Chapter 7
Alyssa forced her lips into something resembling a smile. "I should go. Early rehearsal."
Henrietta's expression sharpened. "Nonsense. It's nearly nine. The subway isn't safe at this hour. You'll stay here. I have a guest room."
"I can't. I have-there's a costume fitting. Tomorrow morning. I need my things."
"Alyssa." Henrietta's voice carried the weight of command she'd learned in boardrooms. "Don't be difficult."
"I'll drive her."
The words fell into the conversation like stones into still water. Cornell set down his champagne flute with precise care. "I'm heading to the office anyway. Emergency acquisition. I can have my driver take her to Brooklyn on the way."
Henrietta's face softened into gratitude. "Would you? You're too good to us."
"Family," Cornell said. "Nothing less."
Alyssa's protests died in her throat. She watched Henrietta beam, watched her sister embrace this man, watched her own escape route transform into a trap with velvet lining.
Three minutes later, she stood in the elevator beside him. The doors closed. The car began its descent.
Cornell didn't reach for the emergency stop. Instead, he pulled a sleek black keycard from his breast pocket and tapped it against the hidden sensor panel beneath the floor buttons. The elevator glided to a silent, immediate halt. Maintenance mode. No alarms. No security response. The lights dimmed to a soft, intimate amber.
Alyssa's back hit the mirrored wall. Her bad knee buckled slightly under the sudden shift, sending a fresh wave of agony up her thigh. Her reflection surrounded her, infinite and terrified.
Cornell turned. He moved slowly, deliberately, closing the distance between them until his arms bracketed her head and his body blocked everything else. The cedar smell of him filled the small space. She couldn't breathe.
"You were going to tell her." Not a question. "In there. You were going to open your pretty mouth and destroy her evening."
"She deserves to know-"
"She deserves?" His laugh was soft, intimate, terrible. "What do you know about what people deserve? You're a child playing at adulthood. A dancer who thinks her suffering makes her special." His fingers traced her jaw, feather-light. "Your sister knows exactly who I am. She knows what I do. She doesn't care. Do you understand? This marriage is a transaction. Power for access. Her ambition for my name. She entered this with her eyes open."
"You're lying."
"Am I?" He leaned closer. His lips brushed her ear. "Test it. Tell her. See if she thanks you for the information, or if she blames you for ruining the best opportunity of her life." His hand settled on her throat, thumb pressing against her pulse. "You're nothing to her, Alyssa. A charity case. A reminder of where she came from. I'm the future she's been building for ten years."
Alyssa's eyes burned. Tears spilled over, hot and humiliating. She couldn't stop them.
Cornell watched them fall. His thumb caught one, smeared it across her cheek. "Don't cry. Tears are wasted on me." His grip tightened, not enough to hurt, enough to remind her. "Listen carefully. You will not speak to Henrietta about me. You will not speak to anyone about me. You will continue your little life, your little dances, your little struggles. And when I want you-" He paused, letting the words settle. "When I want you, you'll come."
"Never."
"You'll come," he repeated, "because you have no choice. Because I own the hospital where your mentor lies dying. I own the theater where you dance. I own the building where you sleep." His teeth closed on her earlobe, a sharp pressure that made her gasp. "You're my prey, little swan. I caught you the moment you ran to me in that club. The only question is how long the chase lasts before you accept it."
He released her. Stepped back. Tapped his keycard against the sensor again to resume their descent. The elevator hummed back to life. The lights returned to their bright, normal glow. Cornell adjusted his cuffs, his expression serene, as if nothing had happened.
The doors opened onto the garage. The Maybach waited, black and patient.
"After you," Cornell said, gesturing with the grace of a maître d'.
Alyssa walked toward the car. Her legs held. She didn't know how. The driver opened the door and she folded herself into the back seat, pressing against the far window, as far from him as physics allowed.
Cornell slid in beside her. The door closed. The partition began to rise.
Alyssa watched it ascend, cutting off the driver's view, sealing them into privacy. She thought of the rain. The street. The desperate freedom of running.
She thought of Elena's ventilator. Of Henrietta's smile. Of all the ways this man could destroy her without ever touching her again.
The car pulled into traffic. Cornell closed his eyes, apparently sleeping.
Alyssa stared out at the city lights and began to plan.
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