Chapter 2
Victor would recognize it and attack.
“How am I supposed to behave as though I belong inside a world built upon weapons and blood?”
Dominic lifted 1 hand and held her chin.
His calloused fingers forced Harper to maintain eye contact.
“You do not need to pretend that you belong to this world.”
His voice was quiet and low.
“You need to pretend that you belong to me.”
When Harper stood beside him, no one could touch her.
She needed to believe that protection completely enough to make others believe it as well.
For several seconds, neither moved.
No audience surrounded them.
His touch was not part of a public performance.
Harper felt an unwelcome reaction inside her chest.
Dominic was supposed to frighten her, but his physical presence carried a protective heat she had begun to associate with safety.
Footsteps entered the corridor before she could understand the change between them.
Enzo came into the study.
His face was pale and serious.
“We have identified the problem.”
Dominic removed his hand from Harper and became the syndicate leader again.
The traitor was Harrison, Dominic’s 2nd-in-command for the North Side territory.
Dominic’s men intercepted an encrypted transmission from a prepaid telephone. Harrison had been providing Victor with shipment schedules and security rotations.
Dominic’s expression remained unchanged.
The temperature of the room seemed to fall.
“Where is he?”
Harrison was managing security at an underground diamond auction taking place that night inside the St. Regis.
Victor Romano was confirmed as a guest.
“Excellent.”
Dominic looked toward Harper.
He instructed Enzo to tell Penelope that Harper needed the red dress.
“Tonight, we capture the traitor.”
Thirty minutes later, Harper sat before a dressing-room mirror.
Penelope arranged her dark hair into an elegant cascade and covered her lips with deep crimson color.
The red dress had a low neckline and a high slit revealing a custom holster secured against Harper’s upper thigh.
Dominic insisted that she carry a small pearl-handled derringer.
It was intended for an emergency.
When he placed the weapon within the holster, cold metal moved against Harper’s skin and his hand remained dangerously close.
The gesture felt too intimate for either of them to acknowledge.
The drive toward the St. Regis remained silent.
Rain struck the armored Escalade.
Harper studied Dominic’s face and recognized the predatory concentration of a man preparing for violence.
The hotel penthouse contained a glittering concentration of corruption.
Political officials, criminal leaders, and wealthy intermediaries stood beneath enormous chandeliers while servers carried champagne between armed guards wearing tailored tuxedos.
The atmosphere changed when Dominic and Harper entered.
Conversations weakened.
People watched them cross the room.
Dominic placed a firm hand upon the small of Harper’s back.
“Smile.”
She needed to appear entirely beyond anyone’s reach.
Harper created a bright smile and leaned into his body.
Across the penthouse, Victor Romano stood near an illuminated exhibition of uncut diamonds.
He was older than Dominic, with silver hair combed backward and features Harper found reptilian.
Harrison stood beside him.
Victor noticed Harper immediately.
He whispered something toward Harrison, whose face became pale before he nodded repeatedly.
Dominic continued walking directly toward them.
The surrounding guests moved aside without being asked.
“Dominic.”
Victor opened both arms with false hospitality.
“It is pleasing to see you outside the shadows.”
His eyes moved toward Harper.
“And who is this remarkable woman? You have concealed her for far too long.”
“Victor.”
Dominic did not offer his hand.
“This is Harper. My fiancée.”
Harper’s breathing stopped briefly.
The word had never been included inside the previous plan.
Dominic had increased the perceived value of the target without warning her.
Victor examined Harper openly.
“It would be unfortunate if anything happened to such a valuable investment.”
“The only unfortunate event tonight will be the reduction of your remaining life if you continue looking toward her in that manner.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
Silence spread around them.
Harrison shifted and moved 1 hand toward his jacket.
Harper saw the anxious motion.
Her heartbeat became loud inside her ears.
She remembered Dominic’s instruction.
She did not need to understand the entire world.
She needed to appear as though she belonged beside him.
“Dominic.”
Harper allowed her voice to soften.
She moved 1 finger along the front of his jacket and performed the role expected from a devoted future wife.
“The air is unpleasantly warm. Perhaps Harrison could bring us fresh champagne.”
She looked directly toward the traitor.
Her gaze communicated that his betrayal was known.
Harrison froze.
He turned toward Victor in panic.
The balance inside the room changed immediately.
Victor’s smile weakened.
He understood that Dominic was not investigating Harrison quietly.
Dominic was exposing the betrayal before Chicago’s criminal elite and waiting for Victor to react.
“Bring the woman a drink.”
Dominic’s voice remained barely above a whisper.
It carried the finality of an execution order.
Harrison moved backward.
His hand shook above the opening of his jacket.
“Dominic, I swear—”
“Do not waste your final breath.”
The ballroom erupted.
Harrison pulled his weapon.
