Chapter 7

Aurea’s POV 

  "H-huh? Why me?" I gasped, “I mean... shouldn't someone else go?"

"I can take over your work here in the kitchen, Miss Jade! You can go call them," I pleaded in a tiny, desperate voice, fidgeting frantically with my apron as I looked at her with wide, begging eyes.

Jade offered me a sympathetic but firm smile. "I wish you could help me here, my child, but this is traditional Italian Cornetto and specialty pastries. I don't think you know how to bake these yet, right?"

Her words effectively shattered the last shred of my hope. I turned around, staring blankly at the kitchen door, and then looked back at Jade, silently praying she would change her mind. But she had already gone back to her work, completely oblivious to the absolute horror she had just walked me into.

But I didn't have a choice in this house.

"Yes, Signora. Right away," I whispered, my voice sounding incredibly small in the quiet room.

I walked over to the counter. The chefs had already prepared the tray—an opulent spread of rare smoked meats, imported cheeses, artisan bread, and a bottle of deep red vintage wine. The heavy silver tray weighed heavily against my arms, but it was nothing compared to the crushing weight of dread settling in my chest.

I walked out of the kitchen, every eye in the room burning holes into my back.

With every step I took up the staircase, the air grew colder. The lower levels were for the servants, but the upper sunroom belonged entirely to the predators. I navigated the long, dark-paneled corridors of the upper wing, the silver dome covers on the plates rattling slightly from the intense trembling of my hands.

Finally, I stopped in front of their towering, arched wooden doors. I took one deep, steadying breath, bracing my shoulders for the nightmare, and knocked softly on the glass.

"Enter," a smooth, chillingly coordinated voice echoed from the other side.

I pushed the doors open and stepped inside, the heavy door shutting quietly behind me, trapping me in the lion's den once again. 

 The air here was warm, thick with the scent of tropical orchids and the rich, expensive aroma of fresh espresso. Tropical sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling glass arches, casting sharp, geometric shadows across the white marble floor.

But the warmth of the sun did absolutely nothing to thaw the ice freezing over my veins.

At the far end of the room, sitting at a sleek, minimalist table, were the Rossi twins. Seeing them side by side in the daytime was a completely different level of torture. They were a flawless study in contrasting darkness. On the left sat Vincenzo, dressed in a crisp, ironed charcoal suit, looking every bit the cold, aristocratic billionaire who ran the city with a calculating mind. On the right sat Velarius, his suit jacket discarded over the back of his chair, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows to fully expose the intricate, dark tattoos crawling down his muscular forearms.

Vincenzo was scrolling through a tablet, his expression unreadable. Velarius was leaning back, casually twirling a silver pen between his long, tatted fingers.

The moment my shoes lightly clicked against the marble, Velarius’s grey eyes snapped directly to my face. The lazy twirl of his pen stopped instantly. A slow, deeply wicked smirk spread across his lips, his gaze dropping down the length of my body, mapping the contours of my maid uniform. My skin burned under his stare, the memory of them, makes my stomach twist into painful knots.

"P-pardon the intrusion, Masters," I whispered, my voice cracking slightly as I kept my head down, staring rigidly at the silver tray in my hands. "I have brought your lunch."

I swallowed hard, my legs feeling like lead as I stepped closer to the table. Get it together, Aurea, I screamed at myself internally. Do the job and get out.

I approached the side of the table, carefully lifting the heavy porcelain plates and setting them down in front of each brother. I kept my gaze locked strictly on the white tablecloth, desperately trying to avoid looking either of them in the eye, just as Rita had warned me.

I reached for the bottle of wine to pour their glasses, but as I lifted the heavy bottle, my trembling fingers betrayed me. The neck of the bottle clinked sharply against the rim of Vincenzo's crystal glass.

I gasped, my heart leaping into my throat. "I—I am so sorry, Master Vincenzo! I didn't mean to—"

"Careful, princess," Velarius murmured, his deep voice sending a shiver down my spine. "We wouldn't want you spilling something so precious, would we? What if we eat you instead” he finished with a dangerous smile on his face.

My breath hitched in my throat. I stood frozen, as I quickly finished pouring the wine, my breathing shallow and ragged. I took two steps backward, desperate to put some distance between us, and tightly clutched the empty silver tray against my chest like a shield.

"Is... is there anything else you require, Masters?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper as I prepared to sprint out the door.

Vincenzo picked up his wine glass, swirling the dark red liquid slowly before taking an elegant sip. He set the glass down and looked straight at me.

"Your performance over the past few weeks has been acceptable, Aurea," Vincenzo stated coldly, his voice smooth and precise. "But moving forward, your duties will be shifting. You will no longer be working in the lower corridors with the general staff."

My eyes widened in a sudden surge of panic. "Master?"

"You are being reassigned," Velarius cut in, leaning forward over the table, his eyes flashing with a predatory hunger as he rested his chin on his tattooed palm, a dark, wicked smile playing on his lips. "Starting tomorrow morning, you will serve as our private floor maid. You will take care of our personal suites, our laundry, and our private quarters up on the penthouse level. Only us."

My breathing stopped, making it impossible to draw air into my lungs. Their private floor? Only them? My strict survival rules, my safety net of hiding down in the maid quarters—it was all coming to an end. If I was trapped up on their private floor, completely isolated from Rita, Leo, and the rest of the household staff, I would be entirely at their mercy, there would be no one left to protect me.

"M-Master, please," I choked out, a tear of pure desperation threatening to spill over my eyelashes. "I... I am still new. I am not experienced enough to handle the private suites. Senior maids like Lyra would be much better suited for—"

"We didn't ask for your opinion, princess," Velarius interrupted, his tone dropping into a deeper, more dominant register that sent a chill straight to my core. The playful amusement vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, territorial hardness. "We gave you a command."

"You belong to our wing of the house now," Vincenzo added softly, his green eyes locking onto mine with an absolute, terrifying finality. He picked up his fork, completely dismissive of my panic. "You are dismissed, Aurea."

The finality in his voice was a physical blow. I knew that if I argued any further, I would just lose the job.

"Yes, Masters," I whispered, my voice trembling as I bowed my head.

I turned around on shaky legs and walked back toward the large doors. My hands were sweating against the metal tray, my vision slightly blurred by the hot tears stinging my eyes. I pushed the doors open, stepping out of the blinding and back into the shadow of the corridor, the doors shutting quietly behind me to seal the trap.

I stood in the hallway for a long, agonizing moment, gasping for air as a terrifying, reality-shattering truth settled into my soul.

They weren't just letting me work in their estate. They had actively reconfigured my entire life to trap me in their immediate orbit. I thought I was a ghost in this house.