ESCAPE FROM THE MAFIA KING'S EMBRACE

THE SEVEN DAYS BEGIN

Lorenzo Moretti did not repeat the question.

Elena stood before him, her fingers clenched into the fabric of her dress, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. The city lights spilled through the tall windows behind him, casting his shadow across the marble floor like a warning.

“Do you love me?” he asked again, his voice low, controlled.

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

The silence stretched, thick and unbearable. Elena tried to speak, to lie if she had to, but her throat closed. Her thoughts scattered. Fear, guilt, confusion until even a simple word felt impossible.

Lorenzo watched her closely.

Then, slowly, something unreadable crossed his face.

“So,” he said at last, “you cannot answer.”

She shook her head, tears burning her eyes. “I… I don’t know what you want me to say.”

A faint smile curved his lips, sharp and humorless.

“Good,” he replied. “Then listen carefully.”

He stepped closer, invading her space without touching her. “You will stay. You will wear my name. You will sleep in my bed. And yet” his eyes darkened “I will not touch you.”

Elena’s breath hitched.

“You think you are strong now,” Lorenzo continued. “You think resistance makes you powerful. But before this is over, you will be the one begging. And when that day comes” his voice dropped to a whisper “I will still not touch you.”

He straightened, turning away from her as if the conversation bored him. “Seven days,” he said. “We have only begun.”

That night, Elena lay awake in the massive bed beside him, a wall of space between them. Lorenzo did not reach for her. Did not move. His restraint felt more terrifying than force ever could.

…

By the third day, Elena started to break.

The mansion felt tighter. The guards watched her more closely. The gates loomed higher. Fear pressed into her chest until she couldn’t breathe.

On the fourth night, she ran.

She slipped past a distracted guard, her heart racing as she crossed the iron gates and disappeared into the streets. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she had to leave.

That was when she saw him.

“Daniel?”

Her ex-fiancé stepped out of the shadows like a miracle. His face was familiar, his voice gentle, his arms open.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said. “I know everything. You’re safe now.”

Elena collapsed into his arms, sobbing. She believed him. She needed to believe him.

Daniel took her away from the city, driving through unfamiliar roads. She was too exhausted to question it. Too relieved.

When the car finally stopped, Elena realized they weren’t alone but was too weak to do anything because she had taken a spiked soda given to her by Daniel.

A man stood waiting outside the building—tall, rough-looking, his eyes crawling over her in a way that made her skin crawl.

Her stomach dropped.

“Daniel…?” she whispered.

Daniel didn’t meet her eyes.

The door locked behind her.

Hands grabbed her.

The man smiled.

And far away, in the heart of the city, Lorenzo Moretti lifted his head, instinct screaming that something precious had been taken.