Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Eloise's POV

The first two weeks of being married to Alphonse Woodward felt less like a honeymoon and more like taking up residence inside the crater of a dormant volcano.

He was perfectly polite, but ice-cold. He slept in the room next to mine, separated by a wall of drywall and courteous formalities.

We ate breakfast in silence-he with his head buried in intel files on extortion rings, me buried in art history journals.

He draped me in emeralds that matched my eyes and surrounded me with a security detail that rivaled the President's.

But I knew it was just the calm before the storm.

Holden had vanished without a trace. He had been stripped of his rank, his assets frozen by Alphonse.

And Jaidyn was the wildcard.

I was pruning white roses in the greenhouse of the Woodward estate. The thorns were sharp, snagging against my leather gloves.

"You grip those shears way too hard."

I spun around. Jaidyn was standing in the doorway of the glass structure.

She shouldn't be here. This estate was built like a fortress.

"How did you get in?" I asked, tightening my grip on the shears.

She smiled. Her face was pale, her skin practically translucent. She wore a white sundress that made her look deceptively innocent.

"Holden still has loyal men on the inside," she said softly, taking a step closer. "I just wanted to talk, Eloise. Woman to woman."

"We aren't the same species," I snapped back. "Leave before I call the guards."

"You stole him," she said, her facade of sweetness dropping in an instant. "Alphonse. You know I was working on him before Holden. You know I needed protection."

"Jaidyn, you need a psychiatrist, not a mafia boss."

And then, she lunged.

It happened so suddenly, so clumsily. She threw herself at me-not to hit me, but to grab the shears. We wrestled for a brief moment. For a girl who claimed to be dying of heart failure, she was shockingly strong.

"Let go!" I yelled, shoving her away.

She stumbled and fell backward onto the grass.

Then, she screamed.

It was a bloodcurdling shriek, as if she were being gutted alive.

"My heart! Oh my God, you hit me! You hit me in the chest!"

Before I could even process the absolute absurdity of the situation, the greenhouse door shattered open.

Holden was there.

His eyes were bloodshot, his expression utterly deranged. He didn't even look at me; his eyes were glued to Jaidyn, curled up on the ground.

"She tried to kill me!" Jaidyn sobbed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "She knows about my condition! She punched me right in the heart!"

"No," I said, taking a step back. "Holden, look at her. She's faking it."

Holden didn't look at her. He turned to me with a look of pure, searing hatred.

"You monster!" he spat.

"Holden, this is suicide," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands. "You are on Alphonse's territory. If you lay a hand on me..."

"Alphonse stole you," Holden said, stalking toward me. "He stole my life, he stole my position. And now you're trying to kill the only thing I have left?"

Two masked men filed in behind him. Rogue soldiers. Traitors who had chosen loyalty to the Don's brother over the Godfather himself.

"Grab her," Holden ordered.

I raised the shears. "Back off."

Holden walked right up to me, ignoring the makeshift weapon in my hand, and backhanded me across the face.

The metallic taste of copper flooded my mouth. I dropped to my knees, the shears clattering onto the walkway.

"You're going to save her, Eloise," Holden whispered, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head back. "You want to kill her? Fine. You can give her your life instead."

He dragged me out of the greenhouse. I kicked, I screamed, but the sedative needle one of his men plunged into my neck worked fast.

The last thing I saw was Jaidyn standing up, brushing herself off, and watching me with a twisted smirk.