Chapter 4 - The Golden Cage
Sadie swallowed hard, feeling his thumb brush lightly against the jawline he had let her stitch weeks ago. “Then why did you play along? Why did you come to my apartment?”
“Because,” Gabriel said softly, his eyes darkening, “in thirty years of living in a world of wolves, no one has ever stepped between me and a gun. You were reckless, stupid, and brave. And for three hours, while you patched my skin, you looked at me like a man, not a monster.”
Sadie pulled back slightly, breaking his touch. “If I didn't save your life, then you owe me nothing. Which means my brother is dead.”
Gabriel looked at her for a long moment, walking back toward the large window overlooking the glowing Philadelphia skyline. “Your brother’s debt can be cleared, Sadie.”
Sadie looked at his back carefully. “How?”
Gabriel turned around. “Work for me.”
“I’m a bartender, Gabriel. I don't do enforcement, and I don't sell drugs.”
“I don't need an enforcer,” Gabriel said. “My primary social engagement venue, The Grand Belvedere, requires a head hostess and private event manager. The current manager was recently... relieved of his duties for theft. The salary is twelve thousand dollars a month. You work for me for two months. The debt is erased, and your brother walks away whole.”
Sadie stared at him, her mind racing. “Twelve thousand a month for a hostess job? That’s twice the market rate.”
“It comes with conditions,” Gabriel added, his gray eyes fixing her with absolute authority. “You move into the top-floor suite at The Belvedere. You eat where I tell you to eat. You wear what I tell you to wear. You become visible as my personal appointee.”
“Why?” Sadie asked, her suspicion spiking. “What aren't you telling me?”
“My organization is undergoing a restructuring,” Gabriel said smoothly. “Certain rival families think I am vulnerable after the alley incident. Placing a woman under my direct protection—a woman who demonstrated absolute loyalty to me in public—sends a message that my inner circle is tight and unshakeable.”
“You want to use me as a prop,” Sadie said bitterly. “A shield to prove you’re stable.”
“I am offering you a way to save your useless brother and make enough money to leave South Philly forever,” Gabriel corrected quietly. “Do we have a deal, Sadie?”
Sadie thought of Dean, trembling in her ruined apartment, facing men with crowbars. She thought of her unpaid bills, her dead-end life at The Rusted Anchor, and the cold gray eyes of the man standing before her.
“Two months,” Sadie said, her voice steady. “Not a day more. And Dean stays completely away from your clubs.”
May you like
Gabriel extended his hand. “Two months.”
Sadie reached out and took his hand. His grip was firm, warm, and absolute. As their fingers locked, Sadie realized she hadn't escaped the alley at all—she had just stepped into a much larger, far more dangerous trap.
