Of Dresses And Danger

Lia’s POV

Cameras kept flashing as we stepped out of the black limousine, the sound like gunfire in the silent night air. The paparazzi couldn’t stop yelling his name…our names as soon as we climbed the steps into the venue.

“Mr Kade, who is she?”

“Are you both official?”

“Is this your new girlfriend?”

He didn’t utter a word, but his hand tightened around my waist, pulling me closer towards him. The contact made my breath hitch, but I had to keep myself together tonight.

Every step as we made our way into the ballroom felt like walking deeper into the mouth of a beast. And yet, I couldn’t stop staring at him. Kade Valen was darkness taking the form of a man, his cold, calculating eyes nothing but those of a predatory wrapped in luxury.

But here I was…standing next to him like a possession. “You’re shaking, little princess,” he whispered into my ear, the heat of his breath sending chills down my neck. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite you tonight….unless you tell me to.”

I wanted to slap him across his face. Instead, I turned, smiling for the cameras to capture as the perfect couple. The ballroom was a palace of gold and luxury, with champagne flowing like water.

Everyone here wore masks or wealth and power, but underneath it all, I could see them for who they were. Just people obsessed with power, greed. Secrets. And no one else but Kade would fit perfectly among them.

God…

I hated how his every touch felt like a command to my body like it was already trained to obey him. I was supposed to despise this man for what he did to my brother and me, but yet… my body craved him more when he wasn’t touching me.

“Smile, Lia,” he murmured, his voice drifting me off my thoughts. “Tonight, you’re not a prisoner. You’re my prized possession.” I turned to face him, my eyes burning with rage. “Was that supposed to comfort me?”

“No.” 

He chuckled, low and mocking. “But it should remind you not to fuck this up.” Before I could part my lips to respond to him, a hush rippled through the room, followed by the icy clicking of heels on the marble floor.

I turned to see who would draw this kind of attention at such a prestigious event and there she was. Selene. Looking like a work of art in a black satin dress and dripping with diamonds. Her hair was perfect, lips red as blood. Her eyes…her eyes locked onto mine like a knife finding a weak spot to stab through.

She was wearing the same gown as I was. The exact one. Same design. Same slit up the thigh, same plunging neckline. This fucking…

My blood ran cold. The smirk on her face signaled to me that this wasn’t a coincidence at all…this was war. “Oh my god. I didn’t know we would be wearing the same dress tonight,” she purred, walking up to us. “What are the odds?”

Kade’s jaw twitched in anger. “Why the fuck are you here Selene..”

“Don’t…,” she interrupted, not sparing him a glance. “I just wanted to see the little project you’ve been parading around town.” Her eyes scanned me like I disgusted her.

“You poor thing,” she hissed, her voice laced with venom and mockery at the same time. “Is this your first gala? You’re glowing…. Like a deer about to be gutted.”

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to break her nose. “You’re so pathetic, miss,” I said, my voice sharp as glass. “All your money, all that status…and still fighting over a man who has grown bored of you.”

But Selene’s smile didn’t fade..even though I thought that would shut her up. “Oh, darling,” she said. Stepping closer, “You think Kade would ever do something with a classless little girl? You’re just the newest addition to his collection.”

Gasps rippled around us. A few guests pretended not to listen, even though they couldn’t help but notice the whole drama going on. I opened my mouth to reply, but I never got the chance. Because no one expected what happened next.

One moment, the room was pulsing with music and champagne, laughter and a blur of gowns and expensive jewelry swirling under glittering chandeliers. The next…

Bang.

A single, deafening crack that split the air.

Then…

Bang. Bang.

Screams immediately erupted like a wave crashing through the ballroom. I barely registered the third shot before Kade’s arm gripped my waist, shoving me down on the marble floor. “Stay low!” He barked, his voice final and commanding.

Another gunshot cracked through the chaos. And that’s when it happened. One of Kade’s guards…broad, suited and alert threw himself in front of us just as a bullet whizzed toward where Kade stood seconds before.

He dropped like a stone, blood splattering across the floor, soaking into the pristine marble floor. The life in his eyes drained slowly, he didn’t even get a chance to scream. Kade didn’t look away, but I did. “Move!” He growled, grabbing my wrist in an instant.

The next thing I knew, he was dragging me across the ballroom, passing overturned tables and sobbing guests hiding behind them, through a heavy wooden door tucked into the side wall,  the noise fading behind us as he slammed it shut

“What was that?” I gasped, gripping the edge of the furniture like it could stop the world from spinning. “What just…oh my God, that man…he died..”

“Control yourself,” Kade snapped, though his voice didn’t come out cold…just tight. Trying to control himself in the whole panic. “I…I can’t…he took a bullet for you..”

“I know,” he shot back, jaw clenched so hard I thought it might crack. “He knew what he signed up for.” I stared at him, shocked. “That’s just it. That’s all you have to say?”

His eyes met mine..sharp and calculating. “I don’t have the time to mourn right now, Lia. Not if this is what I think it is.” But before I could ask what he meant, his phone buzzed in his hand.

Kade looked down. Everything about him shifted in an instant, his body went still. His features turned to stone. “What is it?” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Kade….what is it?”

He didn’t answer. Didn’t move or blink. The silence between us just stretched thin….so thin that it could snap and slide through someone’s skin. Then, slowly…he turned the phone towards me. And my world shattered. 

“Oh…oh my god,” I gasped, staggering backwards as I almost fell to the floor. It was Noah. Tied to a chair, blood rushing down from his nose, his lip split open, one eye already closing from the brutal torture that was obvious he had been put through.

His head hung low, his chest rising and falling in slow, frantic breath…he was alive. Barely. The camera shifted away from him, a figure stepping into the frame. Tall and dressed in black from head to toe, his face covered with a mask.

No words came out of his mouth. He didn’t need to. Rather, he just held up a glove hand…four fingers…then three…then two.., one. Then he raised a shiny blade to Noah’s throat…just enough for the edge to kiss his skin.

“No,” I choked out. “No..please…stop…”

I gasped, falling back to the chair in the room, my hand flying to my mouth. But the video didn’t stop, the man leaned down, whispering something into Noah’s ear. Something only my brother could hear, making him tremble violently in fear.

Then, the masked man turned to face the camera, holding up a sign..white paper, thick black letters, bold and merciless.

"Tick-tock, Valen. Tell your little thief to give us the ledger. Or we start cutting off pieces she’ll recognize.”