Chapter 5 - The Glass Cage
Tessa returned to the Romano estate that night.
Not as a housekeeper. Not as a debt worker.
Victor had her moved into the East Wing master suite—a breathtaking apartment featuring white marble floors, plush velvet furnishings, a walk-in wardrobe filled with designer clothes, and a private terrace overlooking the estate’s manicured gardens.
However, the luxury felt like a gilded cage.
Armed guards stood outside her door twenty-four hours a day. She was not allowed to leave the property without Victor’s personal escort. Her nursing classes were put on hold, and her phone was monitored by Paulie’s team.
One evening, Tessa stood at the glass terrace doors, watching the rain hit the garden below.
The suite door opened, and Victor walked in. He had discarded his suit jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his dark dress shirt. He carried a silver tray with dinner prepared by the executive chef.
"You didn't come down for dinner," Victor said, setting the tray on the mahogany table.
"I'm not hungry," Tessa said without turning around.
Victor walked up behind her. He didn't touch her, but his warm presence was unmistakable. "Tessa. Talk to me."
Tessa turned around, her eyes flashing with anger. "Talk to you about what, Victor? How you traded my mop for a velvet prison? I was free for two weeks! I had a life!"
"You had a target on your back!" Victor snapped back, his jaw tightening. "Moretti’s syndicate isn't the only crew looking for leverage against me. The moment the city found out I cared about you, your normal life ended!"
"Then stop caring about me!" Tessa shouted, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. "Send me away! Let me change my name! Let me disappear!"
Victor stared at her. The silence in the room became suffocating.
Slowly, Victor closed the distance between them. He reached out, his hand wrapping gently around the back of her neck, pulling her close until their lips were inches apart.
"I would burn this entire city to ash before I let you walk away from me again, Tessa," Victor growled softly, his amber eyes burning with an intense, possessive devotion that took her breath away. "Ask me for diamonds. Ask me for the world. Ask me for my life, and I will give it to you. But do not ask me to let you go."
Tessa’s breath hitched. Looking at the raw, undisguised passion in his face, her anger melted into something far more dangerous—a deep, magnetic attraction that she could no longer deny.
"You're crazy," she whispered.
"I know," Victor murmured.
May you like
He leaned down and kissed her.
It wasn't gentle, nor was it distant. It was a deep, possessive, hungry kiss that claimed her completely, erasing every doubt, every fear, and every mile of separation between their two different worlds. Tessa wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tighter against her, surrendering to the storm.
