Chapter 1 - The Night She Tried To Erase Me
A glass shattered beside my feet as I whispered: "Please don't do this here."
Dominic Russo arrived at the ballroom and found a broken wine glass beside my stained emerald gown.
On the edge of the glass was a tiny engraving: "V.M."
Dominic suddenly realized this wasn't an accident.
The red wine still dripped from my dress when the entire Grand Ballroom of the Drake Hotel went silent.
I could hear the soft whispers before I could even see the faces behind them.
Everyone was watching me.
Not because they cared.
Because they were waiting to see how the woman in the emerald gown would react after being publicly humiliated.
I stood there frozen, my hands resting over the stain covering the front of my dress.
The dress I had spent three months searching for.
The dress I almost convinced myself I was allowed to wear.
For years, I had learned to enter rooms quietly.
To take up less space.
To avoid photographs.
To laugh before someone else could make a joke about me.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, I had walked into that ballroom beside Dominic Russo.
And for the first time in my life, I believed I belonged somewhere.
Until Victoria Montgomery returned.
She stood a few feet away, holding the empty wine glass in her perfectly manicured hand.
Five years had passed since she disappeared.
Five years since she left Dominic when his empire was attacked by federal investigations.
Five years since she returned her engagement ring through an assistant instead of facing him.
And now she was standing in front of me with the same confidence of someone who believed nothing had changed.
Her eyes traveled over my body.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Then she smiled.
"There," she said.
Her voice carried across the room.
"At least now everyone can see exactly what you are."
Nobody stopped her.
Not the wealthy guests.
Not the politicians.
Not the businessmen who shook Dominic's hand ten minutes earlier.
Nobody.
Because everyone in that room knew one thing.
Dominic Russo was dangerous.
But Victoria Montgomery was the only woman who had once been allowed close enough to hurt him.
I swallowed the embarrassment rising in my throat.
"You did that on purpose."
Victoria tilted her head.
"Of course I did."
A few people gasped.
She didn't even pretend.
"This room has standards, Clara."
My fingers tightened.
"Standards?"
She stepped closer.
"Dominic used to understand them."
That sentence hurt more than the wine.
Because deep down, that was the fear I never admitted.
Not that Dominic didn't love me.
But that one day he would realize everyone else was right.
That I was too different from the women he used to have beside him.
Victoria was elegant.
Perfect.
The kind of woman people expected to stand next to a powerful man.
I was the forensic accountant who spent more time with numbers than mirrors.
The woman who helped Dominic uncover millions hidden inside a criminal financial network.
The woman who knew exactly how dangerous his world was.
And somehow became the one person he trusted.
But trust was not the same as love.
At least, that was what I kept telling myself.
Victoria leaned closer.
"You really think Dominic wants you?"
I looked away.
Because I hated that one question could still find the oldest wound inside me.
"He likes beautiful things," she whispered.
"Women who know how to enter a room without making everyone wonder if the furniture can handle them."
The words hit harder than the wine.
I felt every eye in the room.
Then Victoria lifted her glass.
"I want this woman removed."
The Russo guards standing near the entrance didn't move.
Victoria frowned.
"Did you hear me?"
Then a man's voice came from behind her.
"Yes."
The entire ballroom changed.
I didn't need to turn around.
I knew that voice.
Dominic.
Victoria's expression transformed instantly.
"Dominic."
She smiled like nothing happened.
Like she hadn't just destroyed my dress.
Like she hadn't spent the last five minutes trying to destroy me.
But Dominic didn't look at her.
Not even once.
He walked through the crowd.
Slowly.
Everyone moved away.
Not because he asked.
Because they knew better.
His eyes found me.
And the second he saw the wine stain, something in his face changed.
Not anger.
Something colder.
Something more dangerous.
He stopped in front of me.
"Are you hurt?"
I shook my head.
"No."
His eyes stayed on mine.
"Did she touch you?"
"Dominic..."
Before I could finish, he removed his tuxedo jacket.
The same jacket everyone in that room knew cost more than most people's cars.
He placed it around my shoulders.
Carefully.
Like protecting me mattered more than anything else happening around us.
The room went silent again.
Victoria stepped forward.
"Dominic, don't be ridiculous."
Finally, he looked at her.
And Victoria stopped smiling.
Because she saw something she had never seen before.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Loss.
The expression of a man realizing someone he loved had been hurt.
Dominic's voice was quiet.
"Leave."
Victoria blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
The room held its breath.
She laughed softly.
"You are choosing her?"
Dominic looked back at me.
And for one second, the entire ballroom disappeared.
Because nobody there knew what happened behind closed doors.
Nobody knew the nights I stayed awake wondering if I was only part of a contract.
Nobody knew the reason Dominic always kept me protected but hidden.
Nobody knew the truth about our marriage.
Except us.
Victoria looked between us.
Then smiled.
"You never even told them, did you?"
My heart stopped.
Dominic's expression hardened.
"What are you talking about?"
Victoria stepped backward.
"Tell them, Dominic."
The room became colder.
"Tell them what Clara really is."
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
And then Victoria reached into her purse and pulled out a small envelope.
Dominic stared at it.
May you like
Because he recognized the handwriting immediately.
The handwriting of the person who was never supposed to contact him again...
