Chapter 2 — The Locked Ballroom
For three full seconds, nobody moved.
Then Griffin Hale’s bodyguards sealed every exit.
The soft click of locked doors echoed through the ballroom like gunshots.
Panic spread among the guests.
Whispers.
Phones disappearing.
Men in tuxedos quietly reaching beneath their jackets.
Vanessa Marino recovered first.
“Griffin,” she said with a nervous laugh, “surely you’re not taking a waitress seriously?”
Griffin looked at her the way a shark looks at blood.
“Am I?”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
I suddenly realized I was standing between two people who were both capable of ruining lives.
Vanessa stepped toward me.
“What exactly did you hear, Claire?”
I swallowed hard.
“You said everything would transfer to you after the wedding. And that accidents happen every day in Chicago.”
Several guests inhaled sharply.
Vanessa’s smile cracked.
“That could mean anything.”
“True,” Griffin said.
He turned to one of his men.
“Bring me the guest list. And find out who was in the VIP room with Miss Marino.”
Vanessa’s face drained of color.
That was the moment Griffin knew.
Not from my words.
From her reaction.
He took my wrist gently—far gentler than I expected from a man with his reputation.
“Stay beside me,” he said quietly.
“Why?”
May you like
His dark eyes met mine.
“Because if she’s guilty, you’re now the most dangerous witness in Chicago.”
