Chapter 11 - The Golden Cage and the Velvet Chain
The transition from a cramped Manhattan studio apartment to a sprawling sixteenth-century villa in Tuscany came with perks that defied imagination, yet it felt like stepping into an elaborate, gilded terrarium. My mornings no longer started with the shriek of subway brakes and the smell of roasting espresso beans at six in the morning. Instead, they began with the gentle chirping of swallows outside my window, sunlight spilling across Tuscan silk sheets, and the quiet tread of house staff leaving a tray of fresh fruit and espresso outside my door.
Yet, freedom in Alessandro’s world was a carefully curated illusion.
Two days after the purge of Vance and the stabilization of the estate, I found myself sitting in the grand sunroom trying to read a paperback novel. Every time I looked up, one of Alessandro’s personal guards—usually Marco or a taciturn giant named Matteo—was stationed discreetly by the archway.
The door swung open, and Alessandro walked in. He had shed his tactical gear for a bespoke charcoal suit, though the top button of his shirt remained open, revealing the faint, jagged scar left by a knife fight years ago. He looked like an aristocratic prince who moonlit as an executioner.
"You look restless, mia cara," Alessandro noted, his deep voice carrying a melodic amusement as he walked over and pressed a soft kiss to the crown of my head.
"Restless?" I closed the book, looking up at him with a pointed look. "Alessandro, I haven’t stepped foot outside the estate gates in two weeks. Even royalty gets to visit the grocery store."
"The grocery store does not have rival syndicates offering a seven-figure bounty for your head just to spite me," he replied smoothly, sitting on the arm of my chair and trailing a warm finger down my cheek.
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"So I'm a prisoner with a view," I countered, though my resolve melted slightly at the touch of his hand.
"You are a queen behind high stone walls," he corrected softly, his dark eyes darkening with intense affection. "And soon, the world will know it. Tonight, we go to Rome."
