Chapter 4 – Fire & Chains
"You're wearing this."
Lorenzo held up a deep red dress, silky and elegant, the kind you'd see on someone who actually wanted to be there.
I stood by the edge of the bed, arms crossed tight. "No."
His eyes lifted, sharp and cold. "You will wear it."
"I'm not your doll." I said but my voice broke in the middle.
he came closer and his face made my stomach twist. "Aurora… tonight you stand beside me, publicly. That means you look like someone no one dares touch."
"Stand beside you as what?" I said and my voice shook more with anger than fear.
He smirked faintly. "As my fiancée."
The word hit me like a punch. "You are insane."
He didn't say anything; he just put the dress on the bed and walked out leaving the air heavy and hard to breathe.
I wore it.
Not because he won but because I had to see what he was playing at.
The room downstairs was full of voices and music low and dangerous like everything in his world. men in suits while women in shiny gowns all with the same look, money and power and blood hiding behind it.
When Lorenzo stepped into the center of the room, conversation dipped instantly. He commanded it without speaking, his presence wrapping around the space like a vice.
Then he took my hand.
I froze but his fingers held mine firm and warm pulling me forward, his eyes didn't even look at me. "Tonight," he said to them, his voice steady "you all meet Aurora, my fiancee".
The word hit like a shot as the room rippled with whispers and stares sharp and cutting every eye turning on me like knives pressing against my skin.
Fiancée.
my throat was closed but i forced a smile anyway it trembled on my face felt more like a grimace but i nodded because what else could i do.
"She's beautiful," one woman said, her voice sweet but her eyes sharp cold measuring like she was already peeling me apart to see what i was made of
"Unexpected choice," a man muttered, not quietly enough.
Lorenzo looked at him sharp like a blade and he went quiet right away.
I played along, I smiled when I had to but inside I was burning with rage and shame, all of it boiling under my skin and as I smiled at these dangerous people I made a quiet promise.
I was going to find a way to ruin him from inside his own world.
---
The opportunity came faster than I thought.
Matteo, One of Lorenzo's closest men, quiet, observant, with eyes that felt less cold than the others. he stood by the bar watching the crowd looking almost bored.
I stepped to his side, keeping my voice low. "You look like you hate this too."
His eyes flicked to me. "You don't belong here."
"Tell me about it." I sipped the drink I'd been handed earlier, though I barely tasted it. "Do you ever think about leaving?"
A pause. "That's not how this life works."
I met his eyes. "You don't seem loyal to this life. Maybe not even to him."
That made him laugh lightly, short and bitter. "You're brave."
"No," I whispered. "I'm desperate."
His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was trying to read me. I leaned closer, voice just for him. "Help me… get out of here. I don't belong to him. I don't belong to this."
Matteo said nothing for a long time, just studying me, then he nodded once. "We'll talk later."
---
Later came fast.
When the event slowed down, Lorenzo went into a room with some older men leaving me alone for the first time since this nightmare started. Matteo approached, slow, cautious.
"Meet me at the garage in ten minutes," he said under his breath.
My heart jumped. "You'll help me?"
He looked at me for a beat, then nodded again. "Ten minutes, Don't let anyone see you."
I went back to my room, took the small knife I kept since my first night here and went to the garage every step loud in my head like a scream.
Matteo was there, leaning against one of Lorenzo's black cars. "You ready?"
"Yes," I breathed. "Please… just get me out."
He opened the passenger door and told me to get in my hands and shook as I reached for the handle.
A hand landed on my shoulder.
I spun around.
Lorenzo stood there.
Behind him, Matteo straightened. "She came to me," Matteo said simply, his voice flat, almost mechanical. "Just like you said she would."
It hit me all at once. The look in Matteo's eyes earlier. The way he'd nodded too easily.
He'd been testing me.
For him.
For Lorenzo.
Lorenzo's lips curved, not into a smile but something darker. "You really think you can run from me, Aurora?"
Aurora froze from the betrayal, Lorenzo stepped closer, his eyes blazing and Matteo locked the garage doors behind them.