Chapter 1 - The Ring and the Razor's EdgeDominic Rossi turned his gaze from the rainy hospital window back to the private ICU door.
“For as long as it takes,” he said, his voice flat and absolute.
Isabella stepped closer, her silver hair catching the fluorescent light of the corridor. “A guard detail won’t stop a determined assassin, Dominic. The hospital is crawling with staff, vendors, and visitors. If Costa sends a cleaner, paperwork and a clipboard will get them right through your men.”
Dominic didn’t flinch. He had already calculated the variables. He had trusted his instincts a thousand times, and they had kept the Rossi syndicate on top of New York’s underworld for over a decade. But this wasn't about territory or money. It was about a debt of blood.
“They won’t get through,” Dominic replied softly. “Because by the time Costa’s people realize who she is to me, it will be too late.”
Isabella’s eyebrows lifted. “What are you talking about?”
Before Dominic could answer, Enzo stepped forward, tapping the screen of his tablet. “Boss, Father Thomas is here. Just like you asked. But... are you entirely sure about this? Marrying an unconscious woman you met forty minutes ago isn't just unorthodox. It’s a legal minefield.”
“A legal minefield,” Dominic repeated with a cold, humorless smile, “is something my lawyers enjoy navigating. Bring him in.”
Five minutes later, an elderly priest stood beside Clara’s bed, the heart monitor beeping with a steady, rhythmic pulse. The smell of antiseptic hung thick in the air, masking the faint, metallic scent of dried blood on Dominic’s tuxedo.
Father Thomas looked from the pale, bruised face of the young waitress to the cold, unyielding eyes of the most feared mafia boss in the city.
“My son,” the priest whispered, crossing himself. “Marriage is a sacred covenant. To enter into it under these circumstances... with a woman who cannot consent...”
“She saved my mother,” Dominic interrupted, his voice dropping into a register that made the priest stop talking. “She bled on a ballroom floor for a woman she had known for ten seconds. If she wakes up and wants an annulment, I will sign the papers before the ink dries. But right now, under New York state law, a spouse cannot be compelled to testify against their partner in a court of law. And more importantly—nobody touches my wife without declaring war on the Rossi family.”
Father Thomas looked at Isabella. She gave a slow, solemn nod.
May you like
With trembling fingers, the priest opened his prayer book.
That was how Clara Evans, broken and battered with seven bullet wounds, became Mrs. Dominic Rossi.
