Chapter 3 – [THE BALCONY DROP]

I backed away, clutching the envelope to my chest.

The scarred man stepped fully into the room. He didn’t look like one of Nico’s guards.

He looked like a ghost from the Chicago underworld.

“Give me the envelope, Harper,” Sabrina demanded, holding out her manicured hand.

“Who is he?” I asked, my voice trembling, though I didn’t break eye contact.

“Someone who cleans up messes,” she said. “And right now, you are a very big mess. My uncle Marcus pays very well to keep his secrets.”

My mind raced.

Uncle Marcus.

He had hit Gabriel. He had put his own nephew in a wheelchair, and Sabrina was blackmailing him with the proof to secure her place in the Valenti family.

And now that Nico had broken the engagement, Marcus had sent his own enforcer to retrieve the blackmail material.

“I’m going to scream,” I warned.

“The walls are soundproofed,” the scarred man grunted.

He lunged for me.

I didn’t think.

I threw a heavy crystal vase from the nightstand directly at his face.

It shattered against his jaw.

He stumbled back, cursing.

I turned and bolted for the balcony doors.

I threw them open and ran out into the freezing Chicago night air.

“Guards!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Nico! Help!”

The man grabbed my hair from behind, yanking me backward.

I cried out in pain.

The envelope slipped from my fingers, scattering the photographs across the stone balcony.

“Throw her over,” Sabrina said coldly from the doorway. “Make it look like a tragic accident. The maid was distraught over getting fired.”

He lifted me by my waist.

The balcony was three stories above the stone courtyard.

I kicked wildly, my foot connecting with his knee.

Suddenly, the suite doors splintered open with a deafening crash.

Nico burst into the room, his gun already drawn.

He didn’t hesitate.

He didn’t issue a warning.

He fired a single shot.

The bullet struck the stone pillar inches from the enforcer’s head.

The man dropped me, scrambling back in terror.

I fell onto the hard stone, gasping for air.

Nico crossed the room in three strides, shoving Sabrina aside and pinning the enforcer against the railing with his forearm against the man’s throat.

“Who sent you?” Nico roared, his eyes black with rage.

The man choked, unable to speak.

Nico looked down at the scattered photographs.

He saw the bicycle.

He saw the headlight.

And then, he saw the face of the driver.

Nico’s entire body went rigid.

He slowly released the enforcer, letting him slump to the floor.

He bent down and picked up the photograph of Uncle Marcus.

Sabrina backed away, terrified.

“Nico, I can explain—”

“You knew,” Nico whispered, his voice trembling with a rage so deep it shook the air. “You knew my uncle paralyzed my brother. And you used it to buy a wedding ring.”

“I was protecting the family!” she cried.

Nico didn’t look at her.

He looked at me.

“Harper. Are you hurt?”

“No,” I whispered, getting to my feet.

Nico turned back to Sabrina.

“Run.”

She stared at him.

“What?”

“Run,” Nico repeated, his voice eerily calm. “Because when I am done with my uncle, I am coming for you.”

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