He did not aim toward Dominic.
Knowing he could not defeat Dominic’s reflexes, he turned the muzzle toward Harper.
“Do not move.”
Harrison seized Harper’s bare arm and dragged her against him.
The red silk tore slightly at the shoulder.
Guests screamed and fell toward the floor. Glass shattered against marble.
Enzo and Dominic’s men drew their weapons but could not fire.
Harrison held the pistol tightly against Harper’s temple.
Dominic remained completely still.
His normally controlled gray eyes burned with a fury that Harper had never seen.
It did not resemble the expression of a strategist watching an operation fail.
It resembled a man watching the most important part of his life move toward destruction.
“Release her.”
His calmness was more frightening than shouting.
“Let her go, and I will place only 1 bullet inside your skull instead of 10.”
Harrison retreated toward the service elevators while pulling Harper with him.
Victor had promised him control of the North Side.
He accused Dominic of becoming weak and unfit to lead because of a woman.
Victor remained protected by his armed men near the diamond display.
He laughed.
Dominic had brought a civilian into a war.
Now, Victor said, everyone could watch his kingdom collapse.
The metal against Harper’s skin was cold and painful.
Her pulse moved rapidly.
She looked toward Dominic and saw fear hidden beneath the rage.
She understood the truth.
The private moments, protective touches, and long glances had not remained entirely part of the deception.
Dominic cared for her.
Harper cared for him as well.
She refused to die as a passive victim inside a borrowed red dress.
The pearl-handled derringer remained against her thigh.
Harrison was taller and stronger, but panic divided his attention between Dominic’s men and the elevator doors.
Harper inhaled sharply.
Then she allowed her entire body to collapse.
The sudden dead weight caught Harrison unprepared.
He stumbled, cursed, and lost his grip upon her arm. His hand caught briefly within her hair.
Harper reached through the slit of the dress.
Her fingers closed around the derringer.
She did not think about her auditing position, student debt, or former quiet life.
She aimed upward and fired.
The report was deafening.
The bullet entered Harrison’s shoulder and shattered his collarbone.
He screamed and dropped the pistol while falling upon the marble floor.
Before his body struck the ground, Dominic was already moving.
He crossed the open space with his weapon drawn.
His 1st shot was not directed toward Harrison.
Dominic fired toward Victor Romano.
Gunfire spread throughout the St. Regis penthouse.
Bullets shattered the chandeliers and sent the room into flashing darkness.
Dominic seized Harper around the waist and carried her behind a marble column as rounds tore through the walls above them.
“Were you struck?”
His hands moved urgently across her arms and torso, searching for blood or injury.
Harrison’s blood spread from Dominic’s fingers toward the red silk of Harper’s dress.
“I am uninjured.”
Her own hands shook as she placed the empty derringer upon the carpet.
Dominic pressed his forehead against hers.
His breathing was heavy.
“You reckless, beautiful fool.”
Harper could have been killed.
“You told me that I belonged to you.”
She closed both hands around the lapels of his suit, repeating the gesture from the night they met inside the hotel corridor.
“I was not going to allow him to take me.”
For a moment, the gunfire beyond the column seemed distant.
Dominic looked at her without the controlled expression of a syndicate leader.
Then he kissed her.
The kiss was not staged for photographers, Victor’s spies, or members of the organization.
It was desperate and painful, carrying the taste of gunpowder, adrenaline, and a devotion neither had intended to develop.
“Enzo.”
Dominic ended the kiss but continued shielding Harper with his body.
“Clear.”
Enzo’s voice crossed the damaged ballroom.
Dominic helped Harper stand.
The penthouse had been destroyed.
Victor Romano lay dead beside the shattered diamond displays.
His attempt to seize Dominic’s territory had ended.
Harrison remained upon the carpet, bleeding and asking for mercy.
Dominic looked toward him only long enough to fire 1 final shot.
The betrayal and conflict were finished.
He returned the weapon toward its holster and faced Harper.
His expression contained vulnerability she had never seen from him.
Victor was dead. Harrison was dead. The immediate threat toward Harper had been removed.
Dominic had arranged a new identity and transportation.
Enzo could take her directly toward the airport.
She was free to leave Chicago and return toward a life beyond the Russo syndicate.
Harper examined the broken glass, blood, and damaged marble surrounding them.
Then she looked toward the man who had forced her into the conflict but had also become the only person beside whom she felt entirely protected.
She crossed the debris and placed her fingers between his.
“I already told you, Dominic.”
Harper wiped a mark from the scar along his jaw.
“I am not running.”
Dominic Russo smiled.
May you like
He drew her against his chest and held her as police sirens began approaching through the Chicago night.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional and created for entertainment purposes only. Any names, characters, places, or events are fictitious or used fictitiously. No real person or organization is intended to be portrayed.
Related Stories
