The Golden Cage

Maya's POV

I threw the contract across the room as hard as I could.

The papers scattered everywhere like angry white birds.

"Are you insane?" I screamed at Dante. "Marriage? You think I'm going to marry all four of you?"

"It's not a real marriage," he said calmly. "It's business."

"Business?"

"Sit down, Maya. Let me explain."

"I don't want to sit down. I want to leave. Right now."

I started walking toward the door, but Luca stepped in front of me.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked. "Your mother thinks you're dead. Your grandfather wants you actually dead. The FBI is looking for you."

"I don't care."

"You should care."

I tried to push past him, but he caught my wrist.

"Let go of me."

"Maya, listen—"

"I said let go!"

I twisted out of his grip and spun around to face all four of them.

"You kidnapped me. You lied to me. You dragged me into a war I don't understand. And now you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriends," Luca corrected with that stupid smile.

"What?"

"Not girlfriend. Girlfriends. Plural."

I stared at him. "You're joking."

"He's not," Dante said.

"You want me to pretend to be dating all four of you? At the same time?"

"That's the idea."

I sat down hard in the nearest chair. My legs felt weak again.

"This is crazy."

"This is survival," Adrian said from his spot by the window.

"For who?"

"For all of us."

Marcus walked over and sat down across from me. His huge hands were folded in his lap like he was trying to look less scary.

"Here's the problem," he said in his deep voice. "The other families think we're weak because we don't have wives. No kids. No future."

"So get married for real."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"Because we don't trust anyone enough," Dante said. "Until now."

"You don't trust me either."

"Actually, we do."

"Why would you trust me? I've known you for three days."

"Because you could have run tonight. When your mother showed up with the FBI. You could have gone with her."

"So?"

"So you didn't. You chose us."

I thought about that. He was right. When my mother had pointed her gun at them and told me to come home, I had said no.

But that didn't mean I wanted to marry them.

"This is still crazy," I said.

"Maybe," Dante agreed. "But it's also smart."

He got up and started collecting the contract pages from the floor.

"The rival families are planning something big. We need them to think we're united. Strong. Untouchable."

"And having a fake girlfriend makes you untouchable?"

"Having a Volkov makes us untouchable."

There it was again. That name. My real name.

"I don't feel like a Volkov."

"You will," Adrian said quietly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means power is in your blood, sister. You just need to learn how to use it."

Dante had gathered all the papers now. He straightened them out and put them back on his desk.

"The job is simple," he said. "Live here with us. Come to our meetings. Let people see us together. Act like you care about us."

"Act?"

"Well, that part is up to you."

Something in his voice made my stomach flutter.

"What about the marriage thing?"

"Legal protection," Luca explained. "If you're married to us, you can't testify against us in court. And we can't testify against you."

"All four marriages would be legal?"

"Not exactly," Dante said. "One legal marriage. Three commitment ceremonies."

"Who gets the legal one?"

The four men looked at each other.

"We haven't decided that yet," Marcus said.

"Great. So you want me to fake-marry three of you and real-marry one of you, but you don't know which one."

"That's about right."

I put my head in my hands.

"This is insane."

"The world we live in is insane," Dante said. "We're just trying to survive it."

"By using me as a prop."

"By making you our partner."

"Partners don't lie to each other."

"What have we lied about?"

"Everything! You let me think my parents were dead. You let me think I was nobody special. You kidnapped me and now you're trying to trap me in some fake relationship."

"We're trying to keep you alive," Marcus said. His voice was getting louder.

"By turning me into your puppet!"

"By giving you power!"

"What power? The power to smile and nod while you make all the decisions?"

"The power to inherit everything your grandfather built," Dante said quietly.

That shut me up.

"What?"

"When you turn twenty-one next month, you become the legal heir to the Volkov empire. Every business. Every territory. Every secret."

"I don't want it."

"You don't have a choice. Russian law says the oldest child inherits everything. That's you."

"Adrian is older than me."

"Adrian was legally declared dead when your parents were killed. You're the only heir left."

I looked at my brother. "Is that true?"

He nodded.

"So in three weeks, I'm going to own a criminal empire."

"If you live that long," Luca said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means your grandfather is not going to let you inherit without a fight," Dante explained. "He's been running the Volkov businesses for nineteen years. He's not going to give them up easily."

