Chapter 4 - The Golden Cage
Penny stared at Matteo as if he had suddenly started speaking an alien language.
“Your guest?” she echoed, her voice squeaking slightly. “Are you out of your mind? You want to drag me into a room filled with mobsters and dirty federal agents—the exact same people who tried to put a bullet through my skull three hours ago?!”
“It is the safest place for you,” Matteo replied calmly, taking a slow sip from his glass. “If you stay hidden in a safehouse, Vance will keep sending assassins until one of them succeeds. But if you walk into that auction on my arm, under my explicit protection, Vance cannot touch you without starting an all-out turf war that he cannot win.”
“You’re using me as bait!”
“I am using you as a shield,” Matteo corrected sharply, his amber eyes flashing with a sudden, fiery intensity. “And I am acting as yours. Vance will see that you are under the Conti umbrella. In my world, attacking a woman under a Don’s personal protection is an immediate death sentence, sanctioned by every family on the East Coast.”
Penny backed away from him, shaking her head violently. “No. No way. I’m a waitress, not a pawn in your mob chess game! I want out. I want to pack my things, get my mom, and drive as far away from Boston as possible!”
Matteo set his glass down on the desk with a heavy clack. He crossed the distance between them in three swift strides, stopping right in front of her. He didn't touch her, but his sheer physical bulk towered over her, boxing her in against the heavy bookshelf.
“Listen to me very carefully, Penny,” he said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, dark whisper that thrilled and terrified her simultaneously. “If you leave this house, you will not make it past the state line. Vance has license plate readers, facial recognition software, and hitmen on every major highway out of New England. The moment you step outside my gates, you are a dead woman walking.”
Penny glared up at him, her chest heaving as she fought back tears of pure frustration and fear. “So I’m just supposed to pretend to be your girlfriend? Dress up in silk, smile for murderers, and pretend I’m not terrified out of my mind?”
“You don't have to pretend not to be terrified,” Matteo said softly, his voice softening just a fraction, his gaze lingering on her trembling lips. “You just have to trust me.”
“I don't trust you!” she shouted into his face. “I don't know you! You’re a crime boss who carries people over his shoulder and lives in a fortress!”
Matteo stared at her for a long, heavy moment. Then, to her shock, he let out a soft, dark chuckle. “You poked me in the chest twice, complained about broken glass, and yelled at me while bullets were punching through wood walls. You have more nerve than half the men who work for me, Penny Higgins.”
He stepped back, giving her space, though his intense gaze never left her face. “Tomorrow morning, a dressmaker will arrive. You will be fitted for the auction. You will have a private room in the west wing, fully guarded. Anything you need—food, clothes, books, news of your mother—will be provided instantly. But you do not step outside without my permission. Do you understand?”
Penny wiped a stray eyelash from her cheek, holding his gaze with pure defiance. “And after this auction? After you trap this Vance guy? What happens to me?”
Matteo looked at her, his amber eyes unreadable, reflecting the flickering orange light of the fireplace.
“If we survive the auction,” he said quietly, “you get your life back. Clean slate. Fully funded care for your mother for the rest of her life, and enough money to move anywhere you want in the world.”
Penny swallowed hard. It was an offer no one in her position could refuse—a golden lifeline wrapped in razor wire.
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“Fine,” she whispered, her voice laced with iron determination. “Fine. But if your dressmaker gives me anything with feathers, I’m poking you in the chest again.”
Matteo’s lips curved into a true, genuine smile—sharp, dangerous, and devastatingly attractive. “Deal, Miss Higgins. Now go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we prepare for war.”
