The hallway outside the council chamber felt quieter, but not safer. The walls were still dark marble, the air still cold enough to sting her lungs. Guards stood like statues, their eyes forward, their faces blank. Inside that room, Maya had bled, spoken, and survived barely. But the test was only the beginning.
Dominic walked ahead, silent as ever.
His hand on her back still lingered on her skin, not warm, not tender but possessive. A mark just like the ring on her finger. Something inside her wanted to recoil from that touch, yet another part, smaller but undeniable, felt relief that he had defended her. That he stopped his father. That he did not allow them to break her.
She hated that feeling that comfort in the hands of the man who imprisoned her.
Dominic did not slow for her small footsteps. She had to quicken her pace to keep up with him. Every step felt like a reminder that her life was no longer in her control that she belonged to a world she did not understand, ruled by a man she feared.
They moved through two long corridors before Dominic finally stopped.
He pushed open a heavy door leading into a private sitting room much different from the grand hall they left behind. The space was quieter, dimmer, with velvet chairs and a fire burning low in the stone hearth. It wasn't warm, but it wasn't hostile either. A place meant for strategy, not comfort.
He turned to her, expression flat.
"Sit."
Maya sat.
Dominic removed his suit jacket, draping it neatly over a chair. His movements were controlled, efficient, without wasted motion. A man who never rushed, never stumbled, never second guessed.
He studied her for a long moment, and she felt that same dissecting weight she'd endured in front of the council. But his eyes were sharper. More pointed. Like he was peeling her open to see what was underneath.
"How do you think you performed?" he asked.
The question surprised her. She expected silence. Orders. Not conversation.
"I… I answered honestly," she said softly.
Dominic's head tilted slightly not approval, not disapproval. Evaluation.
"And you bled without complaint."
Her heartbeat stuttered. Was that… acknowledgement?
"I didn't want to be seen as weak."
"You are weak," Dominic said simply. Not cruelly just as if stating weather. "You're untrained. Unprepared. Soft. You fear quickly."
The bluntness cut deep, but she knew he wasn't wrong. She was new to this world fragile, frightened, constantly off balance. Compared to him, compared to the council, she was small.
"But you didn't break," he continued.
Maya blinked. He wasn't praising her but he wasn't dismissing her either. And with Dominic, that alone felt monumental.
A knock sounded, sharp and quick.
"Enter," Dominic said.
A guard stepped inside, bowing his head. "Sir. Mr. Salvatore requests your presence in the north wing to discuss today's agenda."
Dominic's jaw flexed, eyes narrowing slightly. Tension flickered across his expression controlled, but present. He did not like being summoned, even by his father.
"Tell him I will be there momentarily," Dominic replied.
The guard bowed again and left.
Dominic returned his gaze to Maya.
"You will remain here," he instructed. "Do not leave. Do not speak to anyone outside this door. You will wait until I return."
His tone was final. No room for argument.
Maya nodded slowly, though fear tightened her chest. Being left alone in the DeLuca estate felt like being dropped in an ocean with no land in sight.
Dominic stepped closer close enough that she felt the heat of him, close enough that the scent of his cologne curled through her lungs. He wasn't touching her, but he might as well have been.
His voice dropped low.
"You survived today," he said. "Do not make me regret defending you."
Then he turned and walked out, the door closing behind him with a soft, final thud.
Silence swallowed the room.
Maya stayed seated, hands folded tightly in her lap. The sting of the cut on her palm pulsed with her heartbeat, a slow reminder that she was no longer just a girl from an estate, but a wife bound by blood to wolves.
Her gaze wandered to the fire, the velvet curtains, the polished floors. Everything was cold beauty. Intimidating. Expensive. Deadly.
Minutes stretched into what felt like hours.
Footsteps echoed faintly in the hallway not Dominic's. Lighter. Softer. Then came the door handle turning.
Maya's pulse spiked.
She wasn't sure whether to speak, run, or brace herself.
The door opened.
A woman entered elegant, striking, dressed in tailored black. Her hair was dark and sleek, her presence sharp like a blade wrapped in silk. Not hostile, but dangerous in a different way than the men.
She closed the door behind her with quiet certainty, then turned fully to Maya.
"You're the new bride."
Not a question. A verdict.
Maya stood slowly, cautious. "I'm Maya."
A soft laugh escaped the woman's lips. Not mocking just amused.
"I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are."
She stepped closer, eyes scanning Maya like studying an artifact.
"I'm Allegra DeLuca. Dominic's aunt."
Maya stiffened.
Allegra smiled faintly. "Relax. If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have walked through the door I'd have sent someone else."
It wasn't comforting.
But her voice lacked the cruelty the council had shown. She wasn't here to belittle Maya. She seemed… curious.
"They tested you, didn't they?"
Maya nodded.
"And you didn't run. Good"
Allegra moved to the fireplace, her presence filling the room as though she owned every shadow in it.
"Dominic doesn't defend easily," she said, glancing back. "Yet he defended you today."
Maya swallowed. "I don't know why."
"Because you didn't crumble." Allegra's eyes glimmered sharp, assessing. "He respects strength, even when it's small. Even when it's shaking."
The admission shocked Maya more than the evaluation itself.
Dominic respected her? Even slightly?
Allegra stepped closer, gaze serious now.
"You will learn something about this family, Maya. Loyalty matters. Blood matters. Fear matters. But survival…" she paused, a faint smirk returning, "survival is earned."
Maya felt her pulse rise not from fear this time, but from something sharper. Resolve.
"I want to survive," she whispered.
Allegra's eyes warmed just a degree. Approval real approval flashed there.
"Then learn your place. Learn your power. Learn him."
Before Maya could respond, heavy footsteps approached the door the unmistakable sound of Dominic returning.
Allegra's expression shifted into something unreadable.
"Your real test hasn't begun," she said quietly. "Today was only the doorway. The dynasty is watching to see whether you walk through… or collapse on the threshold."
Then, with fluid grace, she slipped out just as Dominic entered.
His eyes flicked to the door she exited through. He knew she'd been here, though he said nothing. His gaze returned to Maya cold, unreadable as always.
"Stand," he commanded.
She stood.
Dominic stepped closer close enough her breath caught.
"Your training begins tonight."
Not an option.
Not a request.
The beginning of something darker, deeper, more dangerous than the council meeting could ever show.
In this world, fear was expected.
Strength was survival.
And Dominic DeLuca was both the cage and the key.