Chapter 6 - The Golden Cage
The black Lincoln Navigator glided through the iron security gates of the Central Park West residential tower with the silent, effortless grace of a tank.
Naomi sat stiffly in the leather backseat, her arms wrapped tightly around Lily, who was peering out the tinted windows with wide, fascinated eyes.
“Is this a castle, Mommy?” Lily whispered, pressing her small nose against the glass as the vehicle pulled into the private underground subterranean garage.
“Something like that, bug,” Naomi swallowed hard, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
When the private elevator opened directly into the sprawling, penthouse foyer, Naomi felt as though she had stepped out of a time machine and right back into a nightmare. Nothing had changed. The minimalist white marble floors, the towering floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking the glowing autumn canopy of Central Park, the modern minimalist art—it was all exactly as she had left it five years ago.
Except now, there were toys.
Before Naomi could even process the shock, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes and a sensible grey cardigan stepped out from the hallway, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw them.
“Mr. Moretti,” the woman gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as her eyes drifted to Naomi, and then down to Lily. “Oh, sweet saints...”
“Mrs. Gable,” Dominic said smoothly, shrugging off his heavy overcoat and handing it to a waiting valet who materialized from thin air. “Prepare the master suite wing for Miss Ellis. And set up the guest room next to mine for Lily.”
“Dominic, no!” Naomi stepped forward, her voice sharp with panic. “We are not staying in your bedroom wing! We are staying in a hotel, or we are going back to Brooklyn tonight—”
Dominic turned his head slowly, fixing her with a gaze that made the air in the room heavy and electric. “You are not going anywhere, Naomi. Try to leave, and I will have every exit of this building monitored by armed security. You can live here as my partner, or you can live here as a prisoner under 24-hour guard. Choose.”
Naomi glared at him, her chest heaving with fury. “You arrogant, tyrannical bastard.”
“Accurate,” Dominic replied without a flicker of remorse. He knelt down to Lily’s eye level, his expression instantly transforming into something remarkably gentle. “Lily, how would you like to see your new room? It has a window big enough to see all the yellow taxis in New York.”
Lily’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “Can I draw them?”
“You can draw whatever you want,” Dominic smiled, extending a large hand. Lily grabbed it eagerly, letting the dangerous crime lord lead her down the hallway as if he were an ordinary, doting father taking his kid to an amusement park.
May you like
Mrs. Gable walked over to Naomi, offering a sympathetic, tired smile. “He’s changed, Miss Ellis. In some ways. For five years, this place was a tomb. He didn't let anyone in. He didn't sleep. He just worked and hunted for you.”
Naomi watched the broad silhouette of Dominic disappearing down the hall with their daughter, a cold knot twisting in her stomach. “He hasn't changed, Mrs. Gable,” she whispered bitterly. “He’s just added new walls to his cage.”
