PART 2 :
Elena stood up, pacing the length of the room. It was madness. She was a twenty-four-year-old girl who, twenty-four hours ago, was running for her life in a thunderstorm. Now, she was being offered the chance to become the queen of a shadow empire.
“You don’t know me,” she said, turning to face him. “What if I run? What if I go to the police myself?”
Matthew stood up, walking slowly toward her until he was standing just inches away. He was taller than her, imposing, but Elena refused to back down this time. She looked straight into his dark eyes.
“You won’t run,” Matthew said softly, his hand rising to gently, almost reverently, trace the edge of the violet bruise on her cheek. His touch was surprisingly warm, a stark contrast to his icy demeanor. “Because you want to see them burn just as much as I do. The police are in Becerra’s pocket, Elena. I am your only salvation. Trust me, and I will make you untouchable.”
Elena looked at his hand, then at his face. She felt a strange, thrilling sensation in her chest. For years, she had been helpless, a victim of Patricia’s cruelty. But standing here, looking at Matthew Carranza, she realized that destiny hadn’t thrown her into the path of his car just to save her life. It had given her a weapon.
“How fast can we do it?” she asked, her voice steadying.
Matthew’s smirk turned into a genuine, dangerous smile. “Tonight.”
The First Move
The wedding was brief, private, and held in the grand parlor of the Carranza estate. A bribed judge performed the ceremony, and Mrs. Gable and Marcus acted as witnesses. Elena wore the dark green wool dress, and Matthew placed a heavy, flawless emerald ring on her finger. When his lips touched hers to seal the vows, it wasn’t a kiss of passion, but a pact sealed in blood and steel.
The ink on the marriage certificate was barely dry when Matthew turned to Marcus.
“Send the invitation,” Matthew commanded.
