Emily lost track of time inside the mansion.
It was the kind of place that made you forget the world existed — quiet, air too clean, walls too thick for sound to travel. Morning felt the same as night, and she hated that. At the hospital, days used to move fast — one patient to the next, one emergency bleeding into another. Here, every minute dragged like a weight she couldn't shake.
She wasn't sure if it was fear or fury keeping her awake now.
She hadn't seen Lucas since breakfast — if that was even what it was. He'd said a few cryptic things about protection and danger, then left her sitting in that massive dining room like a lost child. She'd asked questions. He'd given nothing.
She hated that he had all the answers. She hated even more that part of her wanted to understand him.
The house was too big to sit still in, so she wandered. Every door she tried opened into something beautiful — polished libraries, empty parlors, rooms that smelled like dust and secrets. But not a single one led outside.
There were guards in suits near every hallway. They didn't say a word when she passed — didn't even blink — but she could feel their eyes on her.
She paused by a window overlooking the courtyard. Beyond the tall walls, she could see the faint shimmer of the city skyline. Freedom looked so close it hurt.
A flicker of movement caught her eye.
Someone — a shadow — near the outer gates. Just standing there.
For a second, she thought it was one of Lucas's men, but something was off. The posture. The way they lingered. When the figure lifted what looked like a camera or a phone toward the mansion, Emily's heart skipped.
Someone was watching.
Not from inside — from outside.
Before she could process it, a voice spoke behind her.
"Step away from the window."
She turned sharply. Lucas was there, calm as always, though his eyes darkened when he followed her gaze. He stepped closer, drew the curtains shut with a single motion.
"What did you see?" he asked.
"I—nothing," she stammered. "Someone was—taking a picture, maybe—"
"How long?"
"I don't know! I just looked up—"
He was already moving. Pulled out a phone, gave an order so quietly she almost missed it. "Gate cameras. Check the perimeter. Now."
Two seconds later, he turned back to her. "You're not to stand near the windows again."
Emily blinked, still processing the sudden shift in energy. "Excuse me? I'm not your prisoner, and I'm definitely not—"
"Being careful," he cut in, voice sharp. "That man wasn't one of mine. If he knows you were here that night, he'll come looking."
Her pulse spiked. "Why? Why would anyone come after me?"
"Because you saw something you shouldn't have," he said, too calmly. "And the men who want me dead now think you might be useful."
Her breath caught. "Useful—how?"
"Bait."
The word landed like a blade between them. For a second, the air felt too thin to breathe.
He ran a hand through his hair — the first sign of frustration she'd seen from him. "I told you, Emily. You shouldn't have stopped that night."
"And I told you," she shot back, voice shaking, "I wasn't just going to leave someone bleeding on the street."
His gaze flickered — something unreadable crossing his face — before he looked away. "That's exactly the problem."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That kind of kindness gets people killed."
Emily stared at him, stunned. "So what? I should've just driven past you? Pretended I didn't see?"
"Yes," he said simply. "Because now, both of us have to deal with the consequences."
His bluntness stung more than she expected. She wanted to hate him, to see him as nothing but the cold, ungrateful man he pretended to be — but the faint exhaustion in his voice told a different story.
Something had shaken him too.
"You really believe someone would kill me over this?" she whispered.
Lucas met her eyes. "I don't believe it," he said quietly. "I know it."
That should've terrified her — and it did. But beneath the fear was something else. The way he said it wasn't just a warning. It was a promise. A vow to make sure it didn't happen.
He stepped closer, close enough that she caught the faint scent of his cologne — clean, restrained, with something darker beneath it. "You'll stay where I can see you. No more wandering. No windows. No questions."
Emily glared up at him. "You can't control everything."
He leaned in slightly, his voice a low murmur. "Watch me."
And then he walked away — just like that — leaving her standing in the quiet, heart pounding, pulse racing for reasons she didn't want to admit.
---
That night, she didn't sleep.
Every time the house creaked, she thought of that shadow by the gates. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lucas's expression — the mix of calculation and something almost protective.
She didn't trust him. But she was starting to believe him.
She wasn't safe.
Not outside these walls.
Maybe not even within them.
And as the night deepened, Emily realized something that made her blood run cold —
the cage she wanted so badly to escape from… might be the only thing keeping her alive.