Category: Aged whiskey, collapsing in my lover's embrace.

August heat clung to me, and I reached for my bag, searching for a pallor of any drink.

Pale light pierced the ancient peak of Cory Bear. God, what have they done to you? All these years. I've finally found…

We dealt no fear, and I wearily wiped it away. But my hand wandered in the darkness, unable to find his face.

A murmured whisper, "Victoria, your eyes… what happened to your eyes?"

A bitter and candid agent. Fagin's voice pierced through the air like a frozen blade. "Victoria! Come here now!"

His unspoken volumes. Dempsey's hand settled on my back, steady as a mountain.

Safe now. No one can hurt you again. No one.

Isolated, extinction of my possible response, as years of tension began melting away.

I sagged against his shoulder, eyes drifting closed in exhaustion. I could practically feel Eugene's fury radiating across the space.

Then, from my fiancée, Eugene's voice carried a deadly promise.

Extinction flared in Dempsey's eyes as pieces of a sinister puzzle clicked into place. The temperature in the cathedral seemed to plummet.

Claws raked Brandon, then her voice, honey-sweet with practiced innocence:

"Blank stare… and this is Victoria, Mr. Thorne's fiancée. She's had a tragic accident, lost her sight, suffered a breakdown."

Service wasted perfectly. "We take her somewhere safe before she hurts herself… or you."

Dempsey's voice cut through her performance like a steel blade. "Get. Out."

Color flooded Claire's porcelain features as tears filled her eyes—an Oscar-worthy performance. Eugene gathered her into his arms, then focused his gaze on my brother.

"I don't care who you are," he snarled, his mask finally slipping. "No one leaves this cathedral today."

Two hulking guards materialized around him. Dempsey's lips curved into a dangerous smile.

"Wow, fascinating," he purred, each syllable dripping with aristocratic disdain. "It's been years since anyone has been quite this… bold in choosing their method of suicide."

Three shadows detached themselves from the cathedral's ancient corners, emerald snake tattoos writhing across their faces like winged daggers.

They moved with the fluid grace of apex predators. In seconds, Eugene's security detail lay scattered across the marble floor like autumn leaves.

A collective gasp rippled through the assembled socialites. "Those are the Montgomery Elite Guards!"

"So the rumors were true—Dempsey Montgomery himself is here!"

The crowd began to dissolve, society's elite melting away like tide before a storm. No one wanted to be caught in the crossfire.

Claire's perfect mask cracked as realization dawned. The man protecting me wasn't just anyone; he was the heir to Boston's most powerful dynasty.

"Mr. Montgomery," she tried sweetly. "Surely there's been a misunderstanding. All this drama over a blind woman? She was just caught with another man in the changing room; surely you wouldn't want the Montgomery name associated with such…"

The sounds of palm meeting flesh echoed through the vaulted ceiling, each strike punctuated by Claire's increasingly hysterical screams.

"Anyone who hurts Victoria," Dempsey's voice carried all the warmth of a midwinter midnight, "faces one consequence: Death."

Eugene yanked Claire behind him, fury warring with calculation in those steel-blue eyes as he reassessed the battlefield.

"This is Eastbrook territory, Montgomery. You should mind your steps on our hunting grounds."

"Besides," he continued smoothly, "Thorne Industries has maintained a respectful distance from Montgomery interests. Yet here you are, assaulting my people and attempting to steal my fiancée. I believe you owe me an explanation."

Dempsey's eyebrow arched elegantly as darkness gathered in his eyes.

"How interesting. I wasn't aware my baby sister was engaged to you."