All Chapters of THE BILLIONAIRES BROKEN HEIRESS: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The world tilted.Or maybe that was just me, trying to process the words that had just come out of Dante Russo's mouth.Marry me.I pulled back, putting distance between us even though we were still moving to the music. Still playing the part of two strangers making polite conversation on a dance floor."You've lost your mind," I said quietly."Probably." His grip on my waist tightened not enough to hurt, just enough to remind me he wasn't letting go. "But that doesn't make me wrong.""I am not marrying you.""You will." He said it like a fact. Like gravity. Like something that had already happened and we were just waiting for me to catch up. "Because in about thirty seconds, you're going to realize you don't have a choice."My heart was racing now, adrenaline flooding my system the way it used to when I heard gunshots in the distance. Fight or flight. Survival mode."Is that a threat?""It's a warning." His eyes never left mine. "The man in the gray suit. Three o'clock. Don't look di

The car ride to New Jersey felt like drowning in slow motion.Dante had sent three SUVs. Bulletproof. Tinted windows. The kind of security detail that announced don't even think about it to anyone watching. I sat in the middle vehicle, surrounded by men in dark suits who didn't speak, didn't smile, just radiated the kind of controlled violence that came from years of training.Dante was in the car behind me. Close enough to respond if something went wrong. Far enough that I couldn't read his expression in the rearview mirror.I kept checking my phone. No messages from Ghost. That was good. That meant no one had breached the safehouse yet. That meant Luca was still safe.For now."ETA seven minutes," the driver said. First words he had spoken since we left Manhattan.Seven minutes until I had to explain to my six-year-old son that his entire life was about to change. That we were moving. That the father he had asked about for years the father I had told him was "away" was waiting to me

I spent the rest of the morning pretending everything was fine.Playing dinosaurs with Luca. Smiling at Maria's comments about what to make for lunch. Acting like my phone wasn't a ticking bomb in my pocket. Like I wasn't counting down the hours until tomorrow's meeting where I will either walk into a trap or miss my only chance at real answers.Thirty-four hours and thirteen minutes.Not that I was counting.By noon, Luca was getting restless. Six-year-olds weren't meant to be cooped up in penthouses, no matter how luxurious. He needed to run, to play, to burn off the endless energy that came with childhood."Mama, can we go outside?" he asked for the third time. "Just to the park? Please?""Not today, baby.""But why? We always go to the park."Because there are men with guns watching this building. Because someone wants to hurt you to get to me. Because your father is hunting a traitor and the last thing we need is to be exposed in an open space where anyone could take a shot."Bec

Dinner was a carefully choreographed performance where every word mattered. It reminded me of the ones my family organized.The first course arrived some kind of artfully arranged appetizer that probably cost more than a week's groceries. I picked at it with my fork, hyperaware of every pair of eyes at the table. Every pause in conversation. Every glance exchanged between the Brooklyn families.They were reading me. Looking for weaknesses. Deciding if I was worth their respect or just another pretender trading on a dead man's name."So, Mrs. Russo," Angelo Ricci said, his voice carrying that particular tone of false friendliness that barely concealed calculation. "Seven years is a long time to be away. What brought you back to New York now?"The table quieted. Waiting as if the whole world had freezed just to hear my response.It was a trap disguised as small talk. Because any answer I gave would reveal something. About my resources, my intentions, my vulnerability.I took a breath. R