Chapter 1: Five Minutes Later
The sound echoed through Ravenshore like a cannon blast.
The mansion's towering oak doors slammed against the marble walls with such force that crystal chandeliers trembled overhead.
Three hundred guests stopped talking.
The string quartet fell silent in the middle of a Mozart concerto.
Champagne glasses hovered halfway to waiting lips.
Every eye turned toward the grand entrance.
A man stepped inside.
He wore a perfectly tailored charcoal overcoat over a black suit, his silver tie catching the glow of the chandeliers. There was nothing theatrical about him.
He didn't need theatrics.
His reputation entered the room before he did.
Dominic Kane.
To Wall Street, he was a billionaire investor.
To politicians, he was an indispensable donor.
To law enforcement, he was a mystery no investigation had ever managed to solve.
And to the few who truly understood power...
He was the last man anyone wanted arriving at their front door.
Behind him came twenty men in dark suits.
They didn't shout.
They didn't draw weapons.
They simply spread through the mansion with disciplined precision, sealing every exit.
Guests instinctively stepped aside.
One senator quietly whispered to his wife,
"We should leave."
His wife shook her head.
"No."
"Something bigger than us is happening."
Upstairs...
Grayson Langford smiled coldly.
"So..."
"He actually came."
Paige laughed.
"Dad, he's just trying to scare us."
Celeste folded her arms.
"This is our house."
"No one walks in here making demands."
Then footsteps echoed across the marble staircase.
Slow.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Dominic appeared in the upstairs hallway.
His eyes found Harper immediately.
She was kneeling beside the overturned desk, blood staining her cream-colored dress.
Her swollen hand rested protectively against her chest.
For one long moment...
He didn't look at anyone else.
Then he quietly removed his gloves.
"Harper."
"I'm sorry I wasn't faster."
Tears filled her eyes.
"You came."
"I always said I would."
Only then did Dominic turn toward Grayson.
"What happened to her?"
Grayson straightened his tuxedo.
"My daughter is emotionally unstable."
"She's been violent all evening."
"We were protecting ourselves."
Dominic nodded once.
"I see."
He looked toward Harper.
"Did you attack them?"
She answered with one word.
"No."
May you like
Dominic faced Grayson again.
"Then I believe her."
