TAKING THE GOLD DIGGER'S HEART

The masked man

Chapter 3

Daisy's POV

My stomach dropped. My father’s plan. He knew. And he thinks it's my idea. That I’m a gold digger. I was mad but I also felt so ashamed.

After that dance with Lorenzo I just wanted to disappear. But Signora Cassano swept me away once more. My pulse still raced, and my skin was still burning where Lorenzo had touched me, but I forced myself to smile and keep moving.

She introduced to more suitors. But all of them seemed fake. They were only sizing me up.

And then came Alessandro Bianchi.

He was different. He did not pretend. He was warm. He had a steady smile that reached his eyes. He seemed kind.

“Miss Daisy,” he said, offering his hand, “I don’t suppose you’d honour me with a dance? I promise not to step on your toes.”

I laughed despite myself. At last, a decent human being. The tension in my shoulders eased. His voice was gentle, threaded with humour, lacking the sharp edge that seemed to lace every word Lorenzo spoke.

As the music changed to a softer melody, Alessandro led me to the floor. We danced well together. This dance was not forced. There was no unnecessary tension. He was very respectful. But I was still a little distracted by my thoughts.

“You look as though you’d rather be anywhere else tonight,” he murmured, guiding me through a turn.

I hesitated, then sighed. “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to someone who remembers what it’s like to feel trapped.” His smile was sympathetic.

“I studied architecture which I loved, but my family insisted I join the shipping business. Some cages are decorated, but they’re cages all the same.”

Daisy’s chest tightened. No one had spoken to her like this all evening—not as a prize, not as a prospect, but as a person.

“You dance well,” he added, eyes glinting. “And you don’t look as though you need saving, but… if you ever did, I’d volunteer.”

I burst into genuine laughter for the first time that night. But as we were ending the dance, my eyes collided with Lorenzo's eyes.

His eyes reminded me of why I was there.

“I feel like I am suffocating. I have to get away from here,” I told Alessandro and I excused myself.

I slipped out into the villa’s garden to catch my breath. The air was cooler there. It smelled of scented rose and sea salt.

At last quiet. I leaned over on the balustrade trying to feel the sea breeze.

“Careful,” a voice said softly, close behind me.

I turned, startled, and found myself face-to-face with a masked man in dark attire.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to hide my fear.

“You’re far from home, signorina,” he murmured. “And the Cassanos… they don’t protect their guests as well as they should.”

“How do you know me?” I bloated out.

I could hear someone approaching. He must have heard it too, because he bowed mockingly and slipped back into the shadows, vanishing among the hedges as though he had never been there. My chest tightened, fear and confusion tangling inside me.

Lorenzo appeared.

Lorenzo’s POV

Even Isabella's clinging could not stop my eyes from straying—damn them—to Daisy.

She looked nothing like the shy girl I half-remembered. She stood tall and graceful, though her smile was brittle. She didn’t belong here, yet she carried herself with more poise than half the women in this hall.

I was mesmerised. My gaze was fixed on her. When Alessandro bowed and kissed her hand, I felt my body tighten. When he whispered something that made her laugh, my smirk deepened.

“What is it with this girl? I'm sure it is one of my temporary feelings for women. I need to get over it,” I said to myself while turning away.

As the music they were dancing to ended. I wondered what they were doing.

“Where is Daisy? What is Alessandro doing with her?” I couldn't help asking myself, as I searched for her in the crowd with my eyes.

I removed my mask because I was feeling uncomfortable. As I looked towards the garden I saw her talking with a strange-looking man. My danger instincts went haywire.

“Who was that?” I asked with concern when I got to her. I looked her over for any sign of harm. I was worried about her safety.

“I… I don’t know,” she stammered, looking upset.

I felt like protecting her. My hands brushed her arm as I came closer to her.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” I said, my voice filled with concern.

I felt her heart and mine pounding, the rhythm erratic and intense, as I stood so close to her.

Just hours ago, I had been mocking her mercilessly, but now I had a strong urge to protect her.

Daisy's POV

Earlier, I had felt his gaze piercing and unsettling as I danced with Alessandro, yet here, in the shadows, his eyes seemed to hold a different intensity. He looked into my eyes. He looked as though he was seeing me for the first time. His eyes showed desire. His arrogance was gone. He looked so vulnerable. I felt like leaning into him. There was something in his eyes that drew me . It felt complex. It felt dangerous.

He jerked away from me as if he just realized I had leprosy.

His eyes now gleamed with a mocking light as he spoke in a low, teasing tone, "I'm sure your parents taught you not to wander off on your own in the dark.”

And just like that, his sarcasm was back.

I tried to respond but my throat had gone dry I just had to get away from him as fast as possible.

Why did his cruelty sting more than my father’s command? Why did his smile, infuriating and arrogant, make my pulse race in a way Alessandro’s warmth could not?

As soon as the party ended I retreated to my room. I replayed it all—the endless parade of suitors, Alessandro’s kindness, the masked man’s encounter, and Lorenzo's mocking attitude.

Maybe my father's command wasn't so bad after all. Maybe I could actually find love with Alessandro.

And yet…

When I closed my eyes, it was Lorenzo’s mocking words that haunted me: Poor Daisy, sent on assignment to catch a rich husband… I'm sure it was you who convinced your father of the idea. All you girls are the same. All you want is money."

His voice still brushed my ear like a secret breeze. His handprint still burnt against my back.

I pressed my hands over my face, groaning softly. “I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this.”

But my heart betrayed me. When I finally drifted into a restless sleep, it wasn’t Alessandro’s kind eyes that followed me into my dreams. It was Lorenzo’s smirk, sharp and dangerous, that pulled me deeper into a trap I didn't know how to escape.