Chapter 2 - The Bride Who Never Wanted Vincent
Vincent's mansion sat behind iron gates on a private road where the rain sounded softer, as if even the weather knew better than to make too much noise there.
Maya watched the gates open and close behind them.
A shiver moved through her.
The house wasn't what she'd expected.
There were no grotesque statues, no guards with machine guns standing visibly on every corner, no theatrical signs of criminal wealth.
It was worse.
It was quiet.
Elegant.
Controlled.
The kind of place where danger didn't need to announce itself.
Vincent led her through a marble foyer and stopped beside a woman holding a medical bag.
"This is Dr. Elena Ruiz."
Maya immediately stepped back.
"I'm fine."
The doctor smiled gently.
"Your feet are bleeding."
"I'm aware."
"Then please sit down."
Maya looked at Vincent.
"You said no one would come in without my permission."
"She came because I asked."
"That's not what I said."
Vincent's gaze held hers.
"You're right."
He turned toward the doctor.
"Wait in the library."
Elena nodded.
Maya stared after her.
Vincent said, "Do you want her to treat you?"
After a moment, Maya nodded.
"Yes."
"Then she will."
The strange simplicity of the exchange unsettled her more than an order would have.
The treatment took twenty minutes.
When Elena finished bandaging her feet, she handed Maya pain medication and stood.
"You have bruising around your wrist and ribs. Nothing appears broken."
"Thank you."
Elena hesitated.
Then she looked at Vincent.
"She needs rest."
"I know."
"And food."
Maya almost smiled.
Vincent's expression didn't change.
"I know."
When Elena left, Maya stood.
"I need a phone."
Vincent held one out.
She frowned.
"For you."
Maya took it.
"Why?"
"Because you should be able to contact anyone you choose."
She stared at the expensive phone.
"That sounds suspiciously normal."
He almost smiled.
"I'm capable of normal."
"Are you?"
"No."
That answer startled a laugh out of her.
It was the first sound she'd made that wasn't frightened.
Vincent watched her closely.
Then his own phone rang.
He stepped away.
"What?"
Silence.
Maya saw the change in his face.
"What do you mean missing?"
A pause.
"Find him."
Another pause.
"Alive."
Vincent ended the call.
"Who?"
He looked at her.
"My cousin."
"The man with the scar?"
"Adrian."
Maya's stomach tightened.
"Was he at the wedding?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Vincent said nothing.
Maya stepped closer.
"Because I saw him after I sat down. He looked worried."
Vincent studied her.
"What did he say?"
"That you had decided I was worth keeping."
Something dark passed across Vincent's face.
"He shouldn't have said that."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't true."
Maya frowned.
"What?"
Vincent walked toward the library doors.
"You were never something to keep."
He paused.
"You were someone to protect."
Then he left.
Maya sat alone in the enormous guest room that had been prepared for her.
She should have escaped.
Instead she fell asleep.
When she woke, morning sunlight spilled across the curtains.
For several seconds, she forgot where she was.
Then she remembered everything.
The rain.
Marcus.
The wedding.
Vincent.
She sat up.
A note rested on the bedside table.
Your clothes are being replaced. You owe me breakfast.
No signature.
She knew who wrote it.
Maya stared at the note for a long moment, then laughed despite herself.
Downstairs, she discovered something else she hadn't expected.
Chaos.
The quiet mansion from the night before was filled with people.
Men talking in low voices.
Phones ringing.
Doors opening.
Adrian stood near the staircase with blood on his collar.
Maya froze.
Vincent turned.
Their eyes met.
"What happened?"
Adrian gave her a tired smile.
"I got shot."
Maya's face drained.
Vincent crossed the room.
"Why are you here?"
Adrian looked at Maya.
"Because someone followed me."
The house became silent.
Vincent's expression sharpened.
"Who?"
"Maybe nobody."
"Adrian."
"Fine. Someone from the Moretti crew."
Maya frowned.
"Moretti?"
Vincent's eyes flicked to her.
"My wedding guests weren't all friends."
Adrian laughed bitterly.
"Somebody wanted the marriage dead before it happened."
Maya remembered the unhappy bride.
"Your bride."
A voice came from the staircase.
"Former bride."
Everyone turned.
The woman from the ceremony stood there in a pale robe, her ice-blue eyes colder than before.
Vincent's jaw tightened.
"You should be at your hotel."
"So should you."
She looked at Maya.
Then back at Vincent.
"You've always had strange timing."
Maya looked between them.
"Who is she?"
The woman answered for herself.
"Isabella Moretti."
Maya's eyes widened.
"The Moretti family?"
"Yes."
Vincent said, "Isabella was supposed to marry me."
"Supposed to?"
Isabella smiled without humor.
"Until you walked through those doors."
Maya's heart sank.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
Isabella studied her.
"That's the problem."
Vincent stepped between them.
"Enough."
Isabella ignored him.
"Did you know why my family agreed to this marriage?"
"No."
"Peace."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The Torino and Moretti families have been at war for fifteen years. This marriage was supposed to end it."
Maya looked at Vincent.
"And now?"
"Now," Isabella said, "someone is going to kill you."
Silence.
Maya felt cold.
"Why me?"
Isabella's expression changed.
For the first time, there was something resembling fear in her eyes.
"Because your arrival changed the agreement."
Vincent turned toward the security chief.
"Lock the estate down."
"Already done."
Maya looked at the front windows.
A black sedan sat outside.
Nothing unusual.
Then a man stepped out.
He raised his head.
Maya recognized him immediately.
Marcus.
Her blood froze.
Vincent saw it.
"Get her upstairs."
Two guards moved.
But before they reached Maya, a gunshot cracked through the glass.
The window exploded.
Maya screamed.
Vincent grabbed her and pulled her down.
Adrian fired back.
The mansion erupted into motion.
Men shouted.
Security rushed through doors.
Maya's body shook uncontrollably.
Vincent covered her with his own body.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Look at me."
She did.
"Stay behind me."
Then he stood.
The calm man from the wedding was gone.
What remained was the man everyone had whispered about.
His eyes were ice.
His voice was deadly.
"Bring me Marcus Hale."
Outside, tires screamed.
The sedan vanished.
Vincent watched it disappear.
Then he looked back at Maya.
Something had changed between them.
The fear in her face was no longer only fear of Marcus.
She was afraid of him now, too.
Vincent saw it.
And it wounded him more than he expected.
"I'm sorry."
Maya blinked.
"You?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"For bringing this into your life."
Maya swallowed.
"You didn't."
Vincent stared at her.
"I did."
"No."
She surprised herself with the certainty in her voice.
"You saved me."
He didn't respond.
Because at that moment, neither of them knew the truth.
Marcus hadn't come for Maya.
He had come for something hidden inside her past.
May you like
Something that belonged to the Torino family.
Something Maya didn't even know she possessed.
