She Entered The Wrong Bedroom At A Billionaire Gala — Then Woke Up Next To Chicago’s Most Feared Mafia Boss With A Ring On Her Finger.
PART 10
His hand rested at my waist. My cheek hovered near his shoulder. Around us, guests formed a loose circle.
“I need to tell you something,” Dominic said.
“Now?”
“In case I lose the opportunity.”
My heart stumbled.
“Don’t talk like that.”
“The contract was a lie after the first day.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“I kept telling myself I needed you for six months. The truth is, I knew at your apartment.”
“Knew what?”
“That letting you leave would become impossible.”
My throat tightened.
“You don’t get to turn imprisonment into romance.”
“I know.”
His answer came without defense.
“If this ends tonight, the contract ends too. You keep the money. You choose where you live. You decide whether you ever see me again.”
I searched his face.
“You would let me walk away?”
“No.”
His voice broke slightly.
“But I would not stop you.”
Before I could answer, the ballroom doors opened.
Gabriel Marino entered with more than twenty men.
He was in his sixties, silver-haired and broad-shouldered, with the pleasant public smile of a man who had never personally faced consequences.
Victoria walked beside him.
She looked pale.
Dominic guided me from the dance floor.
Gabriel stopped near the center of the room.
“Dominic,” he said warmly. “A memorable evening.”
“Gabriel.”
The music died.
Gabriel glanced at me.
“So this is the woman who disrupted ten years of negotiation.”
“I did not realize falling asleep required strategic talent,” I said.
A few guests laughed nervously.
Gabriel’s smile vanished.
“The old law requires proof of a genuine prior engagement.”
Dominic raised my hand, displaying the ring.
“You have seen the public record.”
“I have seen fabricated photographs.”
“You have seen my decision.”
Gabriel’s gaze sharpened.
“A decision made by a man who has forgotten his duty.”
“Duty did not require you to plan my family’s murder.”
Murmurs moved through the ballroom.
Victoria turned toward her father.
“You said he invented that.”
Gabriel did not look at her.
Dominic continued.
“You placed armed men among the catering staff at my estate. You arranged for your daughter to marry me inside a building you planned to turn into a graveyard.”
“That is a serious accusation.”
“It is also recorded.”
A large screen behind the stage came to life.
Leo appeared in a video, seated in an interrogation room with a lawyer present. He gave names, payment records, storage locations, and details of the planned attack.
Gabriel’s face changed.
Not fear.
Rage.
“You think a confession from a traitor matters?”
“It matters to the investigators listening outside.”
Several Marino soldiers reached beneath their jackets.
Castelli guards moved at the same time.
“Stop!” Victoria shouted.
Everyone froze.
She stepped away from her father.
“You were going to let me die.”
Gabriel finally looked at her.
“You would have been removed before the shooting.”
“How?”
He said nothing.
Victoria’s eyes filled with horror.
“You never planned to remove me.”
“You were serving your family.”
“I was being sacrificed.”
“You were born a Marino.”
“I was born your daughter.”
The distinction seemed to mean nothing to him.
Gabriel reached for her arm.
She recoiled.
“No.”
His voice became harsh. “Stand beside me.”
“No.”
He seized her wrist.
Dominic stepped forward, but I moved first.
“Let her go.”
Every face turned toward me.
Gabriel laughed.
“You believe wearing that necklace makes you powerful?”