Home / Romance / Tangled In Velvet / Chapter 44 – Dorian’s Arrest

Share

Chapter 44 – Dorian’s Arrest

last update Last Updated: 2025-07-23 01:05:02

The cab screeched to a stop at the curb of Fifth and 61st. Isolde didn’t wait for change. Her heels hit the pavement hard, her breath a ragged rhythm between adrenaline spikes.

She bolted toward the marble façade of Dorian’s building.

But the moment she crossed the street, she knew something was wrong.

Unmarked black sedans.

Red and blue lights bouncing off glass.

Cameras.

Security swarming.

And standing just behind the velvet cordon, flanked by two federal agents

Dorian Blackthorn.

His suit jacket was undone. His hands were bound behind him with silver cuffs.

He looked calm.

But his eyes searched the crowd like a man being buried alive.

“Dorian!” Isolde shouted, pushing forward.

A uniformed officer grabbed her by the elbow. “Step back, ma’am.”

“I need to speak with him he’s being set up ”

“Step. Back.”

Then her name.

“Issy.”

Dorian’s voice, low and frayed, cut through the chaos.

She met his eyes. And in that moment, she saw it all.

Not fear.

Resignation.

Like he knew this had been c
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Tangled In Velvet    Chapter 91 – The Letter Left Unsent

    The city outside whispered in quiet neon, soft and amber-stained, brushing its glow against the tall windows of Dorian’s penthouse.Isolde lay still on the bed, one leg tangled in the sheets, the other hanging off the side like she might stand. But she hadn’t moved in nearly twenty minutes. Not since the notification buzzed on her phone.VIVIENNE WRENLEIGH1 audio message00:03:51[Received: 2:04 AM]The preview didn’t give anything away. No transcript. No text. Just her sister’s name like a soft echo.Dorian was asleep beside her, chest rising and falling in the even, silent rhythm of deep rest. He slept like a soldier too still. Always on alert. Except with her.She didn’t want to wake him.She slipped out of bed carefully, bare feet padding to the far end of the room where the floor-to-ceiling windows met a low bench. The sky was dark. New York looked like it had exhaled for once.She plugged in her earbuds. Pressed play.“Hey,” Vivienne’s voice began.“I didn’t want to write this

  • Tangled In Velvet    Chapter 90: One Year Later

    The room smelled like paper and light.White walls. Clean wood floors. No velvet. No shadows.Just voices.Dozens of them.The exhibit wasn’t permanent. It moved from city to city, curated by a team of journalists and survivors who had once worn masks for different reasons. Now, they wore none.Isolde stood near the far wall, beside a display case containing one item:A single black velvet mask, trimmed in silver, with a red teardrop beneath one eye.Stage Seven.Her mask.People passed by, whispering. A few recognized her. No one approached.Vivienne had begged her not to disappear again. Not to vanish back into silence.So she didn’t.She wore her name now. All of it.Isolde Wrenleigh.Survivor.Whistleblower.Witness.And behind her, the door opened.She knew the steps.Didn’t have to turn to know.Dorian.He said nothing as he joined her.She glanced sideways.The suit was navy today. No tie. His scars had faded, but not gone. Neither had hers.“You’re late,” she said.“Your messa

  • Tangled In Velvet    Chapter 89: Trust Fall

    The black van rolled to a slow stop in front of what looked like a condemned textiles factory.Three stories of soot-stained brick and steel shutters, tagged with graffiti so old it had layers. The only sign of life was a glowing red sensor embedded in the rusted service door.Penelope glanced at the GPS rigged to her tablet. “That’s it. Signal’s coming from thirty-five feet below ground. Off-grid power. No connection to federal surveillance channels.”Dorian adjusted the holster beneath his coat. “They wanted this invisible.”“Good,” Isolde said. “Then we leave a mark.”They moved quickly.Penelope cracked the door’s sensor with a bypass chip, fingers moving in tight loops of code while a single bead of sweat slid down her temple. The door hissed and unlocked with a reluctant click.Inside, the air was damp and metallic. The scent of old perfume and decay still lingered Velvet’s ghost, trapped in the walls.Isolde’s boots echoed against the concrete as they passed long-dark bulbs and

  • Tangled In Velvet    CHAPTER 88: Smoke in Velvet

    Isolde barely registered the moment the woman vanished. The masked observers, the judge’s final gavel, even the bark of orders from the bailiffs blurred under the thrum in her ears.Everything felt too loud and too slow.Dorian’s hand found hers beneath the table. Cold metal cuffs still wrapped his wrists, but his fingers anchored her with quiet, unshakable pressure.Then movement.Federal agents swarmed the courtroom, cloaking Dorian and Vivienne with tailored shields of authority. Isolde was ushered through the service corridor, back doors only judges and corpses passed through.No press. No exit through the lobby. Just silence and marble and government-grade secrecy.They were funneled into a black Suburban with tinted glass and no plates. Penelope was already inside, typing furiously on a laptop mounted to a rigged power bank. Her hair was half-pulled back, eyes sharp with something new, maybe fear. Or awe.“Was that her?” she asked.Isolde nodded, sliding in beside Vivienne. “She

  • Tangled In Velvet    Chapter 87 – Final Trial

    The room was colder than she expected. Not just from the marble underfoot or the humming air vents that seemed to sigh against the vaulted ceiling but from the silence.Not a silence of reverence. Of calculation.Isolde Wrenleigh stepped through the courtroom doors flanked by two federal marshals, her black blouse buttoned to the collar, the subtle press of her heels echoing like declarations on polished stone. A half-dozen cameras swung to her like vultures sensing wounded flesh. Her spine remained straight. Chin lifted. Her expression is elegant, unreadable.It wasn’t the press that unnerved her. It was the first row behind the barricade.Three people sat there masked.The same kind of velvet-covered masks she’d seen onstage at Velvet. Ornate. Expressionless. Gold trim over black fabric. Eyes that stared from within the masks like watching her breathe was an indulgence.She didn’t look away.Ahead, the federal bench loomed high and impersonal. Judge Maddox sat centered, a mountain o

  • Tangled In Velvet    Chapter 86 – “The One Who Vanishes”

    The safehouse was barely lit. A sliver of dawn crept through drawn blackout curtains, painting the concrete walls with a dull, gray sheen. The hum of old pipes overhead was the only sound, save for the occasional creak of Dorian pacing behind the frosted-glass partition.Isolde sat on the narrow mattress in the corner, fingers still trembling around the old leather-bound ledger Elias had given her.She hadn’t slept.How could she?Elias had sealed himself in a room filled with explosives to give her time. To give her this.She glanced across the dim space. Dorian stood shirtless at the window, back turned, muscles taut with something more than exhaustion. Rage? Guilt? She couldn’t tell anymore.“You haven’t said anything,” she whispered.He didn’t move.She stood. “Dorian.”“I’m thinking,” he said without turning.“No,” she said quietly. “You’re disappearing.”He exhaled hard through his nose, then turned toward her.His eyes were dark. “Do you understand what this book is, Isolde? Th

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status