Chapter 5 - Whispers in the Dark
The guest bedroom Dominic assigned to me was larger than any apartment I had ever stepped foot in. It featured a king-sized bed draped in crisp Egyptian cotton sheets, a grand marble fireplace that crackled with warm flames, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the misty Hudson River.
I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling utterly out of place in my oversized silk pajamas that one of the female staff members had brought up for me. My blood-stained apron and plain black maid dress had been taken away to be burned.
It was nearly 2:00 AM. The grand ballroom downstairs had been emptied hours ago. The engagement gala had ended not with a celebration, but with a sudden, silent dispersion of New York's elite under the heavy guard of Rossi enforcers.
I lay down on the soft pillows, staring up at the intricate ceiling molding. My face was numb, but my mind was racing. I knew what had happened tonight would change everything. The fragile peace between the Rossi family and the Moretti syndicate was officially dead. Bianca Moretti was a vengeful, arrogant woman, and her father, Don Carmine, was known as a ruthless murderer who took any disrespect as a declaration of total war.
And I was right in the middle of it. A nobody maid who had inadvertently sparked a mob war.
A soft knock at the bedroom door startled me out of my thoughts.
"Come in?" I called out, pulling the heavy duvet up around my chest.
The heavy wooden door pushed open slowly, revealing Dominic Rossi. He had removed his tuxedo jacket and bowtie, his dark silk shirt unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the broad line of his throat. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were sharp and clear.
"Are you awake?" he asked, stepping inside and closing the door softly behind him.
"Yes, Mr. Rossi," I said, sitting up straight. "Is... is everything okay? Did something happen with Don Carmine?"
Dominic walked across the room, pulling a velvet armchair closer to the side of the bed before sitting down. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together.
"Carmine came here looking for blood," Dominic said calmly, his deep voice filling the quiet room. "He demanded that I hand you over to the Moretti family to apologize for 'ruining' his daughter's reputation and causing her to drop her engagement ring."
My heart plummeted into my stomach, a wave of cold horror washing over me. "He... he wanted me?"
"He did," Dominic replied, his icy eyes fixing onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. "He believed a servant's life was a small price to pay to save face between our families."
"What... what did you tell him?" I whispered, my fingers clutching the bedsheets tightly.
A dark, dangerous smile flickered across Dominic’s lips. "I told him that if any Moretti soldier so much as looks at you, I will personally burn his docks to the ground and feed his entire inner circle to the fish in the Hudson."
I stared at him, completely speechless. "Mr. Rossi... why would you say that? I'm just a maid. You don't have to protect me from them. If my being here causes a war—"
"Stop," Dominic interrupted softly, reaching out and gently touching my hand. "You are not 'just a maid,' Skyler. You saved my mother tonight. In my world, loyalty like that is rarer than gold. Carmine Moretti thinks he can intimidate me into bowing to his cruel, spoiled daughter. He is mistaken."
"But the alliance..." I stammered. "The shipping docks... the business..."
"I don't build alliances with people who strike defenseless old women," Dominic said coldly. "The alliance with the Morettis was a business convenience, nothing more. Breaking it only accelerates what was already inevitable. A war was coming, Skyler. Bianca’s stupidity simply brought it forward by a few months."
He looked at the white bandage on my cheek, his expression softening slightly. "Does it hurt?"
"The medicine helped," I replied quietly. "It just feels... heavy."
Dominic nodded slowly. He didn't pull his hand away from mine. His thumbs lightly brushed over my knuckles, sending a pleasant, tingling warmth through my chest that had nothing to do with the painkillers.
"My mother asked about you three times before she finally went to sleep," Dominic said softly. "She wants you to stay by her side permanently. Not as a maid who cleans rooms or carries trays, but as her personal companion. You will be compensated ten times your current salary, you will live in this wing, and you will have full security protection around the clock."
I blinked, stunned by his words. "Mr. Rossi, I... I don't know what to say. That's... that's too much."
"It's not enough," Dominic countered firmly. "You bled in this house to protect a Rossi. That makes you part of this family's responsibility now. Whether you like it or not, Skyler, you are under my personal protection."
He stood up from the chair, looking down at me for a long moment. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow, everything changes."
Before he reached the door, I called out to him softly. "Mr. Rossi?"
Dominic paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "Yes?"
"Thank you," I whispered. "For taking off her ring."
Dominic looked at me, a genuine, warm smile breaking through his stern facade for the very first time. "It was the easiest decision I've ever made. Goodnight, Skyler."
"Goodnight, Mr. Rossi."
May you like
As the door closed behind him, I lay back down on the soft pillows. For the first time in three years, I didn't feel like an invisible, clumsy nobody. I felt seen. But as I listened to the wind howling against the glass windows overlooking the Hudson, I knew one thing for certain:
The ring was off, but the reckoning had only just begun.
