ng. It wasn't the musician's fault. The sound came w

lass slipping from her fingers a

rsh and commanding. A ripple of panic swept through the glittering crowd as black-

Crystal gowns, golden chandeliers, music strangli

expl

. Men shoved and ducked, toppling chairs in their rush for cover. The quartet

n her ears. She couldn't b

nd seized

a. "

eels skidded on the marble. The crowd surge

ut her friend was gone, swa

stinctively, covering her head as shards of gl

She couldn't die h

e.

so violently she thought it might burst. The air was thi

n she s

an R

ri

burst open, Adrian kn

no's

trasted the chaos erupting around him. His scotch gla

his own, a black pistol sleek and deadly. One shot-clean, precise-split t

didn't

olence, his movements sharp and lethal. Another man rushed forward-Adrian pivoted smoo

drian was order. R

his gaze cut instinctively a

ph

ver, her emerald dress bright against the chaos. Terror etche

in his chest, sh

touch

ph

nds trembled, her knees raw from marble scraping through the thi

t caught he

ri

His gun was an extension of his hand, every shot deli

k away. She should hide her eyes from t

't stop wa

. For one heartbeat, the world n

broke that moment, lungi

e. Too clos

's arm

hot cr

d at her feet, blood

y to see Adrian lowering his pist

cut through the mayhe

rst time,