Escaping The Ruthless Don's Golden Cage

Maya POV

I spent the next hour scouring the apartment.

I wiped down surfaces I hadn't even touched, trying to scrub away my own fingerprints, my own existence.

I shredded documents.

I packed a single bag with cash and the drive containing the evidence.

Agent Miller had told me to sit tight.

*We're getting a safe house ready,* he had said. *Don't open the door for anyone.*

I was sitting on the floor, tying my shoelaces, when the door exploded inward.

Wood splinters shattered and flew across the room like shrapnel.

I screamed, scrambling backward on my hands and heels.

Liam stood in the doorway.

He wasn't the polished businessman in a suit today.

He was the Don.

His eyes were wild, the pupils blown wide with a terrifying rage.

Marc was behind him, closing the broken door and standing guard like a silent sentinel.

"You went to the Feds?"

Liam’s voice was a low growl.

It seemed to vibrate through the floorboards.

He walked toward me.

Predatory.

"I trusted you!" he shouted. "I gave you everything! A home. A name. A life!"

I stood up.

My legs were shaking, but I locked my knees, refusing to cower.

"You gave me a cage!" I yelled back. "You gave me lies! You pushed me, Liam! You killed our child!"

He stopped.

The mention of the baby made him flinch, but the anger quickly suffocated the guilt.

"That was an accident! But this?" He gestured violently around the room. "This betrayal? This is a choice!"

"You betrayed me first!"

"I am a man!" he roared, slamming his fist into the wall next to my head.

Plaster rained down on my shoulder like dust.

"I have appetites! I have responsibilities that weigh heavier than the world! You think you can just sell my secrets to the FBI because your feelings are hurt?"

"It's not about my feelings," I hissed. "It's about my life. It's about the fact that you treat people like disposable toys. Ava. Me. Even your unborn child."

He grabbed my shoulders.

His grip was bruising.

"You are my wife," he said, his face inches from mine. "You belong to me. You don't get to leave. You don't get to destroy my family."

"I'd rather die than belong to you," I spat.

The words hung in the air.

Liam’s face contorted.

It wasn't just anger anymore.

It was panic.

Desperation.

"You think you have a choice?"

He laughed.

It was a terrifying, broken sound.

"Marc!" he barked.

Marc stepped forward from the shadows.

He was holding a syringe.

My eyes widened.

"No," I whispered.

I tried to pull away, but Liam held me fast.

He wrapped his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides.

It felt like a hug.

A twisted, suffocating hug.

"I'm doing this for us, Maya," he whispered into my ear. "You're not thinking clearly. You're hysterical. You need rest."

"Let me go!" I screamed.

I kicked him.

I bit his shoulder.

He didn't even flinch.

"Do it," he ordered Marc.

I felt the sharp prick of the needle in my neck.

Cold liquid flooded my veins, burning like ice.

"No..." I slurred. "Liam... please..."

The room started to spin.

The edges of my vision turned ink black.

My legs gave out.

Liam caught me.

He lowered me gently to the floor, cradling my head in his lap.

He brushed the hair out of my face.

His touch was tender.

It made me want to vomit.

"Shhh," he cooed. "It's okay. We're going to go away. Just you and me. I'll fix you. I'll make you forget all of this."

My tongue felt heavy, like lead in my mouth.

I couldn't speak.

I could only stare up at him.

He looked like a demon wearing the skin of the man I used to love.

"You're mine," he whispered. "Forever."

The darkness rushed in.

It swallowed me whole.

And the last thing I felt was the terrifying certainty that I was never going to wake up as a free woman again.