Chapter 2 - The Predator Enters
"Gag her and drag her out the back!" Jackson hissed at the guards, his voice trembling with a sudden, frantic urgency that completely contradicted his earlier arrogance. "Do it now before she ruins the entire evening!"
The guards aggressively twisted Harper's arms behind her back, forcing a painful gasp from her lips. They began to violently drag her toward the servant’s exit. The wealthy guests simply watched in silence, turning up their noses in absolute disgust at the muddy, struggling woman.
But then, the temperature in the massive ballroom seemed to drop to freezing.
The heavy, suffocating chatter of the elite crowd died instantly. The sea of billionaires and politicians instinctively parted, taking urgent steps backward as if a predator had just stepped into a cage of terrified rabbits.
Striding effortlessly through the silenced crowd was Gideon Hayes.
At 38, Gideon was the undisputed, ruthless king of the city's underground mafia empire. He was breathtakingly tall, his broad shoulders filling out a sharp, custom-tailored black suit perfectly accented with a crisp white pocket square and a solid black tie. His dark hair was meticulously styled, and a faint shadow of stubble lined his sharp, unforgiving jaw.
He didn't walk; he glided with the terrifying, slow-motion grace of a man who owned the very air everyone else was breathing.
Gideon didn't look at Jackson. He didn't look at the terrified guests. His dark, lethal eyes locked entirely onto the commotion near the entrance. He stopped dead in his tracks, standing right in front of the two massive security guards who were currently breaking Harper's arms.
"What's happening here?" Gideon asked.
May you like
His voice was incredibly deep, cold, and quiet, yet it echoed through the vast ballroom with the terrifying force of a gunshot.
👉 The guards were paralyzed by the mafia boss, but Jackson was about to make the worst mistake of his life by lying to his face.
