MELISSA'S POV
The gun in Sienna's hand looked small but deadly, pointed straight at my heart.
"Nobody move," Sienna said, her voice shaking but determined. "Or I shoot Melissa right here in front of everyone."
The parking lot erupted in screams. People backed away, pulling out phones to call 911. But Sienna didn't lower the gun.
Dominic stepped in front of me immediately, blocking me with his body. "Put the gun down, Sienna. This is over."
"Over?" Sienna laughed, high-pitched and frantic. "It's not over until I get what I was promised! Marcus, tell them! Tell them what you promised me!"
Marcus had gone completely pale. "Sienna, put the gun away. This wasn't part of the plan—"
"The plan changed when you all decided to turn on me!" Sienna screamed. "I did everything you asked! I seduced Blake. I befriended Melissa. I recorded everything. I set the fire. I created the scandal. And now you're all acting like I'm the villain?"
"You are the villain," Blake said quietly. "You used me. You lied to Melissa. You tried to destroy my father's company. What else would you call yourself?"
"A survivor!" Sienna's hand was shaking so badly I was afraid she'd pull the trigger by accident. "I grew up with nothing! Do you know what that's like? Watching girls like Melissa have everything handed to them while I had to fight for every scrap? I was tired of being invisible!"
"So you became a monster instead," I said, peaking around Dominic's shoulder. "You had choices, Sienna. You could have built your own life. Instead, you tried to destroy mine."
"Because yours was better!" Sienna shouted. "You had Blake! You had money! You had respect! What did I have? Nothing but promises from Marcus that if I helped him, he'd make me rich. Well, I'm done waiting for promises. Give me five million dollars right now, or Melissa dies."
"Five million?" Marcus sputtered. "I don't have that kind of cash—"
"Then get it!" Sienna swung the gun toward Marcus. "You promised me I'd be set for life! You said if I helped take down Dominic, you'd give me everything I wanted!"
"I said I'd pay you," Marcus corrected nervously. "I didn't say five million—"
"How much did you promise her?" Charles asked coldly.
Marcus wouldn't meet his father's eyes. "Fifty thousand."
"Fifty thousand?!" Sienna's face turned red with rage. "I destroyed my entire life for fifty thousand dollars?! I could make that much working for a year! You told me I'd be rich! You told me I'd live like a Romano!"
"I lied," Marcus said simply. "Just like you lied to everyone else."
The betrayal on Sienna's face would have been funny if she wasn't holding a gun. She'd been played just like she'd played everyone else.
"You're all liars," Sienna said, tears streaming down her face now. "Every single one of you. Well, if I can't have money, at least I can have revenge. Melissa took everything from me—"
"I never did anything to you!" I shouted. "I was your friend!"
"You existed!" Sienna screamed. "You were kind and good and everyone loved you, and it made me sick! So if I'm going down, you're coming with me!"
Her finger tightened on the trigger.
Everything happened in slow motion.
Dominic pushed me backward, hard. I fell to the ground as the gun went off with a deafening crack. People screamed. More gunshots followed—security guards firing at Sienna.
When the noise stopped, I looked up from the ground. Dominic was lying next to me, blood spreading across his white shirt.
"No!" I screamed, crawling to him. "No, no, no! Dominic!"
His gray eyes found mine, and he smiled weakly. "Are you hurt?"
"You're bleeding!" I pressed my hands against the wound in his shoulder, trying to stop the blood. "Someone call an ambulance! He's been shot!"
"I'm fine," Dominic said, but his voice was getting weaker. "Just a shoulder wound. I've had worse."
"Don't you dare die on me," I said, tears pouring down my face. "We're supposed to get married, remember? You can't die before we get married!"
"Bossy," Dominic murmured, his eyes starting to close. "I like that about you."
"Stay awake!" I shook him gently. "Dominic, please! Stay with me!"
Police sirens were getting closer. People were gathering around us. I could see Blake standing there, his face shocked. Charles was barking orders at someone. Grace was holding my shoulders, crying.
But all I could see was Dominic, bleeding in my arms.
"The ambulance is coming," Grace said. "Just hold on, Melissa. He's going to be okay."
"He has to be okay," I whispered. "He saved me. Again."
Dominic's hand found mine, squeezing weakly. "Told you," he breathed. "I'll always... save you."
