Chapter 5 - The Golden Cage
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The penthouse suite of the Moretti estate was a sprawling fortress of marble, glass, and dark leather. Sophia sat on a plush sofa, watching Emma play with a set of expensive wooden blocks Alessandro had ordered specifically for her.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the Manhattan skyline glittered against the dark night sky.
Heavy, armed guards stood outside the penthouse doors. Sophia had never felt so rich, and yet so entirely trapped.
At 11:00 PM, the heavy double doors unlocked. Alessandro walked in. He was dressed in black tactical gear, a heavy Kevlar vest strapped tightly over his broad chest, and twin handguns holstered at his thighs. He looked like a god of war.
Sophia stood up immediately, her heart hammering against her ribs.
“You look like you’re going to a war zone,” she breathed.
“I am,” Alessandro said, walking over to a hidden wall safe to retrieve extra magazines. “Vincent sold out my location for tonight. The Vipers are waiting in ambush at the docks. They think they are going to execute me.”
“Are you sure you should go?” Sophia asked, stepping closer. The thought of this man—the man who had shown her daughter such unexpected tenderness—bleeding out on a cold concrete dock made her stomach twist in genuine agony.
Alessandro paused, looking down at her. He reached out, his gloved hand gently cupping her jaw.
“I have survived in this life for twenty years because I do not run from ambushes, Sophia. I turn them around.”
“Please be careful,” she whispered, leaning slightly into his touch without thinking.
Alessandro’s eyes darkened, the fierce mob boss momentarily melting into something raw and vulnerable.
“If things go wrong tonight,” Alessandro said softly, “there is a briefcase under the bed in the guest room. It contains new identities, passports, and five million dollars in untraceable cash. If I do not return by dawn, my men have orders to fly you and Emma to Switzerland. You will be safe. I swear it.”
“I don't want the money,” Sophia said fiercely, surprising herself. “I want you to come back.”
A slow, devastating smirk spread across Alessandro’s face.
“Then I will come back,” he promised.
May you like
He leaned down and pressed a hard, fast kiss to her forehead, then turned and strode out of the penthouse, the heavy steel doors locking ominously behind him.
Sophia sank back onto the sofa, pulling a sleeping Emma into her lap. She stared at the clock on the mantle, praying to a God she hadn't spoken to in years. The countdown had begun.
