Page 35 of The Enforcer's Possession
He left without another word, his footsteps retreating down the hallway until I heard his office door close.
I stood alone in the cream blouse and navy trousers and felt the full weight of my new reality settle over me.This wasn’t negotiation.It wasn’t compromise.This was exactly what he’d said it would be -- his control, his rules, his absolute authority over every aspect of my life when I was under his roof.
I moved through the rest of the morning in a daze, exploring the penthouse now that the staff had returned.Everything was precise, controlled, without a single element out of place.The kitchen was stocked with food I hadn’t chosen.The living room furniture was positioned at exact angles.Even the books on the shelves were organized by height and color.
Dante’s office door remained closed, but I heard him on occasional phone calls -- his voice low, discussing things I couldn’t quite make out.
I found the gym on the lower level of the penthouse -- weights and machines and a view that would have been impressive if I’d had permission to use any of it.The pool on the roof terrace sparkled in the midday sun, water so blue it looked artificial.
Everything beautiful.Everything forbidden.
It was when I was examining a locked door near Dante’s office that I noticed the camera.Small, discreet, mounted in the corner where the wall met the ceiling.I turned slowly, scanning the space, and found two more -- one covering the hallway, one pointed at the elevator.
I moved through the penthouse with new awareness, cataloging surveillance.Cameras in the living room.Cameras in the hallway.None in my bedroom, but one positioned to capture anyone entering or leaving.
The only other spaces without visible cameras were outside Dante’s office and his bedroom.The master suite.Off-limits unless he invited me in.
I ended up back in my room by late afternoon, curled on the chaise with a book I couldn’t focus on.The cream blouse felt like a collar.The navy trousers felt like shackles.
I’d spent the morning exploring my cage.Now I understood exactly how small it really was.
Chapter Nine
Caterina
Three days of conservative blouses and controlled schedules gave me plenty of time to learn the patterns.The security guards rotated every four hours.Camera feeds were likely monitored, but between two and two-fifteen every afternoon, one guard took a smoke break on the roof while his replacement was still checking in with the day shift.Fifteen minutes of lighter surveillance.Not perfect, but enough.
I’d been planning this since the morning Dante had stripped me out of the red dress.Since the moment I’d realized exactly how controlled my life would be under his roof.Papa had controlled my future.Dante controlled my present.But for fifteen minutes every afternoon, neither of them would control shit.
The staff uniform had been almost too easy to steal.The housekeeper left her spare in the laundry room while she worked upstairs.I’d taken it two days ago, hidden it in the back of my closet behind the conservative clothes Dante approved of.A simple black dress and white apron.Nothing that would draw attention from anyone who didn’t look closely.
On the third day, at exactly 1:55 p.m., I told Dante’s assistant I was taking a bath.She’d noted it on her tablet -- because apparently my bathing schedule needed to be documented -- and left me alone in my room.
I locked the bedroom door and moved quickly.Stripped out of that day’s approved outfit -- a dove gray dress that made me look like I was attending a funeral -- and pulled on the stolen uniform.Pinned my hair up under a cap.No makeup to draw attention.Nothing that would make me memorable.
The service elevator was tucked behind a door I’d discovered during my explorations.Not locked -- why would it be?Staff needed access.I slipped into the hallway at 2:03, moved past the camera positioned at the main elevator with my head down, and reached the service door at 2:05.
My hands shook as I pulled it open.The stairwell beyond was concrete and utilitarian, nothing like the luxury of the penthouse proper.Emergency lighting cast everything in a sickly yellow glow.
I found the service elevator at the bottom of one flight of stairs.Hit the button and waited while my heart tried to hammer its way out of my chest.Fifteen minutes.I had fifteen minutes before someone checked on me.Before Dante reviewed the camera feeds and saw what I’d done.
The elevator arrived with a soft ding that sounded impossibly loud in the concrete stairwell.I stepped inside and hit the button for the ground floor, then spent the descent watching the numbers count down and trying to remember how to breathe.
Forty-three.Forty-two.Forty-one.
This was insane.Completely insane.If I got caught --whenI got caught, because let’s be honest, Dante would find me -- the consequences would be severe.He’d promised as much.Test me again, and the punishment won’t be so gentle.
Thirty-one.Thirty.Twenty-nine.
But I couldn’t stay in that penthouse another day without doing something.Without proving to myself that I still had some control over my own life.Even if that control lasted only minutes before it was stripped away again.
Fifteen.Fourteen.Thirteen.
I tried not to think about how much time had already passed.Would he realize I was missing before I’d even escaped the building?
Twelve.Eleven.Ten.
The elevator continued then slowed.Stopped.The doors opened onto a service corridor below the first floor that smelled like cleaning supplies and employee cafeteria food.I stepped out on legs that felt like water and forced myself to walk normally.Not running.Not drawing attention.Just another staff member heading home from her shift.
