Chapter 4 - The Queen's Gambit
"Listen to me very carefully," Damiano commanded, his voice dropping to a terrifying, guttural register. "You are going to walk into that elevator. You are going to let the police put handcuffs on you. And you are going to spend the next twenty years in a federal cell where I have men waiting for you."
Marcus gagged, tears of absolute terror spilling down his cheeks as he nodded frantically.
Damiano dropped him. Marcus collapsed to the carpet, gasping for air, before scrambling up and practically sprinting toward the elevator, desperate to get to the police before Damiano's men decided to finish the job in the hallway.
The corridor fell silent.
I unlocked the deadbolt and slowly pulled the heavy door open.
Damiano turned to look at me. The lethal, terrifying violence that had just consumed him vanished the second his eyes met mine. He took off his suit jacket, draped it gently over my trembling shoulders, and stepped into the apartment.
"He's gone," Damiano said softly, his large, warm hand cupping my cheek, his thumb lightly brushing just below the fading bruise Marcus had left days ago. "He will never, ever come near you again."
I looked up into the eyes of the most dangerous man in New York, the adrenaline finally leaving my body.
"I just wanted to be safe for one night," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Why did you burn his whole world down?"
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Damiano leaned in, his forehead resting gently against mine, his gaze filled with a fierce, territorial devotion that promised a lifetime of protection.
"Because the second you kissed me, you stopped being his victim," the king of the underworld vowed. "You became my queen. And nobody touches my queen and lives to talk about it."
