Chapter 2 - The Golden Cage
The town car glided through the city streets like a phantom.
Harper’s hands were shaking so violently she had to sit on them.
The sound of the gunshot still echoed in her ears.
Derek had actually tried to kill her.
She looked at the man sitting beside her.
Roman was staring out the tinted window, sipping his whiskey with terrifying indifference.
“Where are you taking me?” Harper asked.
“Somewhere Derek cannot reach,” Roman replied without looking at her.
The car descended into an underground parking garage.
Concrete walls closed in around them as the heavy steel gates rolled shut.
The giant driver opened Harper’s door.
She stepped out into the damp, echoing space.
Roman led her to a private elevator that required a retinal scan to operate.
The doors opened into a sprawling penthouse overlooking the city skyline.
It was breathtaking, sterile, and cold.
“There are clothes in the guest room,” Roman said, removing his suit jacket.
“You will stay here until I decide what to do with you.”
Harper’s shock began to curdle into anger.
“I am not your prisoner,” she snapped.
“I have a job, I have a sister, I have a life.”
Roman stopped pouring his second drink and turned to face her.
“You had a life,” he corrected gently.
He walked over to a massive glass coffee table and tossed a thick manila folder onto it.
“Open it,” he commanded.
Harper hesitated before stepping forward.
Her trembling fingers flipped open the heavy cover.
Inside was a high-resolution photograph of herself.
Beneath it were her bank records, her sister’s address, and her daily schedule broken down by the minute.
It was a complete surveillance dossier.
She looked up at him in horror.
“You didn’t save me by chance tonight,” she breathed.
Roman took a slow sip of his whiskey.
May you like
“No, Harper.”
“I have been watching you for six months.”
