Chapter 4 - The Golden CageBy sunrise, my old life in Dundalk felt like a ghost story I used to tell children.
I no longer folded sheets in a damp basement. Instead, I was given a private suite on the second floor of the Vescari manor—a sprawling, elegant room with velvet curtains, a marble bathroom, and a reinforced steel door that locked from both the inside and the outside.
Dante Vescari didn't do things halfway. When he claimed something, he built a fortress around it.
Marcus called me at seven in the morning, his voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and pure joy. He told me the principal had personally called him into the office to inform him that his tuition was fully covered for the next three years, and that our overdue rent had vanished into thin air.
“Rosie, who did this?” Marcus asked over the phone, the line crackling with static. “Did you win the lottery? Are we in trouble?”
“I got a promotion, Marc,” I lied, looking out the tall arched window at the manicured gardens where two armed guards patrolled the perimeter. Titan sat by the glass, watching them with cold, intelligent eyes. “Everything is fine. Just focus on your classes.”
I hung up just as a soft knock echoed at my door.
It wasn't Dante. It was Elena, the head housekeeper, carrying a tray of expensive silk clothing and a sleek, encrypted burner phone.
“Mr. Vescari’s orders,” Elena said, her face expressionless. “You are to accompany him to a summit tonight at the Harbor House. You are officially introduced as his personal consultant. Wear the emerald dress. It matches your eyes.”
May you like
I looked at the dress, then down at Titan, who let out a low huff of breath and laid his chin across my bare foot.
A prisoner in silk. That’s what I was. But as I traced the old scars on Titan’s head, I knew one thing for certain: if anyone thought they could use me to get to Dante—or use Dante to destroy my brother—they had no idea what kind of monster they were waking up.
