The voice echoes through the church, and my heart stops. I know that voice.
Gasps ripple through the congregation as heads swivel toward the center aisle.
I turn slowly, afraid to hope, afraid this is some cruel hallucination.
But he's there.
Cristian.
Standing tall in a black suit, his face full of determination.
"This wedding is a farce," he announces. His eyes find mine, and the world falls away. "Valentina Dante is mine."
Maksim's grip on my hand becomes crushing. Alessandro is half-risen from his seat, his expression murderous.
But I can't look away from Cristian.
My heart, which moments ago felt like it was drowning, now soars.
He came for me.
Despite everything, he came.
“You told me he was dead,” Maksim barks at Alessandro.
“Maybe I’m a ghost.” Cristian takes a step forward, his gaze never leaving mine. "I won't let her belong to another man. Not while there's breath in my body."
I can't breathe as Cristian strides down the aisle.
His eyes burn with an intensity I've never seen before.
They’re wild, almost unhinged.
"She is MINE!" he roars, and the room goes deathly silent. "You think you can just take her from me?"
Maksim's men start moving toward him, but Cristian laughs, and it’s an unnerving sound that raises goosebumps on my arms.
"I warned her what would happen," he continues, pulling something from his jacket. Metal glints in the light. A gun. "I told her no other man would touch what belongs to me."
Alessandro stands, hand moving to his own weapon. "Bonetti, stand down."
Cristian ignores him completely, his focus zeroed in on Maksim. "You think you're untouchable? Nothing protects you from a man with nothing left to lose."
Maksim's head snaps toward me, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.
Fear grips me. "Cristian, stop!" I scream, trying to get between him and Maksim. "Please go. You can't be here!"
This wasn't the plan. Cristian was supposed to be safe in Chicago, far from this nightmare.
Now he stands before us, a walking dead man challenging the most dangerous criminals in New York.
I’m surprised guns haven’t been firing right and left.
Except Alessandro said only he and Maksim are armed.
Of course, for Cristian, that’s still a bad thing.
I lunge forward, desperate to put myself between them, but Maksim's arm shoots out, shoving me roughly aside.