Then his eyes closed and his hand went limp.
"Dominic!" I screamed. "DOMINIC!"
Paramedics pushed me aside, working on him frantically. I watched them load him onto a stretcher, watched the ambulance doors close, watched it drive away with the man who'd proposed to me less than an hour ago.
"He'll survive," Charles said quietly, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Dominic's too stubborn to die."
I turned to look at Sienna. She was lying on the ground too, surrounded by police and paramedics. She'd been shot by security guards when she fired at us. Her eyes were open, staring at the sky.
"Is she—" I couldn't finish the question.
"Dead," Marcus said flatly. "She's dead."
I should have felt something—triumph, sadness, relief. But I was numb. Sienna had tried to kill me, and now she was dead. And Dominic was in an ambulance fighting for his life.
"We need to go to the hospital," Grace said. "Come on, Melissa. Let's go see your fiancé."
"He's not my fiancé," I said automatically. "We didn't finish the ceremony."
"Technically," Charles said, pulling out the marriage license Marcus had brought, "you both signed this before Sienna pulled the gun. And the minister said 'I now pronounce you,' before the shooting started. So legally..." He smiled slightly. "You might actually be married."
I stared at him. "What?"
"New York law is complicated," Charles explained. "But I'm fairly certain your marriage is legal. Congratulations, Mrs. Romano."
My legs gave out. Grace caught me before I hit the ground.
"I'm married?" I whispered. "I'm actually married to Dominic?"
"Looks like it," Blake said. He looked devastated but also resigned. "Congratulations, Melissa. You're officially my stepmother."
I started laughing. I couldn't help it. The whole thing was so insane, so impossible, so completely ridiculous.
I'd woken up this morning preparing to marry Blake. Now Blake was my stepson, my best friend was dead, and I was married to a man I'd met—twice—who was currently bleeding in an ambulance.
"This is the craziest day of my life," I said.
"It's about to get crazier," Grace said, showing me her phone. "You're trending worldwide. #RomanoWeddingShooting is the number one topic on every social media platform."
I looked at her phone. The video of the shooting was everywhere. People were calling Dominic a hero. Calling me brave. Calling our love story "the most dramatic romance of the century."
"We need to give a statement," Marcus said quietly. He looked defeated. "The press is going to destroy all of us if we don't control this narrative."
"No," Charles said firmly. "We're going to the hospital. Statements can wait. Family comes first."
"Family," I repeated softly. "Is that what we are now?"
"You married Dominic," Charles said gently. "That makes you family. Whether you intended it or not."
Blake looked at me, really looked at me for the first time since this nightmare started. "I'm sorry," he said simply. "For everything. You deserved better than what I gave you."
"Yes," I agreed. "I did. But I got something better instead. I got Dominic."
"He really loves you," Blake said. "I've never seen my father look at anyone the way he looks at you. Not even my mother."
"I know," I said. And I realized it was true. Somewhere between the betrayal and the proposal and the shooting, I'd fallen in love with Dominic Romano too.
We all piled into cars and headed for the hospital. The whole way there, I kept my phone in my hand, waiting for news.
Finally, a text came through from an unknown number: "Dominic is out of surgery. Stable condition. But there's something you need to know about his medical records. Call me immediately. —Dr. Sarah Chen"
My blood ran cold.
"What's wrong?" Grace asked, seeing my face.
"The doctor wants me to call her about Dominic's medical records," I said. "Why would she text me instead of calling?"
"Maybe because she doesn't want anyone else to hear," Grace said quietly.
I dialed the number with shaking hands. Dr. Chen answered on the first ring.
"Mrs. Romano?" she said. "I'm glad you called. Your husband is stable, but when we ran his blood work, we discovered something unusual."
"What?" I asked, fear gripping my chest.
"Dominic has been poisoned," Dr. Chen said. "Slowly, over the course of several months. If he hadn't been shot today and brought here, he probably would have died within a week."
The car spun around me. "Poisoned? By who?"
"That's what you need to find out," Dr. Chen said. "Because whoever's been poisoning him has been doing it every single day. Which means it's someone close to him. Someone he trusts."
The phone slipped from my hand.
Someone in the Romano family was trying to kill Dominic.
And I'd just married into the family of murderers.