Chapter 1 - The Bride in the Snow
The snowstorm swallowed the Catskill Mountains before midnight.
Harper stood beside Dominic Russo in the grand entrance hall of Carmine Falco’s estate, trying not to show how badly the cold had settled into her bones. The mansion looked less like a home and more like a fortress built for old secrets. Gray stone walls rose behind them. Armed guards stood near every corridor. Above the marble fireplace hung portraits of men with hard eyes and expensive suits—the kind of men who had likely ruined lives without ever raising their voices.
“Mr. and Mrs. Russo,” Carmine Falco’s assistant said with a smile that never reached his eyes. “We are pleased you arrived safely.”
Dominic’s hand rested at the small of Harper’s back.
To anyone watching, it was the touch of a protective husband.
Harper knew better. It was a warning.
Stay close. Watch everything.
“Unfortunately,” the assistant continued, “there has been a scheduling issue. Only one principal suite is available for the weekend.”
Harper nearly laughed.
“A scheduling issue?” she asked sweetly.
The assistant looked uncomfortable for half a second. “I’m afraid so.”
Dominic’s dark eyes narrowed. “You expect my wife and me to share a room. At a family gathering.”
“Yes, Mr. Russo.”
The man’s expression said what his words did not.
Carmine wants proof.
For three months, Harper and Dominic had performed their marriage flawlessly. They had smiled for photographers, danced at charity events, held hands at political dinners, and kissed when the cameras were close enough to demand it.
But they had never slept in the same room.
They had never crossed the invisible boundary created by their contract.
One year. Two million dollars. Madison’s medical bills paid.
That was all Harper had agreed to.
Yet as she followed Dominic upstairs to the suite, she could feel every suspicious gaze on her back.
The bedroom was enormous, decorated in dark wood, velvet curtains, and antique furniture. A fire crackled in the fireplace. There was only one bed.
A very large bed.
Harper shut the door behind them and turned to Dominic.
“This is ridiculous.”
“It is deliberate,” he said.
“Of course it is deliberate. Your enemies are apparently not subtle people.”
Dominic loosened his tie, his expression colder than the storm outside. “Carmine has questioned every part of this arrangement since the wedding. He believes I married too quickly. He thinks you may be a weakness he can exploit.”
“I am a weakness he can exploit,” Harper said.
Dominic looked at her sharply.
She immediately regretted the honesty in her voice.
For the first time since meeting him, Dominic’s expression softened.
“You are not weak, Harper.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
He walked toward the window, looking out over the frozen black forest beyond the estate. “But you are not from this world. That makes you vulnerable.”
Harper crossed her arms. “You knew that when you bought a wife.”
Dominic turned back toward her.
“I did not buy you.”
“You offered me money because I was desperate.”
“I offered you a way out.”
“You offered me a cage with better furniture.”
Silence filled the room.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Dominic walked to the dresser, removed a folded blanket, and placed it on the sofa.
“I’ll sleep there.”
Harper stared at him. “You are six-foot-three. That sofa is barely long enough for a child.”
“I’ve slept in worse places.”
“I’m sure you have.”
His jaw tightened.
She knew too much about the shadows behind those words. Sometimes he came home after midnight with bruises on his hands. Sometimes his white shirts smelled faintly of smoke and blood. She had never asked where he had been, because the contract said she could not.
But tonight, in a house full of men who wanted to break him, she wondered what had made Dominic Russo become so cold.
At dinner, Carmine Falco sat at the head of a long table beneath a chandelier that glittered like a hundred knives.
He was in his seventies, with silver hair and a smile that made Harper think of poison.
“Dominic,” Carmine said as wine was poured, “marriage seems to agree with you.”
Dominic placed his hand over Harper’s.
The contact was warm, firm, and unexpectedly intimate.
“My wife improves everything around her,” Dominic replied.
Harper glanced at him.
He did not look at her, but his thumb moved once across her knuckles.
Carmine watched them carefully.
“And children?” Carmine asked casually. “I imagine the Russo name requires an heir.”
The room went quiet.
Harper felt Dominic’s hand tighten around hers.
“We have been married three months,” Dominic said evenly.
“Time moves quickly when a family’s future is at stake.”
Carmine’s gaze settled on Harper. “You would make a beautiful mother, Mrs. Russo.”
Harper forced a smile.
“Thank you, Mr. Falco.”
But inside, her stomach twisted.
Later that night, she stood by the fire in their room, unable to sleep. Dominic was on the sofa, still awake.
“Why does Carmine care so much?” she asked quietly.
Dominic looked toward the ceiling.
“Because a man with no family is easy to remove. No wife. No child. No legacy. If I disappear tomorrow, someone else takes my place.”
“And if you have a wife?”
“They hesitate.”
“And if you have a child?”
His eyes met hers.
“Then they have to consider what my family would do to anyone who threatened mine.”
Harper should have felt comforted.
Instead, she felt terrified.
Outside, wind slammed against the windows.
Inside, the fire flickered between them.
Dominic stood and walked toward her. He stopped close enough that Harper could smell his cologne, smoke, and the cold night air clinging to his suit.
“Carmine may test us again tomorrow,” he said.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Harper looked up at him. “Then what do we do?”
Dominic’s voice dropped lower.
“We make them believe this marriage is real.”
Before she could answer, a loud crash exploded downstairs.
Then came shouting.
Gunfire.
Dominic moved instantly.
He pulled Harper behind him, reached beneath his jacket, and drew a gun.
The warm, distant man she knew from galas disappeared.
In his place stood the dangerous man New York whispered about.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
May you like
The lights went out.
And in the darkness, Harper realized their fake marriage had just become a real war.
