Chapter 5 - The Glass in the Garden
Two weeks passed.
The DeLuca estate was not a prison; it was a fortress of quiet, luxurious discipline.
My days developed a peaceful, rewarding rhythm. Every morning at 9:00 AM, I sat with Margaret in the glass sunroom overlooking the rose gardens. We drank Earl Grey tea, read old poetry books, and talked about everything from her childhood in Sicily to my brother’s dream of studying engineering at college.
Margaret wasn't fragile; she was wounded. The attack four years ago had broken her confidence, not her spirit. With every passing day, as I walked beside her wheelchair through the stone paths of the estate, her laughter returned.
And Dominic watched everything.
He was a busy man—disappearing for long days into the city, attending high-level meetings, managing a vast empire—but every single evening at 7:00 PM, he returned to the estate for dinner.
He sat at the head of the long mahogany dining table. He rarely spoke about his business, but his dark eyes followed my every move.
When I smiled at a joke Margaret made, his lips would twitch with a subtle, hidden warmth. When I served tea, his broad fingers would brush against mine, sending a electric surge of heat straight down my spine.
On a cold Thursday afternoon, Margaret and I were walking through the glass greenhouse at the edge of the estate.
"He looks at you differently, Grace," Margaret murmured softly, leaning back against her velvet cushion as I pruned a bush of white roses.
My face grew warm. "Who, ma'am?"
"Don't call me ma'am, child," Margaret smiled, her eyes crinkling. "You know who. My son. Dominic hasn't looked at a woman with anything other than suspicion since his father died ten years ago."
"Mr. DeLuca is just being protective," I said quickly, clipping a stem. "He's very generous to my family."
"Dominic is generous with money because money is easy for him," Margaret said, her voice turning gentle and serious. "He gives his heart to no one. But since you came into this house, he comes home for dinner every night. Do you know when the last time Dominic ate dinner at home seven days in a row was?"
"No," I whispered.
"Never," Margaret said simply. "Not once in his entire adult life."
Before I could process her words, the glass roof above us shattered.
CRASH!
A heavy stone wrapped in wire slammed through the glass ceiling, showering us with sharp, sparkling shards.
I moved on pure instinct.
I didn't think. I didn't scream.
I lunged forward, throwing my body completely over Margaret’s wheelchair, shielding her head and neck with my own arms and back as heavy glass rained down around us.
A sharp, searing pain sliced across my left shoulder, followed by the wet heat of blood soaking through my grey wool sweater.
Outside, shouting erupted across the gardens. Alarms began to blare—high-pitched, deafening sirens that echoed across the forty-acre property.
Heavy footsteps pounded across the stone floor of the greenhouse.
"Grace!" a voice roared—a sound of pure, unadulterated terror that tore through the siren's scream.
It was Dominic.
He skidded across the broken glass on his knees, his broad hands grabbing my waist, pulling me off Margaret's body.
"Mama! Grace!" Dominic gasped, his face pale, his dark eyes wide with a frantic, desperate panic I had never seen in him.
"I'm fine... I'm fine, Dominic," Margaret wept, holding her face. "Grace covered me! She took the glass!"
Dominic pulled me into his lap, his hand wrapping around the back of my neck. When he brought his hand away, his palm was covered in my crimson blood.
His breath seized. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched violently in his cheek.
"Frank!" Dominic roared over his shoulder, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, apocalyptic rage. "Lock down the estate! Bring Dr. Harrison here NOW!"
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He picked me up in his arms, holding me against his broad chest as if I weighed nothing at all, his dark coat soaking up my blood as he carried me toward the house.
"Hold on, Grace," Dominic growled into my hair, his breath hot and ragged against my temple. "Hold on to me. I've got you."
