She Quit the Mafia Boss’s Life After Seeing His Engagement Ring — Then Learned the Woman Wearing It Was Part of a Plan to Kill Him.

PART 2

“If I have to.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Wren stared at him. Dario must have seen something in her expression, because his anger faltered.

“You would really do that?” she asked.

“I would do anything to keep you alive.”

“That is not the same as keeping me.”

She stepped closer until only inches separated them. “You don’t love a person by locking the door, Dario. You don’t protect someone by taking away every choice they have.”

He said nothing.

Wren reached past him and turned the deadbolt. For one suspended moment, she expected him to stop her. He didn’t. She opened the door. A security guard stood at the end of the hallway, pretending not to watch.

Wren looked back at Dario. “I’m going downstairs to make sure your party ends without a body on the ballroom floor. After that, I’m leaving.”

Dario’s eyes followed her into the hall. “We’re not finished.”

“No,” she said. “We’re just finally being honest.”

—

The ballroom looked like a palace built over a graveyard. Women in couture gowns laughed beside men with armed drivers waiting outside. A state senator toasted Dario’s future while two city council members argued over a casino license near the bar. Waiters moved through the crowd carrying champagne, caviar, and miniature crab cakes no one actually ate.

Wren took her usual position near a marble column overlooking the main exits. Her earpiece crackled.

“We have an issue at the valet entrance,” Bram Delaney, Dario’s security chief, said. “Councilman Reese says somebody scratched his Bentley.”

“Send Eddie,” Wren replied. “Offer a complimentary repair and remind the councilman that his wife believes he is attending a transportation summit in Springfield.”

A brief silence followed. “Understood.”

Even with her heart splitting open, Wren did her job. That was her curse.

She found Dario near the center of the room. He had put his jacket back on. His bow tie was perfect. Every trace of the man in the office had disappeared beneath the controlled expression of Chicago’s most feared crime boss.

Sabrina Voss stood beside him in a fitted ivory gown. She was beautiful in a polished, deliberate way. Her blond hair fell over one shoulder. The diamond on her finger flashed each time she lifted her champagne glass.

Grant Voss, Sabrina’s father, was telling a story loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. His hand rested on Dario’s shoulder as if Dario were already his son.

Wren knew better. Grant Voss had tried to destroy the Vane family twice in five years. His sudden desire for peace had never made sense.

Dario looked across the room. His gaze found Wren instantly. Whatever he saw on her face made him stop listening to Grant.

Sabrina noticed. Her smile tightened.

Wren looked away first.

“Ms. Ashford?”

The unfamiliar voice came from her right. A tall man in a navy suit stood beside her, holding two glasses of champagne. His face was handsome enough to seem carefully designed, but his pale eyes contained no warmth.

“Elias Marchetti,” he said. “I’m part of the Voss delegation.”

“I know everyone officially listed in the Voss delegation.”

His smile widened. “Then consider me an unofficial addition.”

Wren’s hand moved closer to the emergency button hidden inside her tablet case. “What do you need?”

“To congratulate you.”

“For what?”

“Building an empire no one knows belongs to you.”

Wren did not move.

Marchetti offered her one of the glasses. She ignored it. “You redesigned the Vane freight routes after the federal seizure at Lake Calumet,” he continued. “You created twelve shell companies, shifted the contracts through three minority partners, and had the entire operation functioning again within nine days.”

Only five people knew those details. Two were dead. One was Dario. One was Wren. The fifth was Bram, and Bram would cut out his own tongue before giving the Vosses information.

“I manage legal transportation contracts,” Wren said.

“Of course.” Marchetti took a sip of champagne. “Just as this engagement is a love story.”

Wren glanced toward the crowd without turning her head. Dario was still watching them.

“What is your point?”

“The Vosses aren’t merging with the Vane family. They’re consuming it.” Marchetti’s voice remained pleasant, but the words beneath it were sharpened steel. “Grant Voss knows Dario’s weakness isn’t money, territory, or pride. It’s the one person who understands how everything works.”

“You’re wasting my time.”

“Am I? The wedding security company was selected by Sabrina. The caterers were selected by Sabrina. The communications contractor was selected by Sabrina. By the time she walks down the aisle, the Vosses will control every camera, door, and private frequency in the building.”

Wren’s pulse slowed rather than accelerated. Fear made amateurs move too quickly.

“What do you want from me?” she asked.

“You already tried to resign tonight.”

Her blood turned cold. Marchetti smiled as he watched the realization reach her.

“You aren’t the only person who knows how to collect information. When you finally walk away, call me.” He slid a black card into the pocket of her tablet case. “We’ll give you a new name, a new life, and enough money to make sure Dario Vane never finds you.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because when this alliance collapses, we need the woman who can rebuild what remains.”

Marchetti stepped back. Across the ballroom, Dario detached Sabrina’s hand from his arm. His voice came through Wren’s earpiece.

“My office. Now.”

Marchetti disappeared into the crowd. Wren touched the black card. She had wanted an exit. Someone had just offered one.

But as she looked at Dario, she understood what the offer truly required. She would have to walk away while the man she loved was destroyed by enemies he had welcomed into his own house.