Page 24 of Cage the Storm
“It’s not just that,” I whisper. “It’s how Nico controls everything. How this house feels like a test I keep failing. I’m fighting to belong, but I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore.”
She looks away for a moment, then meets my eyes again. “I understand,” she says softly. “More than you think.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, leaning forward.
Sophie pauses, her fingers tightening around the hem of her dress. Her voice is almost a whisper when she speaks again. “Before this… before I came here, I wasn’t Sophie. I wasn’t your maid. Your assistant. I was,” She pauses as she struggles to find the words. “I was abducted and sold to a wealthy man who trafficked me for years.”
The room feels impossibly still as her confession sinks in. I don’t speak; I can’t. I can only watch as she gathers the strength to continue.
“I escaped,” she confesses, her voice quivering. “But even then, I couldn’t go home. There was nothing left for me there. So, I came here. Nicolai found me and gave me the choice to leave or stay. I chose to stay. And now, I’ve made peace with it after all these years. But sometimes it feels like another kind of trap.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I ask, my heart aching for her.
“Because it’s dangerous. The fewer people who know, the safer I am. And now that you do, I need your word that you won’t tell anyone. Not Mateo. Not Laurent. No one.”
“You have my word,” I reassure her.
“I don’t regret telling you, “She says. “But it scares me. If the wrong person finds out,” she trails off, and I already know. This world doesn’t offer kindness to people like Sophie; it barely offers survival.
“That’s why no one will ever find out,” I reassure her. “Not from me. Not ever.”
She presses her lips together, but a shadow of doubt pools in her eyes. I know all too well what could happen if secrets like hers slipped out.
“Sometimes I think about leaving,” Sophie admits. “Starting over somewhere no one knows me. But that’s a fantasy, isn’t it?” She gives a short, hollow laugh. “People like me don’t get second chances.”
“Maybe not,” I say, thinking about the walls of this house, the way they hold secrets like ours so tightly. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t make our way. It doesn’t mean we accept it.” We both know all too well what it means to disobey.
“You’re stronger than you think,” I tell her, watching her carefully. “And if anything, or anyone, ever threatens you, I’ll stop it. You know that, don’t you?”
Sophie smiles. “I know,” she murmurs. “And that’s why I stay.” She stands, but before she reaches for the tray, I rise too. Without a word, I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a firm embrace.
“You’re not alone,” I murmur, my voice barely more than a breath.
“Neither are you,” she says, just as softly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NICOLAI
One month later
Mateo standsbeside me as I review the morning’s reports, but my attention drops to Luna. I observe the ease with which she moves through the room. She’s settling in.
“You seem comfortable,” I remark.
She glances up, arching a brow. “Shouldn’t I be?”
Luna used to walk around like she was ready to pick a fight, always needing to prove herself. That fight hasn’t disappeared; she’s just better at hiding it.
I tilt my head, hiding my amusement. “It suits you.”
Mateo doesn’t react, but I catch his interest. He notices, too.
She meets my gaze. “It should,” she says, raising her mug. “I plan to be here for a while.”
I lean back, watching the game unfold between us. She’s adapting. And I don’t mind it one damn bit.
Mateo and I are mid-conversation when the door bursts open. The movement is enough to have my hand twitch toward my belt, but I pause when I recognize the figure.
