Chapter 8 - The Golden Cage
The transition happened with terrifying speed. Within forty-eight hours, Tessa’s resignation from Ilvento was accepted with terrified haste by Richard, her modest apartment lease was quietly bought out by a dummy corporation, and she was relocated to a heavily secured luxury high-rise downtown.
Her new job description was intentionally vague, but the reality quickly set in. Gabriel did not just want a liaison; he needed someone who could bridge the dangerous gap between his legitimate corporate empire and the violent, old-school factions loyal to his ailing father. Salvatore had taken a sudden, fierce liking to her, viewing her as a surrogate granddaughter who possessed the fiery spirit of the old country.
On Thursday evening, Tessa found herself standing inside the sprawling, fortress-like Rossi estate tucked away behind iron gates and towering hedges. The interior was a museum of old-world wealth—heavy oil paintings, antique weapons mounted on stone walls, and thick Persian rugs that muffled every footstep.
“Ah, the picciridda!” Salvatore boomed from a massive leather armchair near a roaring fireplace. He looked frailer than he had at the restaurant, but his eyes burned with fierce vitality. “Come here, girl. Tell me these modern chefs in my son’s restaurants are still poisoning the pasta with garlic cream instead of real oil.”
Tessa smiled despite herself, walking over to inspect the small dining tray prepared by the estate's terrified chef. “If they put cream in your pasta, Your Grace, I’ll personally throw it out the window for you.”
Salvatore threw his head back and laughed, a rich sound that echoed through the cavernous room.
Standing in the shadows near the arched doorway, Gabriel watched them interact. A quiet sense of satisfaction settled in his chest, mixed with an unfamiliar warmth. For years, his household had been a cold battlefield of shifting loyalties and silent threats. Tessa had brought an unexpected spark of life back into the stone walls.
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Yet, as Gabriel’s phone vibrated violently in his pocket, the fragile peace shattered. He glanced down at the encrypted screen. A rival syndicate, the Moretti family, had just made a hostile move on their shipping docks in the harbor. The war was coming back, and Tessa was standing right in the middle of it.
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