A PAWN’S GAMBIT
988 Words
Sienna had learned to move in silence.
In the days since Luca had proposed the idea of selling her off like a chess piece in his endless game, she had forced herself to adapt, to listen, to absorb.
The mansion was a living, breathing entity—conversations whispered in hallways, footsteps echoing in the dead of night, locked doors hiding secrets only men like Luca were meant to know.
But she was learning.
And she was waiting.
For the right moment.
For the right weapon.
For the right betrayal.
Luca wasn’t the type of man to offer choices unless they were illusions.
Every day, he played at civility, inviting her to breakfast like they were nothing more than business associates.
He spoke to her as if he were training her, sculpting her into something palatable for his world.
But beneath his charm, beneath the carefully measured words, was the truth—she was still just a piece on his board, one he could sacrifice if it served him.
And she refused to let that happen.
“You look distracted,” Luca observed one morning, sipping his espresso.
Sienna barely touched her plate, her appetite long since replaced by quiet calculation.
“Just thinking,” she replied.
“About?”
She lifted her gaze to his, refusing to show hesitation. “Marriage.”
Luca smirked. “A woman’s favorite subject.”
“A prison by another name,” she corrected. “One you expect me to walk into willingly.”
Luca leaned back, studying her with the patience of a man who had all the time in the world.
“You misunderstand me, Sienna. I don’t expect you to want it. I expect you to accept it.”
“And if I don’t?”
He set his cup down with a soft clink, the sound deceptively gentle.
“Then you learn the consequences of defiance.”
A warning.
A promise.
Sienna clenched her fists beneath the table, nails digging into her palms.
She would not break.
Not here.
Not now.
She forced herself to smile, the movement small, controlled. “I suppose I should start meeting my suitors then.”
Luca’s eyes gleamed. “Smart girl.”
He thought she was giving in.
Good.
Let him believe it.
Because the moment he let his guard down—
She would take everything from him.
She needed an ally.
And as it turned out, Luca had provided one.
The traitor locked beneath the estate was an unexpected gift.
She had heard the guards talk about him—one of Luca’s men caught making side deals, skimming money where he shouldn’t have.
The punishment was inevitable.
If he wasn’t already dead, he would be soon.
Which made him desperate.
Which made him useful.
That night, when the mansion was quiet and the guards were bored at their posts, Sienna moved.
She had memorized the shifts, learned which men were diligent and which ones grew lazy in the late hours.
It was a risk—every step she took could lead to discovery, to punishment, to something far worse.
But she didn’t hesitate.
The dungeon was colder than the rest of the house, the stone damp beneath her feet.
The scent of sweat and blood clung to the air.
And there, chained to the wall, was the man.
He barely stirred at her approach.
His face was swollen, his lip split, his breathing uneven.
But when she crouched beside him, his eyes flickered open, suspicion clouding the pain.
“Who—” he rasped, coughing. “Who the hell are you?”
Sienna tilted her head. “Someone who can save you.”
A weak chuckle. “Doubt that.”
“You’d be surprised.”
He tried to shift, but the restraints held firm. “And what do you want in return?”
Sienna smiled.
“Information.”
It took time for him to trust her.
Or maybe it wasn’t trust at all.
Maybe it was just the quiet understanding between two people who had no other options.
His name was Matteo.
He had been one of Luca’s men for years.
Had fought for him, killed for him, bled for him.
And yet, when he had made a single misstep, Luca had discarded him like trash.
“That’s how it is,” Matteo muttered one night, voice hoarse from days without water.
“Luca doesn’t tolerate betrayal. Doesn’t tolerate weakness. He’ll kill me soon.”
“Not if I get you out first.”
His swollen eye managed to widen just slightly. “You’re serious.”
“Very.”
A long pause.
Then— “And what do you get out of it?”
Sienna leaned in, voice cold. “I need leverage against him. And you’re going to give it to me.”
Matteo hesitated.
Then he laughed, a broken, bitter sound.
“I like you, princess. You might actually survive this after all.”
She learned things in the nights spent in that dungeon.
Things she could use.
Luca had enemies, both within his ranks and outside of them.
He had built his empire on fear, but fear was fickle—it only took one moment of weakness for it to shatter.
And Sienna?
She would be the one to shatter it.
She pieced together a plan, refining every detail, every possible outcome.
If she was going to escape, if she was going to win, she couldn’t just run.
She had to destroy Luca first.
Days later, she made her move.
It started with a whisper—one of Luca’s trusted men overhearing just the right information, carefully planted where she knew he would find it.
Then came the doubt.
The tension.
The shift in Luca’s expression when he realized there was a traitor in his midst.
He didn’t know it was her yet.
But he would.
And by the time he figured it out—
It would be too late.
- Writer
