Chapter 2 - The Gilded Cage
"No, Daddy, she saved me!" the little girl cried out hysterically.
The mafia boss stopped dead in his tracks, his broad shoulders stiffening instantly.
He slowly turned his head to look at his frantic daughter.
"She kept me warm all night when the bad men left me here," Elara sobbed loudly.
He stared at me for a long, calculating moment, his dark eyes analyzing every inch of my terrified face.
He raised a single hand, and the armed men instantly lowered their deadly weapons.
"Bring her with us," he commanded coldly before disappearing into the back of a luxury SUV.
Two massive guards grabbed me roughly by the arms and dragged me out into the freezing morning air.
They threw me forcefully into the back of a separate vehicle with tinted windows.
The drive was completely silent and terrifyingly fast.
We arrived at a massive, sprawling stone estate hidden behind tall iron gates and heavily armed patrols.
I was shoved out of the vehicle and marched directly up the marble steps into the grand mansion.
They locked me inside a lavish guest bedroom on the second floor with no explanation.
I paced the expensive hardwood floor for three agonizing hours, wondering if I was going to survive the day.
The heavy mahogany door finally clicked open, and a middle-aged man carrying a black medical bag walked inside.
He locked the door quietly behind him and offered me a small, reassuring smile.
"Elara is resting comfortably now, thanks to you keeping her core temperature stable," he whispered softly.
I let out a heavy sigh of absolute relief.
"Will her father let me go home now?" I asked hopefully.
The doctor's friendly face instantly fell into a mask of pure dread.
He stepped closer to me, constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure the hallway was empty.
"Dante is not going to let you leave this property alive, Maya."
I stared at him in complete shock, wondering how he even knew my name.
"The men who took Elara yesterday were secretly hired by Dante's own younger brother," the doctor confessed quietly.
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"And Marcus has already convinced Dante that you were the mastermind behind the entire kidnapping."
Before I could even process this horrifying information, the bedroom door was suddenly kicked off its hinges.
