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CHAPTER 18 : Shattered Glass
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2025-12-28 14:51:54The ballroom exploded into chaos.
Hundreds of people hit the floor screaming as glass rained down from the shattered balcony doors. The orchestra stopped abruptly, replaced by the deafening cracks of gunfire. Pop. Pop. Two of the men Luca had claimed were "security" dropped to the floor, red blooming on their chests. Julian hadn't missed. He was moving across the room, stepping over cowering guests, his silver gun raised and steady. He didn't look at the chaos. He looked only at me. "Move and you die!" Luca shouted, tightening his grip on my arm. He pulled a gun from his tuxedo jacket and pressed the cold barrel against my temple. I froze. My breath trapped in my throat. "Back off, Thorne!" Luca screamed, using me as a human shield. "Or I paint the walls with her pretty little brain!" Julian stopped ten feet away. He held his weapon up, his face a mask of terrifying calm. "Let her go, Luca," Julian said. His voice wasn't a shout. It was a low, vibrating command that carried over the screams of the crowd. "You know you aren't leaving this room alive if you hurt her." "I'm not leaving alive anyway!" Luca spat. "You burned my docks! You took my heritage!" "I took what was mine," Julian corrected. He took a slow step forward. "Now give me my wife." "She isn't your wife," Luca hissed in my ear. "She is a Vencetti. Blood calls to blood, Vivian. You belong to us." My heart hammered against my ribs. The gun barrel dug into my skin. "Julian..." I whimpered. Julian’s eyes flickered to mine. For a split second, the killer mask slipped, and I saw the terror underneath. He was terrified of losing me. "Duck," Julian mouthed. I didn't think. I dropped. I threw my weight down, dead-weighting myself toward the floor. BANG. The shot was so loud it made my ears ring. I felt the wind of the bullet pass inches above my head. Luca screamed. I scrambled on the floor, my red dress tangling around my legs. I looked up. Luca was clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his white tuxedo shirt. Julian had shot him the instant I moved. "Kill him!" Luca shouted to his remaining men. But Julian was already there. He didn't just shoot; he was a blur of violence. He pistol-whipped the guard reaching for me, sending him crashing into a table of champagne flutes. Then Julian was over me. He grabbed my arm and hauled me up, shoving me behind his back. "Stay behind me!" he roared, firing two shots toward the service exit where Luca was retreating. Luca stumbled at the door. He looked back at us—at Julian shielding me, gun raised, ready to kill the world. Luca’s eyes locked onto mine. He didn't look defeated. He looked... amused. "Ask him!" Luca shouted over the noise, his voice echoing. "Ask him about the warehouse fire in '05! Ask him who really started this war!" Then he disappeared into the service corridor. "He's getting away!" I yelled. "Let him go," Julian panted. He didn't chase him. He turned to me, holstering his weapon in one fluid motion. He grabbed my face with both hands. His hands were shaking violently. There was blood on his cuffs—not his blood. "Are you hit?" he demanded, scanning me frantically. "Did he touch you? Did he hurt you?" "I'm fine," I gasped, adrenaline coursing through me. "Julian, everyone is looking." I looked around. The elite of the city were staring at us from under the tables. We were the center of a hurricane. "I don't care," Julian growled. He pulled me into his chest, crushing me against him. He buried his face in my neck, inhaling sharply. "I thought..." His voice broke. "When he put the gun to your head... I thought I lost you." I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him up as much as he was holding me. "I trusted you. You said you wouldn't miss." Julian pulled back. His gray eyes were wild, burning with an intensity that scared me. "I will never miss when it comes to you." Sirens wailed in the distance. The police were coming. "We have to go," Julian said, his demeanor snapping back to cold efficiency. "My team has the back exit secured. We leave now." He swept me up into his arms, carrying me through the shattered glass and the ruins of the gala. As we ran, Luca’s parting words echoed in my mind. Ask him about the warehouse fire in '05. Julian had told me he saved my mother in the car accident. But he hadn't mentioned a fire. He was still keeping secrets.
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