were staring, whispering, and looking at their phones as we walked past.
I pulled out my phone, opening the campus forum to find leaked photos of me standing close to Dante outside the chapel last night, with the caption claiming I was secretly sleeping with the Moretti heir to cover up my father's debts.
"Ignore them," Dante said, stepping up right behind me, his proximity making it clear to everyone watching that he was standing with me.
"I need to get my books from my locker," I said, walking fast toward the library hallway while Dante kept pace beside me, ignoring the glares from the other students.
I unlocked my locker door and pulled it open, but as I reached inside, a photograph fell from between my textbooks, sliding face-up onto the floor right at my shoes.
I bent down and picked it up, my blood running completely cold as I looked at the image, which showed me lying asleep in my dorm bed last night, shot from a high angle right inside my room. I flipped the paper over with trembling fingers, reading the handwritten message on the back: You still haven't found me.
Dante leaned over my shoulder, his jaw clenching as he saw the picture, but my stomach twisted into a knot for an entirely different reason, because I knew for a fact that this photo was taken after campus security searched my room and declared it completely empty.