"So he'll try to kill me."

"He's already trying to kill you. Tonight was just the beginning."

"Tonight was my father trying to sell me."

"Your father was working for your grandfather."

Another punch to the stomach.

"What?"

"Vincent Chen has been feeding information to Ivan Volkov for months. Every time we moved you to a new safe house, your grandfather knew about it within hours."

"That's impossible."

"Your fake father has been trying to get you killed since the day we took you," Marcus said. "The only reason you're still alive is because we kept changing the plans."

I felt sick.

"So everyone has been lying to me."

"We've been protecting you."

"By lying!"

"By keeping you alive!"

The room got quiet except for the sound of my heart beating too fast.

"I need some air," I said.

"You can't leave," Adrian said.

"Watch me."

I stood up and headed for the door again.

This time Marcus stood up too.

All six and a half feet of him.

"Maya," he said in a warning voice.

"Get out of my way."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because if you leave here tonight, you'll be dead by morning."

"Maybe that would be better than living in a golden cage."

"A what?"

"A golden cage. That's what this is, isn't it? You dress it up with fancy words like 'partnership' and 'marriage,' but really you just want to lock me up and use me when it's convenient."

"That's not—"

"I'd rather die than be your puppet," I said.

The words came out harder than I meant them to.

Marcus's face changed. The gentle giant disappeared, and something cold and dangerous took his place.

He cracked his knuckles.

The sound was like bones breaking.

"That can be arranged," he said in a voice that made my blood freeze.

Suddenly the room felt very small.

And very dangerous.

"Marcus," Dante said quietly.

But Marcus wasn't looking at Dante anymore.

He was looking at me like I was a problem that needed to be solved.

Permanently.

"You think this is a game?" he asked, taking a step closer.

"No, I—"

"You think we're playing pretend? That this is all fake?"

Another step closer.

"Marcus, stop," Luca said.

But Marcus wasn't listening to anyone now.

"Three people died tonight trying to protect you," he said. His voice was getting quieter, which somehow made it more terrifying. "Good people. People with families."

"I didn't ask them to—"

"And you want to throw that away? You want to spit on their sacrifice?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

I backed up until I hit the wall.

Marcus was close enough now that I could see the scars on his hands. The ones that came from years of fighting and killing.

"I meant I don't want to be trapped," I whispered.

"Trapped?"

"Yes."

"You think living in a penthouse is trapped? You think having four men willing to die for you is trapped?"

"When I don't have a choice, yes."

Marcus laughed, but it wasn't a nice sound.

"Choice. You want choice?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Here's your choice."

He reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.

My gun.

The one I had used to kill two people tonight.

He held it out to me.

"Take it."

"What?"

"Take the gun, Maya."

My hands were shaking as I reached for it.

"Now you have two choices," Marcus said. "Shoot me and try to leave. Or put the gun down and sign the contract."

"Marcus," Dante said sharply.

"She wants choices," Marcus replied without taking his eyes off me. "I'm giving her choices."

The gun felt heavy in my hand.

Marcus stepped back and spread his arms wide.

"Go ahead," he said. "Shoot me. Prove you're not one of us."

"I don't want to shoot you."

"Then stop acting like we're your enemies."

"You're holding me prisoner!"

"We're keeping you alive!"

"Same thing!"

"No, Maya. It's not."

Adrian moved away from the window for the first time all night.

"Put the gun down, sister."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you pull that trigger, you'll have to kill all four of us. And then you really will be alone."

He was right.

Even if I shot Marcus, the other three would never let me leave alive.

I was trapped.

Just like I said.

"This isn't fair," I whispered.

"Fair died when your parents were murdered," Adrian said. "This is survival."

I looked around the room at the four men who controlled my life now.

Dante, watching me with those calculating eyes.

Luca, still smiling like this was all a game.

Adrian, my brother who I barely knew.

And Marcus, standing there waiting for me to decide whether to kill him or join him.

"If I sign the contract," I said slowly, "what happens to me?"

"You become one of us," Dante said.

"And if I don't sign it?"

Nobody answered.

They didn't have to.

The silence said everything.

I lowered the gun.

"Where do I sign?"