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CHAPTER FOUR 

CALISTA

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my bedroom at the Donati estate.

 My neck was neatly bandaged, and someone had changed me into a soft cotton nightgown.

For a split second, I prayed it had all been a nightmare.

Then memory rushed back—the explosion, the warehouse, the blood, the horrifying monster Rheyes had become.

Panic seized my chest. I scrambled out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cold  floor as I rushed to the door. I grabbed the brass handle and pulled.

It didn't budge.

I rattled it violently. It was locked from the outside.

“Hey!” I shouted, pounding my fists against the door. 

“Open the door! Mom! Someone!”

The heavy lock clicked, and the door swung open.

I took a step back, expecting Rheyes, but instead, two towering  guards stepped into the doorway, with their arms folded, blocking the entire frame.

“Move aside,” I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady. “I need to see my mother. I need to speak to Rheyes.”

“You are not permitted to leave this room, Miss Calista,” the guard on the left replied, his face completely expressionless.

“What?” I stared at him, my heart dropping straight into my stomach. “This is my home. Get out of my way!”

I tried to push past them, but the guard extended a heavy arm, easily shoving me back into the room.

“Orders are orders,” he said coldly.

Anger and fear flared in my throat. “Whose orders? My mother’s? The Don’s?”

“They are doing their job,” Rheyes low baritone cut through the quiet room, devoid of any warmth.

I froze, the air vanishing from my lungs. 

“What?”

“You are not leaving this room, Calista. From now henceforth, you will be under their watch. You only come out if I say so.”  Rheyes said softly. 

“Rheyes?” Tears blurred my vision as horror washed over me. “You’re locking me away? I’m your family!”

“Why?”

He turned on his heel, stepping back into the hallway.

“Rheyes! Look at me!” I screamed, rushing toward the door. “Rheyes!”

All my shouting, and he didn't turn back.

The guards stepped into the frame, their massive bodies completely blocking out the hallway light, and slammed the heavy door shut right in my face.

“Rheyes!” I pounded my fists against the door until my knuckles throbbed.

 “Rheyes, open this door! You can’t do this to me! You can’t keep me locked in here!”

Through the thick wood, the sound of his heavy boots stopped.

Silence stretched through the hallway. For one terrifying, breathless second, I thought he was going to turn the key. I thought he was going to open the door, take one look at my tear-stained face, and pull me into his arms like he had in his study.

Instead, the lock clicked again. The door swung open just three inches.

Rheyes stood on the threshold, alongside the two stoic guards. He didn't step into the room. He kept an excruciatingly painful distance between us.

His eyes were completely devoid of the warmth that had consumed us this past few weeks. 

There was no trace of the person who had cut a piece of steak for me under his father’s glare, or the man who had let cold water drench his suit just to hold my face in the garden.

“Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking as I pressed my hands against the edge of the door, my tears spilling over my lashes. “Rheyes, please look at me. You’re scaring me. Tell me what’s happening. Why are you doing this?”

I reached through the narrow gap, my fingers reaching out to touch the shirt. 

The moment my fingertips brushed his wrist, Rheyes flinched.

It was subtle, but it felt like a slap. He didn't grab my hand. He didn't pull me close. He simply pulled his arm back, severing the touch entirely.

“Do not touch me, Calista,” he said, as if I were a stranger standing before him.

A choked gasp escaped my throat. “Rheyes...”

“You think what happened yesterday was a game?” he rasped, his gray eyes locking onto mine.

 “You think those men took you because of a minor disagreement? They took you because you are weak. Because having you near me makes this entire fucking compound vulnerable.”

The words hit my chest, crushing the breath right out of me.

“Weak?” I repeated, my voice barely a whisper. “You think I wanted to be dragged into that warehouse? I fought them Rheyes, I kept my mouth shut!”

“And you almost died!” Rheyes barked, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched near his ear. “You were seconds away from having your throat opened on the floor. 

You really think I can let you wander through this house like you’re safe? You are not safe, and will never be safe as long as you bear the Donati name.”

“So your solution is to lock me in a cage?” I screamed, my body trembling violently with a mixture of panic and rising fury. “To make me your prisoner? I thought—I thought you cared about me!”

Rheyes stared down at me with an unreadable expression. The coldness in his expression shattered whatever fragile hope was left inside my chest.

“Care?” Rheyes murmured softly, each word laced with an irritation that cut straight to my bone. 

“Care is a liability in this family, Calista. I have a syndicate to run. I have a bloodline to protect. I don't have time to play savior every time you get yourself caught in the crossfire.”

I stumbled back a step, as if his words were physical blows. 

Just days ago, he was holding my chin in his study, his breath hovering over my lips, whispering that he hated seeing me bleed. 

Now, he was looking at me like I was nothing more than an inconvenient burden. A mistake he was locking away to clean up his life.

“You’re a monster,” I choked out, wiping the wet lines from my cheeks with the back of my hand. “You’re just like your father.”

Rheyes didn't deny it, nor did he flinch.

He simply reached out, grabbed the handle of the heavy door, and stared down at me with dead eyes.

“Given your history, I should have known better.” I sniffed. The guards always whispered about how he always hung out with women even at a young age. It was a Costa Nostra Norm that every man at a young age should know how to fuck a woman and please her. 

“From the day my eyes caught yours at the entrance, I knew you'd hurt me, yet I let it happen. I'm so dumb for even thinking this meant anything.” I choked on my sob. 

“I hurt people, Piccola. It's all I'm good at. And if keeping you locked in this room makes me a monster,” he said, his voice dropping into a quiet, chilling whisper, “then I will gladly be the villain in your story.”

Before I could say another word, he yanked the door shut.

“Rheyes!” I threw my entire body against the heavy door, beating my palms against the wood until my skin bruised. “Rheyes! Let me out! Don't do this to me! Rheyes!”

No answer came. Only the slow sound of his heavy boots echoing down the hallway, fading away until I was left completely alone in the dark.

I sank onto the cold floor, curling my knees into my chest as the tears finally overflowed, breaking me completely.

In less than a week, he had rewritten my world, touched me like I was something precious, and then ended everything without even giving me a heads-up.

The sweet, protective Rheyes was dead. And the man I saw was a stranger I would hate for the rest of my life.