Chapter 3 - The Sanctuary at Kane Manor
When I woke up, the rain had stopped.
Golden morning sunlight was streaming through high arched windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. I wasn't in the safe house anymore.
I was lying in a massive four-poster canopy bed draped in slate-gray silk sheets. The room was three times the size of my entire apartment in Lincoln Park, filled with dark mahogany furniture, an antique stone fireplace where a low fire crackled, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined with leather-bound volumes.
My torn clothes were gone. I was wearing a clean, soft white cotton nightgown with long sleeves. My bruised ribs were tightly bound, and my swollen ankle was resting on a velvet bolster pillow.
I sat up slowly, bracing for the sharp pain in my side, but the ache was manageable now—reduced to a dull throb.
My heart instantly panicked. "Eli?" I gasped aloud.
"He's right here, Claire."
I snapped my head toward the corner of the room.
Gabriel was sitting in a high-backed leather armchair near the fireplace. He had changed into a plain black turtleneck sweater and tailored dark trousers. His hair was dry, brushed back from his face, though dark circles carved deep shadows beneath his gray eyes.
In his lap, looking small and fragile against Gabriel's massive frame, was baby Eli.
The six-month-old was wearing a fresh blue onesie, happily kicking his feet and gnawing on a wooden teething ring while Gabriel held a bottle of warm milk to his mouth. Watching the most feared crime boss in the Midwest tenderly feed an infant in the quiet morning light was a sight so surreal my mind struggled to process it.
"He woke up an hour ago," Gabriel said softly, his eyes remaining fixed on the baby. "He drank four ounces of milk, refused to sleep in his crib, and insisted on staring at the fire. Dr. Aris says he’s completely healthy."
I let out a long, ragged breath, sinking back against the plush pillows. "Where are we?"
"Kane Manor," Gabriel replied. "My primary residence in Lake Forest. It’s a forty-acre estate behind twelve-foot stone walls, protected by twenty-four armed guards and a automated security grid. Nobody enters or leaves without my personal clearance."
He set the empty bottle on a side table, pulled a soft cloth over his shoulder, and gently burped the baby. Eli gave a soft, wet belch, making Gabriel's lips twitch into the ghost of a faint, rare smile.
"How long was I asleep?" I asked.
"Sixteen hours," Gabriel said. He set Eli down into a portable bassinet beside his chair, then stood up and walked over to the side of my bed. He reached for a silver tray on the nightstand, which held a glass of orange juice and a bowl of warm broth. "Evelyn said your body was suffering from extreme physical exhaustion. You needed the rest."
He sat on the edge of the mattress, handing me the glass. I took it with trembling fingers, taking a slow sip. The sweet, cold juice felt heavenly against my parched throat.
"Gabriel... what happened last night?" I asked softly, looking into his steady gray eyes. "The men who took us... the lieutenant you went to see..."
Gabriel’s expression hardened, the warm fatherly light in his eyes vanishing instantly. "Victor Moretti thought he could leverage Eli to force me into giving up my shipping terminals at the Port of Chicago. He paid two of my logistics managers three million dollars to leak the convoy schedule."
"Two of your own men?" I whispered, chilled.
"Former men," Gabriel corrected coldly. "By 4:00 AM, the Moretti family lost every asset they owned in Illinois. Victor Moretti is currently on a cargo ship heading toward international waters, stripped of his empire and his money. The two managers who betrayed us were... dealt with."
I didn't ask what "dealt with" meant. In Gabriel’s world, treason carried only one sentence.
I looked down at my hands, tracing the faint red marks where the zip ties had cut into my wrists during the kidnapping. "So... it's over?"
"The Moretti threat is over," Gabriel said. He reached out, his long fingers gently picking up my hand, turning it over to inspect the raw skin on my wrist. "But the threat to you, Claire... that is just beginning."
I blinked, looking up at him. "To me? Why? Nobody knows who I am. I’m just an accountant."
"You are the woman who broke out of a high-security warehouse, knocked out an armed mercenary with a fire extinguisher, stole a delivery truck, and drove twenty-eight miles through a storm with the sole heir to the Kane fortune," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into a low, intense rhythm that sent shivers straight down my spine. "Word has already spread through the city. The entire underworld knows that Claire Bennett saved Eli Kane."
He leaned in closer, his thumb stroking the back of my hand. "Rivals who want to hurt me will no longer look at my banks or my docks. They will look at you."
My breath hitched in my throat. The reality of what I had done suddenly crashed over me like a tidal wave. I was just a woman who liked spreadsheets, organized filing systems, and quiet evenings with a good book. I didn't belong in a world of bulletproof glass, armed retinues, and blood feuds.
"I... I can just move," I stammered, panic fluttering in my chest. "I can resign from Kane Enterprises, take my savings, move to Seattle or Denver—"
"No."
The word was absolute, cutting through my panic like a steel blade.
Gabriel leaned over me, his hands planting on the mattress on either side of my shoulders, boxing me in. The scent of cedar, crisp cotton, and raw authority filled my senses.
"You are not leaving Chicago, Claire," Gabriel said, his gray eyes burning into mine with an intensity that made my heart race wildly. "You will never live in a vulnerable apartment again. You will not walk down a street without my men watching your back."
"Gabriel, you can't just keep me here!" I protested, though my voice lacked conviction.
"I can," he whispered, bending down until his lips were inches from mine. "Two years ago, when you walked into my office and handed me that file on the construction fraud, I moved your office to the top floor not because I valued your accounting skills... but because I couldn't bear the thought of you being out of my line of sight."
My heart stopped beating. "What?"
"I've watched you for two years, Claire," Gabriel confessed, his voice thick with a dark, terrifying honesty. "I watched you wear your quiet cardigans, drink your Earl Grey tea, and apologize to people who didn't deserve your breath. I kept my distance because my world is filthy, and you were clean. But last night... last night you bled for my family. You bled for my brother's child."
May you like
He reached up, his fingers sliding into the hair at the back of my neck, pulling me gently toward him.
"You belong to this house now, Claire," Gabriel whispered against my lips. "And I will tear this city apart before I ever let anyone take you away from me."
