Chapter 8 - The High-Society Gala
The crystal chandeliers of the Chicago Symphony Center cast a dazzling glow over the city’s elite.
Billionaires in black tuxedos clinked champagne flutes with senators and district attorneys, while private security guards kept a watchful eye over the exits. In the center of the grand ballroom, whispers suddenly began to spread like wildfire.
The grand doors swung open.
Damian Reyes walked in, radiating absolute authority in a bespoke midnight-blue tuxedo. But it wasn't Damian who silenced the room; it was the woman on his arm.
Elena took every breath away. Dressed in a floor-length emerald silk gown that hugged her graceful curves, her dark hair swept up in an elegant chignon secured with diamond pins, she looked like royalty. The compression wraps were gone; her skin was radiant and clear, her head held high with quiet, breathtaking dignity.
“Look at her,” whispered an alderman’s wife behind an ivory fan. “Who is she? An ambassador’s daughter?”
“No,” hissed a businessman standing nearby. “She’s the one Damian took from the lower ward. The one who brought down the Twelfth Precinct.”
Damian guided Elena through the sea of staring patrons with effortless grace, his hand resting securely on the small of her back. Every time someone stepped forward to offer congratulations or business pleasantries, Damian introduced Elena with unyielding pride: *“This is Elena Cruz. Her word is my word.”*
Standing on the mezzanine balcony overlooking the floor, Dominic Moretti gripped the brass railing until his knuckles turned white.
“He really did it,” Moretti growled to his chief lieutenant. “He brought her out in public. He’s daring us to make a move.”
“Boss,” the lieutenant whispered, pointing toward the eastern entrance. “Our people at the harbor just signaled. The strike team is in position at the Reyes docks. As soon as we cut the power to the gala, the fireworks start.”
May you like
Moretti smiled a cold, vicious smile. “Signal Vance. Tell him to take his men to the estate now. The docks will pull Reyes’s security away, and the little sister will be waiting like a lamb for the slaughter.”
***
