Three weeks of bliss. Three weeks of Eric's lingering touches, of stolen kisses in hallways, of nights spent in his arms where I learned every contour of his body and he learned every secret mine held. I had stopped counting the days as imprisonment and started counting them as something else entirely.
But doubt is a persistent weed.
The phone rang in the dead of night. An unknown number. I answered before Eric could stir beside me, my heart pounding.
"Sera, it's Daniel." The voice was a ghost from another life. "Listen to me carefully. Moretti is lying. The contract is fake; he fabricated it to manipulate you. I can prove everything. Meet me at the gate in one hour. I'll explain everything. I love you. I never stopped loving you."
His voice sounded so sincere. Memories flooded back, the dates, the promises, the future we'd planned. The ring on my finger from Eric suddenly felt heavy, foreign. What if I'd been wrong? What if Eric was the villain Daniel claimed?
I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him. Eric slept deeply, his arm stretched toward where I'd lain, as if reaching for me even in dreams. Guilt twisted in my stomach, but I pushed it down.
The estate was quiet at 3am the next morning. I knew the patrol patterns now; the guards changed every four hours, and there was a seven-minute window between rotations at the east gate. Eric had shown me everything about the estate, trusting me completely. And I was using that trust to betray him.
My heart raced as I crept through the gardens. The east gate loomed ahead, and beyond it, a black car waited, engine running. Daniel stepped out, his blond hair catching the moonlight, his face the picture of desperation.
"Sera!" He rushed forward, reaching through the gate bars to grab my hands. "God, I've been so worried. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"He didn't hurt me, Daniel. He showed me a contract. He said you sold me to the Volkov Syndicate for five million dollars."
Daniel's face crumpled with believable anguish. "That's what I came to explain. Moretti's family has tried to take over my firm for years. The contract is a forgery; he has forgers on his payroll who can replicate any document. I would never, never sell you. I love you, Sera. I was going to marry you."
Tears pricked my eyes. "Then why was there a contract? Why did he know about your gambling debts?"
"Because he planted them!" Daniel insisted. "The Volkovs are his enemies, he set me up to look like I was in bed with them so he could play the hero. It's all a manipulation. Please, just come with me. Let me take you to the police. We'll sort this out together."
My mind spun. It made a twisted kind of sense. Eric had been watching me for twelve years, that wasn't love, that was obsession. Maybe this was all an elaborate game to possess me.
"I need to think," I whispered.
"There's no time. He'll wake up and find you gone. Please, Sera. Choose me. Choose our future."
I looked back at the estate, at the window of the room where Eric slept. I thought of his hands, his lips, his whispered promises. I thought of the way he'd held me after the attack, the way he'd waited for me to come to him, the way he'd said "your happiness matters more than mine."
Then I looked at Daniel, familiar, safe, the man I'd agreed to marry. The man who'd never given me any reason to doubt him until Eric showed me that contract.
The gate clicked open.
But before I could step through, headlights flooded the driveway. An armored SUV roared around the corner, and Eric emerged like a wrathful god, fully dressed, his amber eyes blazing with something I couldn't name.
"Step away from the gate, Seraphina," he commanded, his voice dangerously calm.
Daniel scrambled backward. "See? See how he controls you? This is what I'm talking about!"
Eric didn't even glance at him. His eyes were fixed on me. "I know what you're thinking. I know you're doubting everything. But before you walk through that gate, you need to see the truth. All of it."
"He's lying!" Daniel shouted.
Eric finally looked at him, and the cold fury in his gaze made even me shiver. "You had your chance to speak, Whitmore. Now it's my turn." He looked back at me, and his voice softened. "Get in the car, Seraphina. If after tonight, you still want to leave, I won't stop you. I swear it on my mother's life."
The vow was sacred in mafia culture. I knew that. Eric would never swear falsely on Caterina.
Daniel kept pleading, but I walked toward Eric. His hand caught my elbow, guiding me into the SUV. As we drove away, I saw Daniel pounding on the gate in the rearview mirror.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To see the truth."