Chapter 1 - The Shattered GlassThe silence that followed the crash of crystal against marble was absolute. Two hundred of New York’s most elite socialites, politicians, and underworld kingpins stood frozen, their champagne glasses suspended halfway to their mouths, staring at the center of the grand ballroom.
I stood breathless, my palms still warm from the touch of Daniel Ashford’s face.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every survival instinct I had inherited from my father, Vincent Marchetti, screamed at me to run, to vanish into the service corridors before Daniel could process what had just happened. But I forced my feet to stay planted. I forced my chin to remain lifted, projecting the reckless arrogance of a foolish, drunken party planner who had dared to touch a untouchable monster.
Daniel didn't move. For a second that stretched into an eternity, he simply stared down at me.
His dark eyes were like chips of obsidian—cold, fathomless, and terrifyingly sharp. The shock of my public assault had vanished, replaced by an intense, analytical calculation. He knew games. He played them every day of his life. And he knew that a frightened young woman running from a mafia family would never draw this kind of lethal, public spotlight upon herself unless she had a very good reason.
Across the room, Katherine Porter was trembling.
The pristine, ice-queen mask she had worn all evening had cracked right down the middle. Her pale blue gown seemed too large for her suddenly rigid frame as her wide eyes darted from my face down to the amber puddle of champagne soaking into the marble tiles, right beside the silvery sheen of the deadly toxin that had dissolved from the rim.
Daniel slowly lowered his gaze, following Katherine's terrified line of sight.
He looked at the shattered glass. He looked at the chemical residue glinting under the chandelier light. Then, with agonizing slowness, he turned his head back to look at Katherine.
"Katherine," Daniel’s voice was barely a whisper, yet it cut through the silence of the massive ballroom like a razor blade.
"D-Daniel," she stammered, taking an involuntary step back, her manicured fingers digging into the silk of her skirt. "I... I don't know what that girl is playing at. She's insane. She must have been drinking, she—"
"Quiet," Daniel commanded softly.
He didn't raise his voice, but the sheer, crushing weight of authority in his tone caused two of his personal bodyguards to materialize instantly at Katherine's flanks, their large hands resting menacingly near their holsters.
The guests began to murmur, sensing the violent tectonic shift beneath their feet. A rival syndicate boss near the edge of the room took a slow step toward the exit, realizing that a wedding engagement party was rapidly turning into an execution ground.
"Emily," Daniel murmured, turning his gaze back to me. His fingers reached out, his warm thumb lightly brushing against my lower lip where my lipstick had smeared slightly during the kiss. The touch sent a jolt of pure lightning straight down my spine. "You saved my life. And you did it by destroying your own cover."
My breath hitched. He had seen right through the act. He knew I wasn't just an event planner.
Before I could formulate a lie, Daniel gripped my elbow, firmly pulling me against his side with an immovable, possessive strength, and raised his voice so that every single person in the room could hear.
"Victor," Daniel called out without looking back.
A gaunt man in a sharp gray suit stepped forward from the shadows of the dais. "Yes, Boss?"
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"Lock the doors," Daniel ordered, his eyes locked onto Katherine as she whimpered in terror. "Nobody leaves this mansion until we find out who else wanted me dead. And take Miss McBride to my private study. Make sure she is comfortable. I will join her shortly."
As the heavy oak doors of the ballroom slammed shut behind us, locked by armed guards, I realized that my mission for my father was over. I had stepped out of the shadows, and there was no going back.
