MAYA POV
Dominic calls her into his office at midnight.
He's been drinking. Maya can tell by the way he moves. Not drunk. Just loose. His tie is undone. His suit jacket is draped over a chair. He looks like someone who's made a decision that terrifies him.
"I'm going to propose something," he says without preamble. "You're going to take time to consider it. You're not going to answer immediately."
Maya's heart is racing.
"Marry me," Dominic says. "Not as a prisoner. Not as a possession. As my wife. Official. Legal. Real. I'm going to announce it to every crime family in the city. I'm going to make it so that anyone who touches you dies. I'm going to make it so that your father can never reclaim you because you'll be legally bound to me."
He moves closer. His expression is raw in a way she's never seen.
"Why would you do this?" Maya asks.
"Because I need you to understand that this isn't about using you anymore," Dominic says. "This is about protecting you from your father. This is about making sure that when he tries to take you back, there's nothing he can do. And this is about me being honest that I can't imagine my life without you anymore."
He doesn't say he loves her. But he says something close. He says something that matters more because it costs him more to admit.
"You're the first person I've met who doesn't fear me or want to use me," he continues. "You see me. You see what I've built and you don't run away. I'm terrified of that. I'm also addicted to it."
"My father will fight this," Maya says.
"Let him fight," Dominic replies. "He's lost. He just doesn't know it yet. But you do. And I need you to understand that by marrying me, you're choosing a side. You're choosing me over him permanently. Can you do that?"
Maya thinks about the bombing. About the people who died. About the father she's lost because she knows what he's capable of now. She thinks about the man standing in front of her who trusts her with his darkness.
"I'll marry you," she says. "But not because I'm afraid. Because I want to."
Before they can say anything else, the office door explodes open.
James bursts through like something has set him on fire.
"Sir, we have a situation," James says, breathing hard. "Richard Chen just called. He's threatening to go to federal authorities with everything. He's offering full testimony against every crime family in the city if you don't release his daughter within forty-eight hours."
The temperature in the room drops.
Dominic's expression goes completely blank. That's what terrifies Maya most. Not anger. Calculation.
"He's desperate," Dominic says quietly. "Which means he understands he's lost. Which means we're running out of time."
He looks at Maya.
"The engagement announcement happens tonight," he says. "We move it up. Now. Before your father makes his next move."
The announcement happens six hours later.
Maya wears a white dress that costs thirty thousand dollars. It's elegant and understated and makes her look like she's choosing this instead of being forced into it. That's the point. The message has to be clear to every crime family in the city: this woman is not a captive.
This woman is a bride.
Dominic holds a press conference at one of his legitimate businesses. The penthouse lounge of a five-star hotel overlooking Manhattan. Two hundred people attend. Crime family leaders. Business associates. Politicians whose campaigns he's funded. Judges who owe him favors.
Dominic keeps his hand on the small of her back all night. The touch is possessive but also protective. The message is unmistakable: this woman is mine and I will destroy anyone who tries to take her.
When he introduces her, his voice carries a weight that silences the room.
"This is Maya Chen," he says. "My fiancée. My future wife. I'm announcing that anyone who touches her, anyone who threatens her, anyone who even thinks about harming her will answer to me. She belongs to me now. Legally. Permanently. Publicly."
The crime families understand what that means. She's not leverage anymore. She's protected. She's his.
During the reception, Maya watches the reactions. Some look angry. Some look impressed. Some look afraid. They're all trying to figure out whether Dominic is making a strategic move or a mistake.
Then she sees someone watching her from across the room.
A woman about her age with hard eyes and an harder smile. She's wearing a red dress that looks like it's made of danger. When she meets Maya's gaze, she raises her glass in a mock toast.
"Who is that?" Maya whispers to Dominic.
His entire body goes tense.
"Vivian Cross," he says quietly. "Victor Leone's daughter. She's dangerous. She kills because she enjoys it. Stay close to me."
Later, when Dominic is talking to business associates, Vivian approaches.
"You should run," Vivian says to Maya, her voice carrying a honeyed threat. "He's going to destroy you eventually. They always do. Because the man he's destroying is your father, and some blood debts can never be paid."
She touches Maya's arm with red fingernails.
"Blood debts," Vivian whispers, "always demand blood."
Then she walks away, leaving Maya shaken because Vivian knows exactly who her father is. Vivian understands the cost of what Maya is choosing.
That night, after the announcement, Maya receives a text from an unknown number.
"Your father is planning something for tomorrow. Be careful."