The Heiress Behind the Don

Dante’s suit was soaked in my blood. Both his hands were around Serena’s head. The first shot cracked through the auction hall and broke a crystal chandelier. Guests dropped behind tables. Dante caught my arm before I could move. People ran for the doors while security shouted over them. I had just found the nearest marble column when his fingers closed above my elbow. I thought he was pulling me down with him. He dragged me in front of his chest. The second bullet struck my left shoulder. My back slammed into him, and his grip kept me upright while he pushed Serena behind a marble column. He covered her head and turned his body over hers. I stayed in the open. For another second, he kept me between the column and the gunmen. My vest stopped the round from entering my chest, but the impact had opened my shoulder. His men killed the shooters within seconds. When the last shot stopped, glass was still falling from the ceiling. The hall smelled of gunpowder. Dante let go of Serena. She shook against him, white-faced. “Are you hurt?” His hands moved over her hair and shoulders. “I was so scared, Dante.” Tears ran down her cheeks. Only after checking her did he look at me. I had one hand braced against the column. Blood had soaked the front of my black dress. “You’re fine. The vest took it.” He glanced at my shoulder. “It’s a graze.” The bulletproof vest had been his gift, meant to protect me. Tonight, he treated it as permission to gamble with my life. “Serena’s heart is weak,” he said. “The shock could have killed her. You can handle this.” *You’re strong.* He used to say that when my nightmares woke me. Now it explained why I had been left in the line of fire. Dante turned to his men. “Sweep the perimeter. I want everyone involved found.” Then habit took over. “Elara, pull the entry and exit footage. I want their network before sunrise.” Blood ran past my wrist and dripped from my fingers. He was already walking away. For three years, I had planned his operations, protected his money, and covered his blind spots. He expected the work even while his men strapped me to a stretcher. Two of his men lifted me onto a stretcher. Dante kept issuing orders without turning around. As they carried me into the ambulance, a velvet box slipped from the hidden pocket of my dress. It landed beside the stretcher in a smear of blood. Inside was a custom signet ring. The Falcone crest crossed a single engraved *V*. I had commissioned it for tonight. After the auction, I would tell him the *V* stood for Vance, give him the name I had hidden, and ask him to become my husband. The ambulance doors shut. Under the flickering ceiling light, I picked up the box and closed it. Dante had made his choice. I put the ring back in my pocket and began planning how to leave.