Chapter 3 - The Cage with Golden Bars
The estate was a fortress disguised as a billionaire’s playground.
For the next two days, I was trapped in a gilded cage. I explored every inch of the guest suite, the grand library with its two-story mahogany bookshelves, and the expansive marble terrace overlooking Lake Geneva. Everywhere I went, two silent men in charcoal suits followed twenty paces behind.
Matteo Vale was always nearby, leaning against doorframes, his scarred face unreadable, his hand resting casually near his jacket holster.
"You can stop glaring at me, Doc," Matteo said on the third afternoon, handing me a glass of iced water on the terrace. "I'm just the babysitter."
"You put a gun to my head, Matteo," I said coldly, refusing to take the glass.
"And you saved the Boss’s life anyway," he replied, setting the glass on the wrought-iron table. A rare, crooked grin broke his harsh features. "Most men would have pissed their pants. You yelled at me to get out of your light. Around here, that buys you a lot of respect."
"I don't want your respect. I want my life back. I want my rounds at the hospital."
"Your rounds are covered," a deep voice interrupted.
Dante stepped onto the terrace. He was dressed in a tailored navy suit, looking every inch the ruthless corporate titan. He carried a tablet computer and handed it to me.
On the screen was an official press release from Lakefront Memorial:
*Dr. Stella Caroline, Senior Surgical Fellow, has been awarded an indefinite prestigious humanitarian fellowship grant to conduct advanced trauma research abroad.*
"You forged this?" I gasped.
"I own forty percent of the hospital’s board of trustees," Dante said smoothly, dismissing Matteo with a flick of his fingers. Matteo nodded and vanished inside. Dante sat across from me, unbuttoning his suit jacket. "Nobody is looking for you, Stella. No police, no curious colleagues. You are entirely off the radar."
"You control everything, don't you?" I spat, anger burning through my veins. "People’s careers, their lives, their deaths. You sit up here in your castle and treat human beings like chess pieces!"
Dante leaned back, studying me with an intensity that made the fine hairs on my arms stand up.
"In my world, Stella, if you don't control the board, you end up in an unmarked grave before you turn thirty. My father tried to be merciful once. It got him poisoned. I don't make the same mistakes."
"And what about me? Am I a piece you're going to sacrifice when you get what you want?"
He went utterly still. The air between us grew thick, charged with a magnetic, dangerous tension. Dante reached out, his long fingers capturing my chin again. This time, I didn't pull away. His grip wasn't brutal; it was firm, possessing, and electric.
"I don't destroy things that belong to me," he murmured, his thumb lightly tracing the curve of my lower lip.
My heart hammered violently against my ribs. "I don't belong to you, Dante."
"You pulled my soul back from the edge of hell, Doctor," he whispered, leaning in so close I could feel the heat radiating from his chest, could see the tiny gold flecks in his cold gray eyes. "Every breath I take right now exists because of your hands. That makes you mine. Whether you like it or not."
Before I could find the words to strike back, a loud chime echoed from his encrypted smartphone.
Dante released me, his jaw tightening as he glanced at the display.
May you like
"The bank vault is prepped," he said, the warmth instantly evaporating from his demeanor, replaced by cold tactical focus. "Tomorrow morning at nine. You and I are going into the Loop."
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