Page 93 of Blood Vows

Dante stopped. “And what did you find?”

“Crimson Holdings subsidiary,” Marco said.

Elena looked sick. “So technically my company paid the men trying to kill me.”

Marco grimaced. “Technically.”

Dante muttered, “I hate that word—technically.”

“Same,” Marco said, inserting the flash drive into an isolated computer. Everyone waited, and it felt as though the room was holding its collective breath. A password prompt appeared, and Marco sighed. “Encrypted,” he said.

“Can you break it?” Elena asked.

Marco looked insulted. “Again, it’s not my first rodeo.”

“How long will it take?” Luca asked.

“Depends on how paranoid your father was,” Marco said.

Dante glanced at Elena. “Very paranoid,” she breathed.

“Then give me a little while,” he said. They left him to work. Dante followed Elena into the kitchen. She reached for water, and he noticed that her hands were shaking again. He took the glass from her before she dropped it.

“I can hold a glass,” she insisted.

“I know,” he whispered.

“Then why did you just take it from me?” she asked.

“Because I wanted to help,” he said. That stopped her argument. Dante filled the glass and handed it back to her. She drank as he watched her. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Elena.

“You’re hovering,” she grumbled.

“Yes,” he agreed. “I am.”

“You know most people find that annoying,” she warned.

“I’m not most people,” he said.

“No argument there.” She set the glass down. “Dante.” He knew that tone—she was going to be serious.

“What?” he asked.

“Whatever happens with Hale, you cannot lose control,” she said.

His expression hardened. “I don’t lose control.” She looked at him, and he sighed. “Very often.”

“He knows how to get to you now,” she said.

“No, he knows how to get to you,” he countered.

“That gets to you.” Dante stared at her. Damn woman saw too much. “If he threatens me⁠—”

“He dies,” Dante simply said.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Elena said.

“Elena—” he started.