The penthouse lounge was alive with the clatter of plates and the warmth of laughter, the scent of roasted chicken and garlic mashed potatoes filling the air. Sayrn Sauns sat at the long dining table, her chestnut hair loose, catching the soft glow of the chandelier above. At twenty-eight, with her RN degree earned earlier this year, she was used to the high-pressure chaos of Chicago General’s ER, but the unexpected arrival of Daniel Isiah’s family—his parents, Maria and Joseph, his brother Nico, and his four sisters, Elena, Sofia, Rosa, and Lily—had brought a different kind of energy. The Velvet Contract and their official relationship anchored her, but the weight of Varga’s threat lingered, a shadow tempered by the family’s vibrant presence.
Daniel, thirty-five and the architect of a ma
