Chapter 14 - The Gala of Knives
The annual Metropolitan Heritage Gala was held at the Grand Plaza Hotel, an event no elite family could skip without raising alarms.
Alexander arranged for twenty plainclothes security guards to encircle the perimeter of the ballroom.
He dressed me in a sapphire evening gown that clung gracefully to my frame, but beneath the silk at my thigh, I wore a concealed snub-nose pistol.
The luxury around us felt like a fragile veneer stretched over a bottomless pit.
Every whisper from the diamond-studded socialites felt like a coded barb.
Alexander stayed glued to my side, his hand warm and firm against the small of my back.
"Don't listen to Dominic’s poison, Sophia," he murmured near my ear as the orchestra played a delicate waltz.
"He feeds on division; he wants you to doubt the ground you stand on."
"Then tell me about the twenty-million-dollar trust, Alexander," I asked quietly, looking straight into his eyes.
"Tell me it’s a fabrication."
Alexander’s throat moved as he swallowed hard, but before he could speak, a waiter handed him an urgent message on a silver tray.
*The docks at Pier 14 are being breached. Elena’s bakery supply warehouse is inside the perimeter.*
Alexander’s jaw hardened, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Dominic is moving tonight," Alexander muttered.
"He’s baiting us to abandon the gala so his men can seize the Astoria shipping manifests."
Across the glittering room, Dominic raised a champagne flute toward us from the mezzanine.
He tilted his head, smiling like a predator watching a deer wander onto the ice.
"You need to stay here where it's crowded and safe," Alexander insisted, turning toward the private exit.
"I'm taking Marcus to the pier."
"No," I answered, gripping Alexander's wrist firmly.
"Elena is my family, and Miguel was my protector."
"You don't fight Dominic’s shadows alone while I hide behind crystal chandeliers."
Alexander stared at me, seeing the steel in my gaze that no velvet dress could soften.
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"Then stay behind my shoulder," he commanded quietly.
"Because once the blood starts spilling tonight, there is no going back to the dawn we had."
