جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

My oldest brother, Damian Vitale, was supposed to attend an exclusive charity gala hosted by the Larue family, the richest in Las Vegas.But at the last minute, one of his shipments ran into trouble.I thought it sounded fun, so I volunteered. Ethan and I slipped away from our bodyguards and went in his place.It was a decision I'd regret for the rest of my life.Halfway through the gala, the host's daughter, Isabella Larue, stormed over with a few hulking bodyguards and cornered me.She threw a blurry photo in my face.In the photo, a woman in a white couture gown sat on a man's lap, draped all over him.Isabella pointed at the photo, then jabbed a red-lacquered nail an inch from my nose."You bitch! You've got the nerve to go after my husband?"And then show up at my gala to rub it in my face?"I looked down at it.As it happened, I was wearing a white dress tonight too.But anyone with eyes could see that my second brother, Alexander Vitale, had flown mine in from Paris Couture Week

Bang! Bang!The pounding came again and again, so hard that even the walls shook."Ms. Vitale! Are you in there?"A rough voice roared outside the doors.Everyone turned to the entrance in alarm.Hope flared in me again.It's Damian's people! His men are here!With strength I didn't know I had, I tore free of the two bodyguards, who'd let their grip go slack.I screamed toward the doors. "I'm in here! Ethan's in danger! Save Ethan! Hurry, save him!"Isabella's expression faltered, but she quickly lifted her chin again."Well, well. Your lover boy's got guts, showing up to get himself killed."She smirked and took her time smoothing her wrinkled skirt."Just a bunch of lowlife thugs, and they think they can wreck a Larue party? They must have a death wish!"She grabbed a walkie-talkie from the bar."Security! Riot team! Everyone move!"Beat that trash outside to death! Break their legs!"Put the ballroom on full lockdown and lower every blast door! Not even a fly gets in here tonight!"

The light was blinding.Four tall figures stepped out of the glare like gods.Leading them was my oldest brother, Damian.The uncrowned king of New York's underworld.His eyes swept over my swollen cheeks and torn-up hands before landing on Ethan in the broken glass and ice water.His face went dark with murderous rage, and his voice turned to ice."Well, isn't this a nice surprise."He snapped his fingers, and several of his men in black appeared like ghosts.Crack! Crack!The sound of breaking bone set my teeth on edge.Damian's men snapped the arms of the two bodyguards holding me down. The guards squealed like pigs.Free again, I scrambled toward Ethan."Evelyn! Save him! Hurry, save him!"Evelyn came running in her white coat, a silver emergency kit in hand."Nia, move!"She ripped open Ethan's soaked shirt, revealing the overheated monitor patch on his chest."The cold and the electric shock shorted out the device and threw him into V-fib!"She pressed the electrode pads to his s

News of the Larue family's fall spread like wildfire.Overnight, the richest family in the state had become despised outcasts, buried under ten billion dollars in debt.The FBI arrested Isabella's father that very night on suspicion of money laundering and multiple counts of financial fraud.Isabella and Julian faced a different fate.Damian's men dumped them in an abandoned cold storage warehouse in the most remote part of Brooklyn.I didn't go back to Manhattan with the others.I had business of my own to take care of.The rusty warehouse reeked of mildew and motor oil.Isabella was tied to a battered iron chair with thick rope.Her once-perfect hair was a tangled mess. There was nothing left of the billionaire heiress.Julian was curled up in a stinking corner like a dead dog."Well, if it isn't the great Isabella Larue."I stood over her in my heels, looking down."Didn't you say that in Las Vegas, anyone's life had a price tag?"So what are you going to pay for yours?"Isabella's

I pulled back a little and looked him in the eye."Where's this coming from?"Ethan lowered his eyes, his thick lashes casting shadows on his pale cheeks."I didn't protect you, so they..."He meant Isabella and that scumbag Julian.His voice was heavy with guilt and frustration.The safe, sheltered world he'd prided himself on had crumbled the moment he faced real violence.My heart ached. I took his face in both hands and made him look at me."Ethan, listen to me. You did great."You took the hits for me. Right up until you went into shock, you never let go of my hand."To me, you're the bravest knight in the world."But Ethan stubbornly shook his head."Not enough. Not even close."He lifted his eyes. A fierce, almost obsessive fire I'd never seen before burned in his gray-blue gaze."I want to be strong."Like Damian. Like Alexander."I want to grind anyone who hurts you under my heel."He looked so fiercely determined that I couldn't help tearing up."Okay. My Ethan's going to be