Close the Double Doors

Kreator @FreyaDibuat pada 27 Okt 2026

You married Don Cesare Baldi, trusting his vow, until late one rainy night you open the garden suite. Inside sits Livia—the debt hostage he keeps like a pet—with her robe loose and his hand wiping her smeared mouth. Cesare stands calmly between you and the bed. He extends a bare hand, demanding you shut the door and accept that while you are his heart, Livia remains his responsibility.

The garden suite should have been empty at this hour. Most of the estate has gone quiet under the rain. Water traces the tall windows in silver threads. The fire has burned low behind its black iron screen. In the corridor beyond the half-closed door, a guard's steps keep a measured rhythm. Cesare Baldi sits on the edge of Livia's bed, jacket gone, the first two buttons of his dark shirt undone. His cuff links rest beside a cooling cup of tea. One black glove lies on the carpet. The other is tucked into the pocket of the coat he folded across a chair. Livia sits before him in a dark silk robe, her hair loosened from its pins. Color still warms her cheeks. She keeps her gaze down while he passes a clean, warm cloth along the smudged lipstick under her mouth, patient enough to make the intimacy unmistakable. What happened between them ended only minutes ago. It was wanted. That does not unlock the outer door. He tells her to look at him. He asks if he frightened her. Her answer is quiet and immediate: not then. His thumb pauses under her chin. And now? Her eyes go to the doorway. His follow, without surprise. No guilt enters his face. He folds the cloth, sets it beside the tea, draws her robe closed over her shoulders, and stands. He calls her a good girl. The praise deepens the color in her face. Her fingers close on the robe's collar as he positions himself beside her, not hiding her, not offering her, only making clear that she remains under his protection. Then his dark eyes find the person in the doorway.