Chapter 1 - The Broken Mask
Sadie could not move.
"I said, come here," Ronan repeated.
She obeyed slowly, her heels sinking into the plush carpet.
She stopped exactly two feet away from him.
"Look at me."
She lifted her chin, her green eyes wide with raw terror.
Ronan reached into his breast pocket and produced a pristine white silk handkerchief.
He did not hand it to her.
Instead, he raised his hand and pressed the silk gently against her left cheekbone.
She flinched, expecting a brutal impact, but his touch was shockingly light.
He wiped away the melting foundation, the green primer, and the heavy setting powder.
The silk came away stained with cheap drugstore makeup.
Her true face was finally revealed to the room.
The bruise was hideous, a violent canvas of black, purple, and sickly yellow.
Leo and the other armed men stared in stunned silence.
Ronan did not show pity.
His dark eyes were devoid of warmth, but something lethal flickered beneath the surface.
"Who did this?" he asked softly.
Sadie swallowed the hard lump in her throat.
"I fell on the stairs, sir."
It was the standard lie, the one she gave to the grocery clerk and the landlord.
Ronan dropped the ruined handkerchief onto the mahogany table.
"Thomas," Ronan called out without raising his voice.
The floor manager practically sprinted into the room, pale and sweating profusely.
"Yes, Mister Hayes?" Thomas gasped.
"This woman is done for the night," Ronan stated coldly.
Thomas nodded frantically, eager to please the boss.
"Of course, sir, I will fire her immediately."
"If you fire her, I will buy this restaurant and burn it down with you inside," Ronan replied quietly.
The room went dead silent once again.
Thomas choked on his own breath, taking a terrified step backward.
Ronan pulled a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills from his jacket pocket.
He tossed the money onto the silver tray in Sadie's trembling hands.
"Go home, Sadie," Ronan commanded.
She stared at the money, realizing it was far more than she needed to escape Carl.
She turned and ran before the dangerous man could change his mind.
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But as she pushed through the heavy velvet curtains, she heard Ronan issue a final order to his guards.
"Find out exactly where she lives, and find the man who pushed her down those stairs."
