Chapter 18 - THE SHADOW QUEEN|
"Is this a proposal?" Elena asked, her breath catching in her throat.
"It is a request," Adrien corrected softly. "To make you untouchable. To make you my wife."
Elena looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows. Down on the street, dark Maybachs sat idling at the curb, guarded by men with concealed weapons.
She loved him. She had fallen for his terrifying devotion, his ruthless protection, and the dark tenderness he reserved exclusively for her.
But she also knew what taking that ring meant. It meant fully tying her life to the mafia. It meant accepting that her children would be raised in a world of bulletproof glass and shadow wars.
Before she could answer, her private desk phone rang.
It was not the internal line. It was her personal phone—a number only three people possessed.
Elena stepped back from Adrien’s embrace and answered.
"Hello?"
"Miss Ellis," a sharp, crisp female voice spoke through the receiver. "My name is Agent Sarah Miller with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Organized Crime Task Force."
Elena’s body went completely rigid. She glanced at Adrien, who was watching her with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"How did you get this number?" Elena asked coldly, keeping her voice completely level.
"We have been tracking Adrien Russo's encrypted network for two years," Agent Miller explained rapidly. "We know about your father's old ledger. We know you saved Russo's life at the gala. And we know he just handed you the key to his offshore holdings through your philanthropic trust."
May you like
Elena turned her back to Adrien, her hand tightening over the phone. "I have nothing to say to you."
"Listen to me carefully, Elena," the agent pressed. "We are executing a federal indictment against the Russo family in forty-eight hours. Every asset will be seized. Every associate will go to a federal supermax facility for life. But you have a way out."
