"He Thought I Was Just His Secretary—Until I Changed Into an Emerald Dress and Stunned the Most Feared Mafia Kingpin"

"You always were too smart for your own good, Chastity," Julian sneered, backing away toward the shadows of the shipping containers. "I tried to make this easy for you. If you had just come with me at the gala, O'Connor would have treated you like a queen. Now... you're just leverage."

Suddenly, the heavy metal doors behind me slammed shut with a deafening metallic clang.

Six armed men in tactical gear emerged from behind the shipping containers, their assault rifles raised and aimed directly at my chest.

From the shadows stepped Liam O'Connor—a massive, scarred Irishman with a cruel grin and cold blue eyes.

"Well, well, well," O'Connor purred, clapping his hands slowly. "The famous Miss Reed. Gabriel Mercer’s little secret. I must admit, the rumors didn't do you justice. You're a beauty."

Inside my earpiece, Gabriel’s voice dropped into a pitch of absolute, terrifying fury. "I have visual on O'Connor. Breach in three... two..."

"You're making a mistake, O'Connor," I said calmly, looking the Irish syndicate boss dead in the eye without a flinch. "You thought you were setting a trap for a helpless secretary. But you forgot one thing."

O'Connor raised an eyebrow, amused. "And what's that, darling?"

"Gabriel Mercer doesn't let anyone touch what's his."

BOOM!

The glass skylights of the warehouse shattered in a violent shower of sparks and metal.

Tactical flashbang grenades rained down from the ceiling, exploding in a blinding flash of white light and deafening thunder. The gunmen screamed, clutching their eyes and ears as chaos erupted across the floor.

Before the smoke could clear, Gabriel dropped down from the high rafters like a dark angel of death.

He landed gracefully on the concrete, two suppressed handguns already roaring in his hands. Three of O'Connor’s men dropped before they could even raise their weapons. Tommy and Mercer’s elite enforcers smashed through the heavy side doors, raining a hail of suppressed gunfire on the remaining syndicate guards.

Julian shrieked in terror, turning to run deeper into the warehouse.

I didn't hesitate. I sprinted forward, swept Julian’s legs out from under him, and slammed him face-first onto the cold concrete floor. I pulled his arm behind his back, pressing my knee into his spine, pinning the traitor securely to the ground.

"Get off me, you bitch!" Julian screamed.

"Shut up, Julian," I growled, pulling a pair of zip-ties from my jacket and securing his wrists tight.

Across the smoke-filled room, O'Connor grabbed a shotgun from a fallen guard and aimed it directly at my back while I was kneeling over Julian.

"Chastity, DOWN!" Gabriel yelled.

I dove to the side just as O'Connor fired, the blast shattering the concrete where I had been kneeling seconds ago.

Gabriel moved with terrifying speed. He stepped between O'Connor and me, taking the brunt of the tactical cover. O'Connor racked the shotgun to fire again, but Gabriel fired three quick, precise shots directly into O'Connor's shoulder and legs, dropping the massive Irishman to his knees.

Gabriel walked up to O'Connor, kicking the shotgun out of his hand, and pressed the burning hot barrel of his pistol against O'Connor's forehead.

"You made two mistakes, Liam," Gabriel growled, his voice echoing through the settling smoke of the warehouse. "First, you came into my city. Second... you aimed a gun at my woman."