Chapter 4 - A Golden Cage: Trapped in the Vitiello Mansion Under Mateo's Watch
The Vitiello estate was a fortress disguised as a mansion. High stone walls, iron gates, and armed guards patrolling the perimeter with attack dogs. Inside, it was a display of obscene wealth: crystal chandeliers, Renaissance paintings, and marble floors that echoed with every step. I was given a room the size of my entire apartment, with a balcony overlooking a sprawling garden.
But it was a cage.
For two weeks, I wasn't allowed outside. I missed my nursing exams. I missed my shifts at Bellori. My phone was confiscated. My only company was the silent maids and Mateo, who came to my room every evening for dinner.
"You have to eat, Tessa," he said on the fourteenth night, cutting his steak with precise, predatory movements. I sat across from him, pushing a piece of salmon around my plate.
"I want my life back."
"This is your life now."
"Why are you doing this?" I finally snapped, throwing my fork down. "If I'm family, why do you treat me like a prisoner? Why do you watch me like a hawk?"
Mateo stopped eating. He wiped his mouth slowly with a linen napkin, his eyes locking onto mine. "Because the Morettis put a five-million-dollar bounty on your head this morning. They know who you are, Tessa. They know you're the last living descendant of the eldest Vitiello line. Technically... by old-world rules, that gives you a stronger claim to the family empire than my father."
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I froze. "I don't want the empire! Tell them I abdicate! Tell them I want nothing!"
"The mafia doesn't do paperwork, Tessa," Mateo said grimly. "They only respect blood. And your blood is a threat to everyone." He stood up, walking around the table until he was standing right behind my chair. I felt his heat radiating against my back. "I'm not keeping you here to imprison you. I'm keeping you here because if you step outside those gates, you're dead. And I..." His voice dropped to a rough whisper, his hands resting on the back of my chair. "...I will burn Chicago to the ground before I let anyone touch you."
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