Chapter 2 - The Velvet Cage
The black SUV smelled like expensive leather and dangerous secrets.
I sat in the back seat, utterly frozen, while Leo slept peacefully with his head resting over my heart.
Dante sat across from me in the darkness, the streetlights flashing over his scarred face in a rhythmic, hypnotic pattern.
We had been driving for thirty minutes, leaving the crowded city streets for the winding, isolated roads of the high hills.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, my voice barely louder than the hum of the engine.
"To the only place where he is safe," Dante replied, his gaze never leaving my face.
"My mother will call the police if I don't come home."
A dark, humorless smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"The police in this city work for me, Mara."
"If your mother calls them, they will simply tell her that you took a highly lucrative nanny position."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick envelope, tossing it onto the seat beside me.
"There is enough cash in there to pay off her mortgage and keep her comfortable for five years."
I stared at the money like it was a venomous snake.
"I don't want your blood money."
"I just want to go home."
The baby shifted in his sleep, his tiny hand instinctively gripping my shirt tighter.
Dante leaned forward, the shadows catching the sharp angles of his jaw.
"My wife died eight months ago in a fire that was meant for me."
"Since that day, Leo has not smiled, he has barely eaten, and he screams when anyone tries to hold him."
"Tonight, he laughed."
"He laughed for you."
I looked down at the soft, blonde hair of the mafia boss's son.
"I am not her," I whispered, tears finally burning the edges of my eyes.
"I know you are not Elena," Dante said, his voice dropping into a harsh, broken register.
"But you have her face, and you have her voice, and for now, that is enough."
The heavy iron gates of a massive estate loomed out of the fog ahead of us.
Armed men with attack dogs patrolled the perimeter of the stone walls.
May you like
"Welcome to your new home," Dante said as the gates swung open.
"Do not try to run."
