Chapter 6
He didn't wait for her to process the absolute lack of mercy in his gaze. He reached into the inner pocket of his tailored dark three-piece suit, his refined tattoos catching the golden light, and withdrew a heavy, encrypted mobile phone.
"Are you waiting in the grand foyer, Marcus?" Adrian asked into the receiver. He paused, listening to his unseen underboss on the other end of the line. "Will you bring two men into the ballroom immediately?"
Yvette gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in sheer, unadulterated terror. She knew exactly what Marcus did for the Westbrook family. He was the man who made Adrian’s problems disappear without a trace.
"No! Adrian, please!" Yvette shrieked, kicking off her expensive heels and scrambling backward across the marble floor, her emerald gown dragging behind her. "You can't do this! I am a Shaw! My family will kill you! My father will slaughter your entire syndicate for this!"
The heavy mahogany double doors of the ballroom swung open violently. Marcus, a towering man with a heavily scarred face and a dark trench coat, stepped into the room, flanked by two equally intimidating enforcers. They moved with absolute, silent precision, ignoring the lavish surroundings and focusing entirely on their boss.
"Will you escort my former fiancée to the holding cells in the sub-basement?" Adrian asked, not taking his eyes off the weeping woman backed against the wall.
"No! No, please!" Yvette shrieked, kicking and thrashing wildly as the two enforcers reached out and grabbed her by the arms. They hauled her to her feet with effortless strength, the delicate fabric of her elegant satin evening gown tearing audibly at the seams. "I loved you, Adrian! You owe me! I saved you from a pathetic life with the help!"
"Will you ensure she is gagged if she continues to scream, Marcus?" Adrian inquired, casually adjusting the open collar of his dark suit.
Marcus nodded grimly. "Yes, boss. Let's go, princess."
The enforcers dragged Yvette backward toward the doors. Her threats devolved into hysterical, panicked sobs that echoed down the grand hallway until the heavy doors clicked shut behind them, sealing the ballroom in a profound, suffocating silence once more. The engagement was violently, irreparably over.
Adrian stood perfectly still for a long moment. The tension slowly bled out of his powerful shoulders. He turned his head, his dark, swept-back hair catching the light of the crystal chandeliers, and looked across the room to where Lena was sitting. She had collapsed onto a velvet sofa, her face buried in her hands, her body shaking with silent, agonizing sobs.
He walked slowly back across the polished marble floor. He dropped to one knee, completely ignoring the crease it put in his expensive tailored trousers, bringing himself down to eye level with her.
"Lena," Adrian whispered, his voice losing the lethal edge it had carried moments before, softening into a quiet, intimate register. "I am so deeply sorry."
Lena looked up, her puffy, shadowed eyes meeting his. "She took everything, Mr. Westbrook. The groom's men were supposed to come for me tomorrow. They threatened my family."
"That will not happen," Adrian said, his own eyes burning with fierce, uncompromising resolve. He reached out, his heavily tattooed hands gently enveloping her shaking shoulders. "I will have a detail dispatched to your family's home tonight. They will be brought here, under my absolute protection. Every threat against you is erased. I swear it on my life."
"You... you would do that for me?" Lena whispered, her expressive eyes wide with disbelief, her hands trembling as they hovered over her rumpled white apron.
"Do you believe I would allow a woman who bled for my household to suffer because of my blindness?" Adrian asked, a flicker of profound, protective warmth entering his cold eyes as he looked at her.
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"I didn't know what to expect, sir," Lena whispered, fresh tears spilling over her fair, rosy cheeks. "I just knew I couldn't go through with it. When Oliver said she arranged it... it broke me."
"Did you think a monster would punish the only person with the courage to stand by his son?" Adrian asked gently.
