Chapter 2 - The Weight of the RingThe music swelled—a slow, haunting string arrangement of a modern classic—as Giovanni swept me into a seamless rotation. My hand rested awkwardly against his broad shoulder, feeling the solid, unyielding strength of his frame beneath his tailored charcoal tuxedo.
"You're shaking, Jessica," Giovanni murmured, his voice a low, gravelly baritone that sent an unexpected shiver down my spine.
"People are staring," I whispered back, keeping my eyes fixed on the silver lapel of his jacket to avoid meeting the sea of judgmental, terrified faces surrounding us. "And by people, I mean my entire extended family, who currently look as though they’ve just witnessed a ghost."
"Let them look," Giovanni replied smoothly, his amber gaze scanning the perimeter of the room. "Ignorance is a luxury they enjoy only because men like me allow them to. Your ex-husband, however, looks like he's about to have a stroke."
I risked a glance over Giovanni's shoulder.
Tyler had abandoned his spot beside Vanessa. He was half-walking, half-stumbling toward the edge of the dance floor, his face drained of color. His jaw was slack, his fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles were pure white. Vanessa was clawing frantically at his sleeve, whispering harsh, panicked warnings into his ear, but Tyler ignored her completely.
"He knows who you are," I whispered, my mind racing as I tried to connect the terrified reactions of the room to the calm, collected man holding me. "Who are you, Giovanni? Why did everyone stop breathing when you gave your name?"
"My name is merely a boundary marker, Jessica," he said, his hand tightening slightly on my waist as he spun me gracefully past a pillar of white orchids. "A reminder of what happens when people mistake kindness for weakness. Your cousin Sandra built her entire social standing on marrying into a mid-level corporate family that my logistics firm bought out three months ago. They know that if I choose to ruin them, it takes less time than it takes to pour this champagne."
I swallowed hard, the magnitude of what I had stepped into finally beginning to register. "You used me to avoid your aunt's matchmaking trap. And in exchange... what? You're playing bodyguard for a tired pediatric nurse?"
"Not a bodyguard," Giovanni corrected, his eyes flashing with a sudden, intense heat that made my breath catch. "An equalizer."
As the song reached its crescendo, Giovanni didn't release me. Instead, he pulled me closer—so close I could feel the steady, powerful thud of his heart against mine. He raised his left hand, and for the first time, I noticed a heavy, platinum band resting on his ring finger. Before I could question it, he slipped a matching, unadorned platinum ring onto my left ring finger, sliding it past my knuckle with smooth, deliberate precision.
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"What are you doing?" I gasped, trying to pull my hand back.
"Securing the fiction," Giovanni whispered against my ear, his breath warm against my skin. "Because if we're going to convince your family, and my business rivals, we need to look like a couple that cannot be broken. Smile, Jessica. Your ex is less than ten feet away."
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