Chapter 4 - A Whisper in the Dark
The heavy front doors slammed shut,
their echo reverberating through the vast stone entrance hall.
The mansion returned to its silence,
but it was no longer a peaceful quiet;
it was the tense,
thrumming silence after a thunderstorm.
Dominic turned around slowly to face Ruby.
She was standing near the sideboard,
calmly stacking the unused coffee saucers onto her tray.
"Are you insane?" Dominic asked,
his voice dark and trembling with suppressed rage.
Ruby didn't flinch.
She set down a saucer and looked up at him.
"I was serving coffee,
sir."
"You walked into a room with six armed men who were seconds away from drawing weapons!" Dominic shouted,
his voice booming against the high ceilings—a rare,
shattering explosion of sound from a man who normally lived in whispers.
"You could have been killed!"
"He was insulting you in your own house,
" Ruby replied,
her voice steady,
her eyes fierce and unwavering.
"And he was trying to intimidate you."
"I don't like bullies,
Mr. Vale."
"Whether they wear street clothes or three-piece suits."
Dominic marched over to her,
stopping mere inches away.
He was breathing heavily,
his dark eyes scanning her face,
her neck,
her hands,
as if checking to ensure she hadn't suffered any invisible harm.
"You are a maid,
Miss Bennett,
" he said through gritted teeth,
his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
"You are not my bodyguard."
"You are not my advisor."
"Your safety is my responsibility while you are under this roof."
"Do you have any idea what would have happened if Julian had drawn a weapon?"
"I know what violence looks like,
Dominic,
" Ruby said softly,
using his first name for the very first time.
The sound of his name on her lips seemed to strike him like a physical blow.
He fell silent,
his jaw tightening.
"I grew up in the South Side of Chicago,
" Ruby continued,
her voice dropping into a intimate,
warm tone that seemed to wrap around the cold room.
"I know when a man is going to shoot and when a man is just barking because he's terrified."
"Julian was barking."
"He needed a distraction to regain his pride,
and I gave him one that made him look stupid instead of dangerous."
Dominic stared at her,
his chest rising and falling as he processed her words.
He slowly reached out,
his long,
gloved fingers hovering near her arm for a fraction of a second before he pulled his hand back,
mindful of the boundaries between them.
"You are the most frustrating woman I have ever encountered,
" he murmured,
the anger draining out of him,
leaving behind a deep,
exhausted vulnerability.
"I try to keep this house quiet so the monsters outside can't hear me."
"And you walk in here and rattle the cage."
"Maybe the cage needs rattling,
" Ruby offered gently.
"Living in a tomb isn't safety,
Dominic."
"It's just dying slowly."
Dominic looked away,
gazing out the tall windows at the rain pouring down against the dark glass.
The silence returned,
heavy and oppressive.
"Come with me,
" Dominic said quietly,
turning toward the private staircase leading to his top-floor sanctuary—a place no staff member had ever been permitted to enter.
May you like
Ruby hesitated for a brief second,
then set her tray down on the sideboard and followed him up into the shadows.
