Feather: A Dark Mafia Captive Romance: Gilded Cage Prequel (Gilded Cage 0.5)
Fawn Bailey
Foreword
Fawn Bailey is the dark romance pen name of USA Today best-selling author Isabella Starling.
Blurb
The story of Gilded Cage begins with mafia princess Ophelia and twins out to own her... But there's a villain preying in the darkness, and he's almost ready to strike.
Ophelia Sokolov. Innocent, beautiful and spoiled. The daughter of a Russian mafia kingpin, I get everything I want with the click of my fingers. Except for him.
I've been in love with Ryker for years, but I'm supposed to marry his brother, Max. Until that one fateful day, celebrating my eighteenth birthday when everything changes. There's evil lurking in the shadows, just like Papa said. And this time, I won't be able to hide...
Fawn Bailey is the pen name of USA Today bestselling author Isabella Starling. Feather is the prequel to the Gilded Cage trilogy.
To those who like their cage golden and opulent.
Fawn
P.S. This prequel is inspired by “Tie Dye Eyes” by Trove (Lucky Rose Remix).
Chapter One
Ophelia
Let me tell you the story of a girl and her bird.
I fell in love with my husband’s best friend when I was only a little girl.
My family, the Sokolovs, were Russian royalty.
I was a pampered little princess, used to being around money my whole life. I never wanted for anything—I got it all in abundance, and before I even wished for it, it was presented to me tied up with a big bow.
My papa called me Princess Ophelia, and the nickname stuck. Everyone called me Princess after that, but nobody dared to mock me using that name. Even though I wore pretty pink dresses and liked to play with Mamochka’s makeup, I still got my feet dirty and made all the other kids respect me. I ruled the playground and my papa ruled the Bratva.
I met the Marino brothers when I was five years old. I had porcelain skin and waist-length black hair, wore a tutu, and was covered in mud up to my knees.
Sometimes I wonder if I would have still fallen in love with Ryker if I’d seen Max first.
They were identical twins, tall for their age, with dark hair and chests that had already broadened. My poor five-year-old heart went all fluttery when I saw the tall boy that strode into the party first. Instantly, it got a reaction out of me. My knees felt weird and my legs were all kinds of wobbly and I had no idea what on earth was going on. Little girls aren’t supposed to feel love as intensely as I did that afternoon, but I was sure nonetheless that was exactly what it was.
I trailed after the boy unnoticed. Or so I thought.
He turned around when I was least expecting it, his eyes blazing with unfriendly fire as his gaze zeroed in on me. He looked like he was about to shout, but as he drank in my appearance, his features softened, and he looked at me with something closer to curiosity in his eyes.
“Who are you?” he asked in heavily accented English, and I couldn’t believe his dumbness.
“I’m Ophelia,” I said proudly, my little chin raised defiantly in the air.
How could he not know who I was? Everybody in the world knew my daddy, and also knew me by default. That this boy dared to forget infuriated me, but at the same time, made me think he was special… different to anyone else.
“Well, I’m Ryker,” he said with a boyish smile, reaching out formally to shake my hand. “Ryker Marino.”
Hesitantly, I reached out too and took his hand in mine, cocking my head to the side and watching him with unabashed curiosity.
“Pleased to meet you,” I said, and he grinned again, putting his hand in his pocket. “Where are your parents?”
“Over there,” he said. “With that tall man.”
I followed the motion he made with my eyes, seeing my papa standing there with two people I didn’t recognize. They were a man and a woman, the woman curvy and beautiful, standing a little to the side and smiling politely as the two men spoke. My papa was always the life of the party, but with the man I didn’t know by his side, he almost blended into the background, which surprised me.
The other man, Ryker’s papa, was taller than any man I’d seen before. He looked friendly and kind and had an easy smile on his face—nothing like papa who sometimes looked quite menacing.
Papa was his opposite. Still very handsome, but with an open smile and outstretched hands. Papa was often quiet and a little reserved, so watching him interact with a man that was so unlike me made me giggle.
“Your papa is so tall,” I told Ryker.
He smiled proudly the way boys do. He was obviously proud of his father.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked him curiously, chattering on as he regarded me with an amused expression. “I have five! I know, that’s quite a lot. We are a big family. Mamochka has a baby every year. They are all younger than me, so I am the most important, you know. I am the princess.”
“Princess?” Ryker repeated, looking me over, from my dirty, mud-stained shoes to the puffy pink dress I was wearing. “Oh. I guess you are, yeah.”
To my five-year-old years, it was the best thing he could have possibly said, and I beamed with pride.
“Come on,” I told him, grabbing his hand on impulse and trying to pull him toward the playground where the other children were playing while several distressed nannies watched over them. “We can go play together.”
“Wait,” Ryker said, grinning at someone over my shoulder and motioning for someone to join us. “Can my brother come and play too?”
I looked behind me and saw a boy, nearly identical to the one before me, partially hidden behind his mother. He seemed different somehow, more serious, even though he couldn’t have been more than eleven years old. But he was intently listening to the adults’ conversation, which I found totally boring myself. His father ruffled his hair, and the boy looked searchingly around until his eyes found mine.
“That’s your brother?” I asked unnecessarily.
It was obvious enough. They looked so alike. But because of the differences in the way they acted, I could have been fooled to think they were just related, like cousins or something. I had quite a few of those.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Ryker nodded. “Hey, Max! Come over here!”
The boy looked at his father for confirmation, and only when the older man nodded, he came toward us. His walk was a little uncertain, and I absent-mindedly noticed he was limping a little. Right away, this made me warm up to him, although not in the same way I had to his brother. But still, once he reached us, he had a bright smile on his face, and I introduced myself to him as well.
In a shy, measured voice, he told me his name was Max, and I led the two boys to the playground where I introduced them to my siblings. They didn’t seem particularly interested in my sister and brother, but then again, they were too young. What on earth are you supposed to do with babies anyway? They’re no fun until you can play with them.
Instead of spending time with the other kids, the two boys whispered an idea in my ear, and I grinned wickedly when they said we should play a game in the garden the party was in.
“I don’t get it,” I said at first. “Isn’t it just like Hide and Seek?”
“No,” Max said patiently. “It’s a little bit different. One of us will be the monster. The monster will try to hunt the other two down and kill them.”
He was always so patient. So kind. So sweet. Especially in those first few years when I’d just met him. He’d show his true colors soon enough….
“Kill?” I repeated, a slight edge to my voice.
We didn’t use big bad words like that at home. papa said they were distasteful.
“Only in the game,” Max said calmly. “Look, I’ll be the monster first. You and Ryder hide.”