Chapter 4

Abby Talley POV

The temperature in the ballroom didn't just drop; it plummeted, sucking the oxygen right out of the air.

Brannon stopped three feet away from us. He stood like a monolith of silence in a room fracturing with noise. He dwarfed Connor, making the "Golden Prince" look less like royalty and more like a petulant child caught playing with matches.

Brannon didn't speak immediately. His dark eyes swept over the broken glass on the floor before shifting to Jana, who had stopped crying and was now staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

Then, he looked at me.

His gaze was heavy, physical. It felt like a touch. When he reached out, his knuckles grazed the line of my jaw, lingering on the swelling red mark with a shocking, paradoxical gentleness. His jaw muscle feathered-a tiny tic that betrayed a tectonic rage shifting beneath his stoic mask.

"Who did this?"

His voice was a deep rumble, vibrating through the floorboards. It wasn't a question; it was a death sentence waiting for a name.

Connor stepped between us, puffing out his chest in a vain attempt to reclaim his territory.

"Back off, Brannon," Connor said, though his voice lacked its usual confidence, cracking slightly at the edges. "This is a domestic dispute. It doesn't concern the Enforcer."

Brannon didn't even blink. He didn't deign to look at his brother. He kept his eyes locked on me.

"Abby," Brannon said. "Who?"

I saw the flicker of uncertainty in Connor's eyes. He knew Brannon. He knew that Brannon lived by a code that the rest of them had forgotten. *Women and children are off-limits.*

"She fell," Connor lied quickly, the words tumbling out too fast. "She's clumsy. Aren't you, Abby?"

He reached for my hand, a silent threat digging into my skin. "Tell him."

I looked at Connor's hand on my wrist. Then I looked at Brannon.

For years, I thought Brannon was the monster because he was covered in blood. I never realized the blood wasn't his-it was the blood of the men who threatened the Family. He wasn't the wolf; he was the wall that kept the wolves out.

I ripped my hand away from Connor.

"He hit me," I said.

The truth hung in the air, sharp and absolute as a guillotine blade.

Connor's face went red. "You lying bitch-"

Brannon moved.

It was a subtle shift, just a step forward, but it forced Connor to scramble back as if burned. Brannon placed himself between me and Connor. He was a human shield, a fortress of black wool and muscle.

"The Rite has begun," the Herald announced from the stage, his voice trembling slightly. "Bring forward the bride."

The timing broke the tension, but only just.

Brannon turned his back on Connor, dismissing him completely. He looked down at me. Up close, he smelled of rain and sandalwood, not the metallic scent of violence I expected.

"Are you sure?" Brannon asked quietly.

He wasn't asking if I was sure about the accusation. He was asking if I was sure about what I was about to do. He knew. Somehow, he knew I wasn't going to walk up to that dais and pledge myself to Connor.

"I'm sure," I whispered.

"Then walk," he said. "I'm right behind you."

I walked past Connor, who was fuming, held back by two of his own soldiers who sensed the volatility of the situation. I walked toward the Don.

But I didn't stop at the designated mark for Connor's fiancée.

I kept walking until I stood in the center of the room. I turned to face the crowd. Then, I shifted my gaze past them, locking eyes with the monster standing guard in the shadows-the man who had just become my only hope.