Chapter 4 - The Golden Cage"I am not going anywhere with you, Damian."
I stood in the center of the expansive, heavily fortified penthouse suite overlooking San Francisco Bay, my arms crossed tightly over my chest. Outside the bulletproof floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights flickered across the dark water. Inside, the room felt like a gilded cage.
After the ambush at the boutique, Damian hadn't given me a choice. His bodyguards had gently—but firmly—escorted me into an armored SUV, whisking me away from my quiet Carmel cottage before I could grab a single bag.
Now, I was trapped in the very fortress I had spent eleven months plotting to escape.
Damian stood by the wet bar, pouring a glass of amber scotch. He hadn't changed out of his dust-and-blood-stained suit. He looked dangerous, untamed, and entirely unyielding.
"You think you have a choice?" Damian asked softly, swirling the liquor in his crystal glass without looking at me. "You were living in a rundown cottage, Isabella, eating canned soup, hiding behind a fake name, and buying cribs in public shops where any rival assassin could have put a bullet through your head. You failed at hiding."
"I was doing fine until you showed up!" I snapped, stepping forward, my maternal fury boiling over. "I protected myself and our baby just fine! You're the one who attracts targets wherever you go! Every enemy you've ever made wants you dead, Damian, and now they know about the baby. If I stay here, my son becomes a permanent target!"
Damian slammed his glass down on the marble counter. The crystal cracked under the force.
He crossed the room in two long strides, grabbing me by the shoulders—not roughly, but with an inescapable, possessive grip that left no room for argument. His face was inches from mine, his dark eyes burning with an intense, terrifying devotion.
"Listen to me very carefully, Isabella," he whispered, his voice dangerously low. "You are carrying the future of the Moretti dynasty. You think you can run from me? You think some quaint little coastal town can hide you from my reach? I found you in less than twenty minutes once my intelligence network picked up a whisper of a pregnant woman buying security furniture."
"You... you were looking for me?" I whispered, my breath catching.
"Every single day for eleven months," Damian confessed, his voice breaking slightly before hardening back into steel. "I tore cities apart looking for your body. When I found out you weren't in the wreckage, I searched the entire globe. I didn't care about the syndicate, I didn't care about the turf wars. I only wanted my wife back."
I swallowed hard, fighting the traitorous warmth blooming in my chest. I couldn't let him charm me. I knew what the Moretti world demanded.
"And what happens when the baby is born, Damian?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Do you raise him to hold a gun? Do you teach him how to kill rival bosses before he's old enough to drive? Is that the life you want for our son?"
Damian’s jaw tightened. He looked away, staring out at the dark bay for a long moment before looking back down at me.
"The world we live in is brutal, Bella," he said grimly. "But with me protecting him, no one will ever lay a finger on him. Starting tonight, you aren't leaving this penthouse. You have the best doctors, the best security, and everything you could ever want."
"A golden cage is still a prison," I whispered bitterly.
"Call it whatever you want," Damian replied, stepping back and turning toward the double doors. "You're safe here. And that's all that matters."
May you like
As the heavy oak doors clicked shut and locked from the outside, I sank down onto the edge of the king-sized bed, clutching my stomach.
I need a plan, I thought. A real plan. Because waiting here for Damian's enemies to breach this fortress is a death sentence.
