Chapter 6 The Rules of Captivity

"There are seventeen ways to kill someone with a fork, but only three that wouldn't make a mess on my marble countertops."

Dante said it conversationally, sliding a perfectly plated omelet in front of Elena as she stood frozen in the kitchen doorway. Mr. Whiskers purred beside him, the ultimate betrayal—her supposedly loyal companion had apparently decided the man who'd ruined her life made an acceptable new friend.

"I'm not going to stab you with a fork," Elena said, though she'd absolutely been considering it.

"I know." Dante's smile was infuriatingly knowing as he poured coffee. "You're smarter than that. You'd wait until I wasn't looking, aim for the femoral artery, and run while I bled out." He pushed the coffee toward her. "Cream, two sugars. I pay attention."

The fact that he'd memorized her coffee preferences should have terrified her. Instead, it sent an unwelcome chill down her spine—not fear, but the uncomfortable awareness of being seen.

Elena ignored the coffee and crossed her arms. "Are you going to tell me the rules, or are we going to dance around the obvious all morning?"

"Direct. I appreciate that." Dante leaned against the counter. "Sit. Eat. Then we'll discuss the parameters of your stay."

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten since yesterday lunch." His tone sharpened. "Sit. Down. Elena."

The command bypassed her conscious mind and went straight to some primal part that understood predators and prey. Elena found herself sitting before she'd decided to move. She hated herself for it. Hated him more.

"Good girl." His approval felt like a caress and an insult.

Elena gripped her fork—potential weapon, useless hope. Dante noticed, of course. That infuriating smile played at his lips as he settled across from her, close enough that their knees almost touched.

"Rule one," he began, dark eyes locked on hers. "You don't leave the penthouse without my permission and presence. The doors are biometrically locked. Windows don't open. Elevators require codes that change hourly. Six guards throughout the building have orders to return you—unharmed, but returned."

"So I'm a prisoner. We've established this."

"You're under my protection. There's a difference."

"Not from where I'm sitting."

"Rule two: you have full access to the penthouse. Library, gym, kitchen—everything except my private office and bedroom. Those are off-limits unless invited."

"How generous. A bigger cage."

"Rule three." He ignored her sarcasm. "No contact with your old life. No calls, emails, messages. As far as the world is concerned, Elena Hayes went missing. There's already a police report. By next week, you'll be on missing person posters."

Elena's fingers tightened on the fork. "My friend Jenna will look for me."

"She'll grieve. Eventually, she'll move on. People always do." Something flickered in his expression—old pain, quickly shuttered. "The world doesn't stop turning because you disappeared."

"You're a monster."

"We've established that too." He stood, moving behind her until she felt his heat against her back. His hands settled on the counter on either side of her, caging her in. "Rule four: you don't try to escape. Not again. The first time was understandable. But if you try again, there will be consequences."

"What kind of consequences?"

"Nothing violent. I don't hurt women." His breath stirred her hair. "But I will make your life less comfortable. Library access? Gone. Your cat? Removed. Your phone? Confiscated. Every privilege exists at my discretion. Force me to revoke them, and you'll discover just how small this cage can feel."

"So comply or suffer."

"Adapt or make yourself miserable." He straightened. "I'm not asking you to like this. I'm asking you to be smart about it."

Elena spun to face him. "And rule five? I have to be grateful?"

"No." He stepped closer, until Elena had to tilt her head back. His hand cupped her jaw, thumb tracing her cheekbone. "Rule five is the most important one. What happens between us happens because you choose it. I will never force you into my bed. Never take what you don't offer freely. You have my word."

Elena's breath caught. "There won't be anything between us."

"Won't there?" His thumb brushed her lower lip. "You keep saying that. But your body tells a different story."

She jerked away, standing so fast the stool scraped marble. "My body doesn't get a vote. My mind does. And my mind says I'd rather die than touch you willingly."

"Then you'll die very old and very frustrated." His smile was pure sin. "Because I can wait, cara. Wait until that fire in your eyes burns for me instead of against me. Until you come to me because you can't stand not to anymore."

