Chapter 1 - The Echo of a Frozen Promise

The music in the grand ballroom did not stop when Gabriel Caruso spoke.

The violinists kept their bows moving across the strings with mechanical precision.

The guests in their silk gowns and tailored tuxedos pretended they had not heard the billionaire make a vow to a five-year-old child.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

Lucy stood frozen on the polished parquet floor.

Her small hands were balled into tiny fists at her sides.

The second-hand blue dress seemed even smaller under the blinding glare of the crystal chandeliers.

Gabriel stepped closer to her.

His shadow stretched across the floor,

swallowing the light.

He did not look like a man prone to whims.

The prosecutors in Manhattan called him a syndicate kingpin.

The society columns called him a ruthless titan.

I called him the man who had destroyed my family five years ago.

Back then,

he had gone by a different name.

Back then,

my husband had carried documents that could have sent Gabriel to federal prison for the rest of his life.

Those documents had vanished on the night of the warehouse fire.

My husband had vanished with them.

The police had ruled it an accidental blaze.

I had known better.

I had spent five years hiding in plain sight,

working as a domestic in the very estate of the monster who ruined me.

And now,

my daughter was standing three feet away from him.

Gabriel knelt down until his eyes were level with Lucy's.

The silence in the room deepened until you could hear the rain drumming against the massive French windows.

“Do you know what a waltz is,

little one?” Gabriel asked.

His voice was deep,

smooth,

and dangerously calm.

Lucy shook her head.

“My mama said dancing is for people who have happy memories,

” she whispered.

Gabriel’s expression hardened for a fraction of a second.

Then a strange,

haunting shadow crossed his rugged features.

“Then perhaps today you can help me create a new one,

” he murmured.

He extended a leather-gloved hand.

Every eye in the room was fixed on them.

The silence was absolute.

I took a step forward from the service doorway.

My muscles tensed.

I was ready to risk everything,

to run across the room and snatch my daughter away from the jaws of the wolf.

Before I could move,

Gabriel's head turned slightly.

His dark eyes locked onto mine across the length of the ballroom.

There was no mistaking the chilling recognition in his gaze.

He knew who I was.

Or rather,

he was beginning to suspect.

May you like

[COMPLETED] She waited ten years for her fiancé, but the night she marri...

[COMPLETED] Five Years After My Mafia Husband Chose Another Woman, He Me...

[COMPLETED] I CALLED MY HUSBAND 18 TIMES WHILE OUR SON WAS DYING. EIGHT...

The game had officially begun,

and there was no turning back now.