Chapter 3 - The Dangerous Offer
Sophia stepped back instinctively, her spine hitting the edge of a mahogany bookcase. "If you want us gone, just say the word. We’ll pack our bags tonight. In the rain, in the dark—it doesn't matter. Just let us leave."
Lorenzo didn't answer right away. He walked around the desk, his leather shoes clicking sharply against the floorboards. He stopped a few feet away from her, close enough that she could smell the faint scent of rain and cedar on his clothes. He looked down at her with a chilling, clinical detachment.
"Leaving is easy, Miss Carter. Too easy," Lorenzo said softly. "The moment you walk out these gates, every rival family in the city will be watching. They know my men vetted you. They know you live under this roof. If you walk out into the street tomorrow morning, someone will pick you up within three blocks just to see what you know about the inner workings of this house."
"I don't know anything!" Sophia protested, her voice rising in panic. "I clean rooms! I wash linens! I don't care about your business!"
"They won't believe that," Lorenzo replied with absolute, crushing certainty. "And neither would I, if I were in their position."
A heavy silence settled between them, broken only by the angry howling of the wind against the reinforced glass. Sophia felt the trap close around her. She had thought her biggest danger was surviving poverty in New York; she now realized she had walked straight into the lion's den.
"Then what do you want?" she whispered, staring up at him, her eyes flashing with a sudden, desperate defiance. "Are you going to keep us here as prisoners?"
A strange, dark flicker crossed Lorenzo's face—gone as quickly as it appeared, like a shadow passing over deep water.
May you like
"You stay," he said quietly. "You keep the east wing spotless. And your daughter stays out of my sight. But starting tomorrow, you work an extra shift. You manage the private archives on the third floor. It keeps you locked away from prying eyes, and it keeps you safe."
Before Sophia could process the command, he turned his back to her, dismissing her with a flick of his wrist. "Go back to bed, Miss Carter. The storm is only getting started."
