The hospital was quiet.
Too quiet.
Not the peaceful kind of silence.
It was the kind that comes after something violent has already happened.
Dante stood alone in one of the private hospital rooms.
He wore a fresh shirt. His hands were clean.
There was no more blood on his skin.
He looked exactly the way Leo wanted him to look.
And yet… Leo had not called for him yet.
Dante looked at himself in the mirror.
He didn't look like a powerful Boss. He looked like a man waiting for a sign.
A soft knock came at the door.
"Enter," Dante said, his voice deep and steady.
Etienne stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind him.
"Boss… he still hasn't asked to see you," Etienne said.
"I know," Dante replied, his eyes fixed on the mirror.
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Etienne hesitated, then spoke again. "I'm going to go talk to him."
Dante's gaze sharpened. "That is not your place, Etienne."
"No," Etienne agreed. "But it is my job to look after this family."
He looked at Dante's clean hands. "He is punishing you for something you didn't do."
"I wasn't injured," Dante said firmly.
"I know that," Etienne replied. "And he needs to know that too."
Without waiting for another word, Etienne walked out of the room.
Leo was in his office, the lights dimmed low.
Files were spread across his desk—reports of the men who almost died tonight.
Because of the war. Because of Dante's world.
A knock sounded on his door. "Enter," Leo said without looking up.
"I thought I told everyone to leave me alone," Leo added, his voice cold.
"This isn't about the hospital," Etienne said. "It's about him."
Leo paused. Slowly, he looked up and met Etienne's eyes.
"If you are here to defend him, don't waste your breath," Leo said calmly.
Etienne stepped closer to the desk. "I'm not here to defend him."
A pause. "I'm here to tell you the truth. He wasn't hurt, Leo."
Leo didn't move. He didn't even blink.
"He followed your order," Etienne continued. "He ended the fight fast."
Still, Leo said nothing.
"You are punishing him like he failed you," Etienne added.
Leo's fingers tightened on the edge of a file.
"I know he wasn't injured," Leo said softly.
Etienne froze. "What?"
Leo stood up slowly and walked around his desk.
"You think I don't know the difference between his blood and someone else's?"
Leo's voice was low, but it was heavy with emotion.
"I am a doctor, Etienne. I saw the truth the second he walked in."
Etienne looked confused. "Then why are you doing this to him?"
Leo's calm mask finally cracked. He looked at the medical charts on his desk.
"Do you know what I saw tonight?" Leo asked, his voice shaking.
"I saw men bleeding out in my hallway. I saw bodies torn apart by bullets."
He looked at Etienne with raw, beautiful eyes.
"And I realized… this is his world. This is what he does every day."
Etienne stayed silent, listening to the pain in Leo's voice.
"You think I'm angry because he disobeyed me?" Leo whispered.
Leo shook his head. "No. I'm angry because one day… he won't come back."
The words felt like a physical blow in the quiet office.
Leo exhaled a shaky breath. "You think ignoring him is easy for me?"
He gave a small, bitter smile. "You think this makes me happy?"
Leo shook his head again. "It doesn't. It terrifies me."
"But if I don't do this," Leo continued, "he will never stop."
Leo stepped closer to Etienne. "He fights like his life doesn't matter."
"I need him to understand that it does matter. To me."
Leo's voice dropped to a dark, sexy whisper. "I need him to know someone is waiting."
"I know I can't change who he is. He is built for war."
"But he can learn one thing," Leo said, his gaze turning sharp again.
"He can learn to come back to me alive."
Silence followed. Etienne spoke softly. "So this is how you teach him?"
Leo looked toward the door, thinking of Dante waiting down the hall.
"Yes. Because if I say it softly… he won't listen."
Etienne let out a slow breath and nodded. "I understand."
He turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "He's still waiting, you know."
Leo didn't answer, but his hand pressed against his chest, right over his heart.
"And for a man like Dante… waiting is the hardest thing in the world," Etienne said.
Then, Etienne walked out.
He found Dante exactly where he had left him, standing tall and silent.
"Well?" Dante asked.
Etienne looked at his Boss for a long moment.
"You're not in trouble, Boss," Etienne said quietly.
"You're just loved by someone who is too afraid to lose you."
Dante didn't move. He didn't say a word.
But something in his eyes changed. The coldness vanished.
For the first time that night, Dante didn't feel like a monster.
He felt seen. He felt loved.