Chapter 5 - Trapped in Steel
The red emergency lights cast long, ominous shadows across the rows of metal safety deposit boxes.
The silence inside the sealed vault was absolute—a terrifying contrast to the chaotic alarm echoing outside the steel structure.
Penny slumped against the central viewing table, her breath coming in rapid, shallow hitches. “Oh God. Oh God. We’re locked in. We’re going to run out of air.”
“We won't,” Matteo said crisply. He was already standing by the electronic keypad panel mounted near the heavy steel frame. “The vault ventilation system operates on an independent backup generator. We have at least six hours of oxygen.”
“Six hours?” Penny pressed her palm against her chest, feeling her heart hammering against her ribs. “Matteo, the bank manager locked us in! What if Vance’s men blow up the building?”
“Vance wants the ledger,” Matteo said calmly, removing his grey coat and tossing it over a stool. “He can’t blow up the building without destroying the evidence he came for. He will try to force the override code from Leo or the manager.”
He walked over to where Penny was standing. Seeing the sheer terror in her wide, brown eyes, his voice softened instantly.
“Look at me, Penny.”
She shook her head, staring at the thick steel door. “I shouldn't have come here. I’m a waitress. I belong in a diner, carrying coffee trays, not trapped in an underground safe with a crime boss while killers wait outside—”
“Penny. Look at me.”
Matteo reached out, taking her face between his large, warm hands. His fingers were firm against her cheeks, grounding her spiraling panic. Forced to look up, she met his intense, dark eyes.
“Breath,” he commanded softly. “In for four seconds. Out for four seconds.”
She swallowed hard, following his rhythm. In. Out. In. Out.
Gradually, the racing edge of her panic began to recede, leaving her hyper-aware of his hands holding her face, the faint scent of cedarwood surrounding him, and the solid, unwavering strength of his chest inches from hers.
“Better?” he asked quietly.
“A little,” she whispered, her hands coming up to rest lightly against his wrists. “You’re remarkably calm for a man locked in a steel box.”
“I’ve been in worse boxes,” Matteo said, a dark shadow passing through his eyes. “When I was twenty-two, my father’s rivals locked me in a shipping container in South Boston for three days during winter.”
Penny gasped quietly. “How did you survive?”
“By being patient,” he replied, his thumb gently tracing the smooth curve of her cheekbone. “And by remembering that the people outside would eventually make a mistake. They always make a mistake.”
They stood there in the red glow of the emergency lights, the distance between them dissolving into a quiet, heavy intimacy. For the first time, Penny didn't see the feared mob boss of Boston. She saw a man who had fought his way through darkness his entire life, bearing scars that ran far deeper than the physical ones on his men.
“Why did you really come with me today?” Penny asked softly. “You could have sent Leo. You could have forced me to hand over the key.”
Matteo’s gaze dropped to her mouth, his expression turning dark and unreadable. “Because when you poked me in the chest three nights ago, Miss Hayes, you were the first person in ten years who looked at me without fear.”
Penny’s breath caught in her throat. “I was drunk.”
“Drunk or sober,” Matteo whispered, leaning down until his lips were inches from hers, “you were honest.”
Before either of them could close the small gap between them, a heavy, muffled explosion vibrated through the floorboards of the vault.
May you like
The steel door creaked, and the electronic keypad sparked wildly before dying completely.
Outside, the heavy mechanical latches began to grind slowly open.