"Delusional."

"We'll see." He returned to his coffee, dismissing her reaction. "Those are the rules. Follow them, and your stay here will be comfortable. Fight them, and you'll only hurt yourself. Questions?"

Elena had a thousand. Why me? What do you want? How long? But she swallowed them all except one.

"What happens if I break the rules?"

"Depends on which rule." He met her gaze. "Try to escape? You lose privileges. Contact the outside world? Same. Violate my private spaces? That would be complicated. I value my privacy, Elena. Invade it without permission, and you'll discover I'm less generous than you think."

"And rule five?"

"If you come to my bed?" He set down his cup slowly. "Then you discover I'm very good at making women forget their own names. But until that happens—if it happens—you're safe from me in that regard. I have many flaws, but forcing women isn't among them."

The certainty should have comforted her. Instead, it made everything more confusing. Monsters weren't supposed to have honor. Kidnappers weren't supposed to set boundaries.

But he'd made her breakfast. Brought her cat. Promised she was safe even as he held her captive.

What kind of monster did that?

"I want to see my cat," Elena said.

"He's right there." Dante gestured to Mr. Whiskers grooming himself in a sunbeam.

Elena scooped up her cat, burying her face in orange fur that smelled like home. Mr. Whiskers purred, content, and Elena felt tears threaten. Even her cat had adapted. Even he'd found comfort in captivity.

"He likes the penthouse," Dante observed. "Very entertaining this morning."

"Don't." Elena's voice came out muffled. "Don't act like this is normal. You kidnapped me. You're holding me prisoner. Nothing about this is normal or okay."

"I know." Suddenly he was close, his hand gentle on her shoulder. "I know this isn't okay, Elena. I know what I've done to you. But it doesn't change the facts. You're here. You're staying. And we both need to find a way to live with that."

She looked up, Mr. Whiskers clutched to her chest. "I'll never forgive you for this."

"I'm not asking for forgiveness." His hand slid to her face, cupping her cheek with tenderness that made her chest ache. "I'm asking for acceptance. There's a difference."

"I can't—"

"You can." His thumb caught a tear. "You're stronger than you think, Elena Hayes. Strong enough to survive this. Strong enough to adapt. Maybe even strong enough to find some peace in it, eventually."

"Never," she whispered, but the word lacked conviction.

Dante smiled like he could hear her doubt. "Finish your breakfast. Then I'll show you around. The more you understand your environment, the more comfortable you'll be."

"I don't want to be comfortable in my prison."

"Then be uncomfortable. But be fed while you do it." He released her and moved toward the door. "I have a conference call at noon. You have two hours to explore, settle in, process. Then we'll have lunch and discuss what comes next."

"What comes next?"

Dante paused at the doorway. When he looked back, his expression was unreadable—part promise, part threat, part something she couldn't name.

"You learn to live with me, Elena. You learn the rhythms of this place, the routines that will become yours. You learn that resistance only makes you tired, and acceptance—" His smile was slow, dangerous. "—acceptance might not be the torture you're expecting."

He left, footsteps fading down the hallway. Elena stood in the enormous kitchen, surrounded by marble and morning light, holding expensive coffee, with her traitorous cat purring in a sunbeam.

The omelet sat on the counter, going cold.

Elena's stomach growled.

She looked at the food, at the door Dante had disappeared through, at the windows showcasing freedom she couldn't reach. She thought about rules and consequences, about monsters who made breakfast and kept their word, about the slow erosion of resistance under the weight of daily comfort.

She thought about rule five, and the heat in Dante's eyes when he'd promised to wait.

And then, hating herself with every bite, Elena Hayes sat down and ate her breakfast in the devil's kitchen, while her cat purred and the city sparkled below, and something inside her whispered the most terrifying thought yet:

What if he's right? What if I do adapt?

The answer scared her more than anything else that had happened.

Because deep down, in a place she didn't want to examine, Elena suspected she already was.