The Gentleman and the Beast.

Bound by Deception – Chapter 3: The Gentleman & the Beast

Ava had met her fair share of monsters in life, but none were as skilled at hiding behind their

mask as Dante Moretti.

The next day, she woke up to the rays sunlight pouring through the window almost blinding her.

Everything that had happened the night before still rampaged through her mind,she felt

something was amiss but couldn't pin point what.

She was trapped in a world where men such as Dante ruled with a flick of their hand, and she

was nothing but another prize in their strategy.

A light knock on the door tightened her body.

It wasn't locked anymore.

That alone sent shivers through her.

The door opened wide, and a maid appeared in the doorstep, holding a delicate tray. She

placed it on the table in her room quietly, avoiding Ava's gaze as she departed as quickly as she

had arrived. Ava came closer to the tray slowly and steady.

This was no food.

The plate was covered beneath a silver tray,and in there was something far more

disturbing—clothes.

Not Any clothes.

A delicate silk gown, dainty and flowing, that would accentuate curves and make her look

breakable,The cloth looked revealing.Not something one should wear, unless they were going to

a strip club

She had not selected this.

"I don't want to wear this"Ava grumbled.

"You are just a slave get ready by 1pm if you don't want to be dead"the lady threatened.

'what am I scared of Dante will save me"she didn't get dressed waiting for her Prince charming

to save her.

The clock was ticking.

Dante barged into the room, "why were you not ready by 1pm?"

"The cloth was too revealing, I'm not comfortable"

He looked at her obviously pissed.

"wear it for me please "

A wide smile plastered on her face,if he asked her like that then she would.

An hour went by before two men descended to fetch her, and they took her into a huge dining

room.

Dante stood at the head of a long, dining table, dressed in a freshly done white ironed shirt with

rolled-up sleeves, revealing blue veins on his muscular arm. He kept his cool,sipping black

coffee as if he hadn't ordered human lives to be sold the night before.

His gaze lifted when she entered, slowly scanning her body. A flash of pleasure crossed his

features.

"Sit down," he said smoothly, motioning his head toward the chair beside him.

Ava didn't hesitate, even though she had no option. She sat.

He said not a word for a moment, simply looked at her. Then, with a small jerk of his head, he

smiled. "You don't like the dress."

She stiffened.

"It's beautiful," she said curtly.

Dante laughed, shaking his head. "You're a terrible liar, gattina."

She waved away the odd word—some kind of term of endearment, no doubt—and grasped the

water in front of her, something to distract her from the unease curling up inside.

Dante leaned closer. "I saved you, you know."

Ava's fingers tightened around the glass.

Saved her?

"You bought me."

He did not reply, merely tilting his head,he laughed softly a flicker of amusement in those

unreadable blue eyes. "Would you have liked that better?to be raped abused in the hands of

some old man"

The phrase left her shivering.

No.

She had seen what had happened to the other girls at this auction. The ones they had taken,

weeping, their fate written in blood and violence.

And yet, what was she now? A captive in a golden cage, at the mercy of a man who could

destroy her, eradicate her existence with a whisper.

"I expect greatfullness, Ava," he murmured, his voice soft but firm, like cotten covering iron.

"After all, you're breathing because of me."

Something sharp lodged itself in her throat. Gratitude. That was what he wanted?

She swallowed it down and forced herself to nod. " I'm sorry,Thank you."

His gaze lingered, searching, before he leaned back in his chair and smiled with a pleased

expression. "Good girl."

The Beginning of Control

It was then that it became clear—Dante Moretti did not just own her. He owned all aspects of

her life.

Breakfast was only what he allowed. Dresses were individually selected prior to her leaving her

bedroom. Every step, every decision, was expertly guided by his unseen hand.

She wasn't Ava anymore.

She was something else.

A doll, positioned where he wanted, molded into what he desired.

It had been subtle initially. The way he'd tilt his head to one side when she'd stop to eat. The

way the need to listen arose unspoken, when he'd talk. The way his approval appeared like a

slow burn—measured, seductive, and yet totally overwhelming.

And the worst of all?

The moments when he'd been kind.

Because Dante had been charming. He had been polite, even warm. He acted as though she

were an equal, as though it were all some kind of game they both played together.

But she was too naive.

He did not give and take without a response.

And she had lost too much already.

---

It was on the third day when Ava met a being such as herself.

She had been taken outdoors, her exposure to freedom in days, though she knew that it was

illusory. The huge garden was beautiful, the roses and towering hedges intended to keep the

mansion hidden.

And there, by the fountain, was a woman.

Older than Ava, maybe mid-thirties, but with an ageless beauty that had been weathered by

something far darker. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose braid, her skin pale against the black

silk dress clinging to her frame.

Her eyes—empty and knowing—met Ava's.

"You're new," the woman murmured.

Ava hesitated before nodding.

The woman exhaled, glancing toward the guards standing at a distance. "You won't last long."

Ava's pulse quickened. "What?"

The woman faced her, edged closer, her expression inscrutable. "You're still fighting. That will

change."

Ava swallowed.

"Who are you?"

The woman exhaled what sounded like a laugh, but there was no warmth in it. "Someone who

thought they could escape here."

Ava's heart pounded. "And did they?"

The woman gazed back at her, something shifting there—an emotion Ava couldn't quite place.

"No," she whispered. "This place will swallow you whole."

Then, before she could utter another word, a voice cut the air.

"Ava."

Dante.

She whirled back to find him on the stones' steps, his expression unchanging, but some dark

energy played beneath his eyes.

The woman beside her stiffened. She ducked her head immediately, stepped back, faded into

silence.

"Go to your room now Ava"

Dante didn't even glance to the woman there,he only went to Ava's room,locking the door.

"Ava?what did I tell you about going outside without my permission?"

"I know I just wanted to receive fresh air"

"Is the air stale here Ava?"he stepped close his voice low and daunting,his eyes scanned her

body features as the red dressed clunged to her hour glass figure perfectly.

Slowly touching her hand,he softly lifted his lips to kiss her.

"Do you want me to forgive you?"

"Yes Dante"

"Then strip"

"Huh?"

"Don't make me repeat myself twice"

"I can't do that"

"So do you want me to kill that woman?"

"Huh? Dante I don't understand what you are saying I'm so confused here"

"STRIP!"

His voice was more loud,she tried to find any joking utterances but couldn't,she instantly

unziped her dress leaving her bare only with her bra and panties left.

His eyes squinted in displease "off with the underwear too or I will do it myself"

Without questions she just obeyed and did as he told now she was completely bare in his sight.

"You look beautiful mi'amor"he looked at her smirking stepping closer to her before connecting

his lips to hers,his hands captured her waist as she moaned in pleasure,he kissed her neck

softly nibbling on it.

A slow tear escaped her eyes, "why are you crying you are obviously enjoying this"

"I don't want to give my body to you I thought you liked me were you leading me one on

purpose"

"Listen Ava the lines between a master and a slave can never be crossed, don't cry I would go

gently on you"

"NO! I don't want this!"She pushed him away,his eyes darkened in anger,he looked at her

clenching his fist and walked away.

"I will show you what it means to disagree with your master,follow me naked this instant I will

disgrace you in front of everyone"

And in that moment, she knew something so appallingly terrifying.

Dante Moretti was not just her kidnapper-prisoner-taker.

He was the lock, the key, to her life.

And a single misstep?

A freaking monster

She never would be escaping here alive.