Dante“What the fuck do you mean, she’s gone?” I demanded.Megan had knocked on the dorm room door before I had my fucking coffee and she was hysterical.“She wouldn’t listen to me. Mr. Xavier came, they packed her stuff, and they left.”“This happened last night and you’re just here now?”It was sinking in. Chaney left. I fucking pushed it with her and she ran. Fuck, fuck, fuck.“Mr. Xavier threatened me. He said I wasn’t to leave the room or use my cell until this morning. I came here sooner than I should have. She wouldn’t listen to anything I said. Nothing.”I stormed into my room, grabbed my uniform, and got dressed. I then stormed to Rochester’s administration office.“Get me in touch with Mr. Xavier,” I demanded to the poor secretary who shouldn’t have had a clue what was going on.“He’s waiting for you in the back office on the right.”The fuck!I marched in, throwing the door open. Mr. Xavier was looking outside the window and slowly turned.“Have a seat, Mr. Laterza.”“I am

ChaneyI was not happy but I was at peace. I’d finally decided to take charge of my own destiny. I was sixteen and that was a huge problem.Mr. Xavier smoothed the way once he knew what I needed, or demanded was more like it. His lips twitched after that talk. It was the closest I’d come to a smile when he wasn’t with Madison and Brightly.I had to be emancipated. It required a judge. In less than a week it happened. Financials were turned over to me and I spent another week discovering how rich I was and what all the investments were. It boggled the mind and I didn’t understand half of it. I knew someone who would—no, not Dante, but Caine. He would tear through the info and have a plan in hours not days or weeks.I started looking at real estate. I narrowed my search to California, Colorado, and Oregon. I needed to be as far from the families as possible. I also needed to be safe. I started looking into security and came up empty. I talked to Mr. Xavier on one of his visits. I’d leas

DanteCaine, shook up, which almost dragged a smile out of me, deleted his first. I thought of Chaney and her record. It would have been fun to do this together. There were calls with my father in the record. It was sad to lose them but I knew why he sent me here. I knew why he was proud of me. I hit delete.Graduation was bittersweet without my father. Caine’s family came and cheered me as their own. They would have rooms inside the house along with Caine and his sisters whom I met for the first time. Rosa, the older of the two, was a firecracker. She was starting Rochester the following school year. Caine told me she was the smartest in their family and it boggled my mind that there was an order to their brilliance. It would be interesting.Caine would be my consigliere and right hand. When I had money to oversee, he would take on that role too. His father wanted to run the house and that surprised the hell out of me.“He wants to keep an eye on me and he’s growing lazy in his old a

ChaneyHouse hunting and organizing my life were not as easy as I expected. I missed Dante. Mr. Xavier came to speak with me after the reading of the will to inform me I was richer than I had been the day before.I was shocked.He also gave me a letter. It was from Dante’s father.“Miss Gimonde,” it read. “I’m the one who ordered you found and sent Mr. Xavier after you. Your safety was my only concern. Your money posed a problem and it’s important you know it was the only reason I wanted you kept from Dante. He loves you and will not be complete until you go to him. Do not disappoint me. I’m proud to call you daughter. Take care of my son.”“You have decisions to make,” Mr. Xavier said.“No.” I looked up at him. “There is no decision. Dante needs me.”It was that easy.Things moved slow. I had to wait until after graduation to go to him. I didn’t know why but I did not want to return to Rochester. I was my own woman now and I’d taken what I could from the school and would use it throu

DanteI lived through the never-ending greetings and social family shit. This was designed for an older generation because even my bow tie of the damned tux bothered the fuck out of me. I needed time alone with my wife.I knew where Chaney wanted to be right now so after the receiving line inside the monstrous tent, I led her to her family.Her nephew was all she saw until I introduced her to his parents.“This is Rack and Beth.”Tears appeared in her eyes and Beth pulled her in for a huge hug.“None of that on your wedding day. Meet Carson Andrew, your nephew who tried to steal the show at your wedding.”Chaney went to her knees and spoke to him directly.“Thank you for carrying my ring. It’s very shiny and you did a good job.”His chin came up slightly.“I was bestest,” he said firmly with a solid shake of his head.“You were to walk straight down the center of the aisle and hand the ring off, not try to put it in your pocket,” his father said.Rack was his name. I knew he wasn’t Ca