Since you brought her to Christmas, I brought someone too, his pregnant nurse wife said before the Chicago boss walked in

Silas Vance did not raise his voice. He didn't have to. The sheer gravity of his presence commanded absolute submission from the room.

He turned slowly away from Matthias and looked across the grand hall toward the champagne tower. Fiona Vale was backed against a velvet-draped pillar, her face the color of chalk. The spilled champagne on her ivory gown was beginning to stain, but she was too terrified to wipe it away.

“Bring her here,” Silas commanded, not even looking at his men.

Two of the heavy-coated enforcers moved through the crowd with terrifying speed. They grabbed Fiona by her arms. She shrieked, a high-pitched sound of pure panic, as her designer heels dragged across the marble floor.

“Matthias! Do something! Help me!” Fiona screamed, thrashing wildly.

Matthias didn't move. He didn't even look at her. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the floor, his hands shaking at his sides. The cowardice Serena had always suspected was now fully on display for his entire family to see.

The men forced Fiona to a halt directly in front of Silas and Serena.

Silas looked down at the trembling woman, then tilted his head slightly, his eyes locking onto the glittering piece of jewelry around her neck.

“That is a beautiful necklace,” Silas said softly.

Fiona sobbed, clutching her hands to her chest. “Please... please don't hurt me. I don't know who you are!”

“I am a friend of the woman you have been sleeping with’s husband,” Silas replied, his tone conversational but dripping with venom. He looked at Serena. “Is this the receipt you found, Serena?”

“Yes,” Serena said coldly. “Cartier. Ninety-five thousand dollars. Bought from the joint account supposed to be reserved for our daughter’s college fund.”

A collective gasp echoed from the older women in the crowd. Matthias’s mother put a hand over her mouth, staring at her son in absolute horror.

Silas reached out with agonizing slowness. Fiona whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut as his gloved fingers brushed against her collarbone. He found the clasp of the diamond choker.

With a sharp, violent yank, Silas broke the clasp.

Fiona cried out as the necklace was torn from her throat. Silas didn't even look at the diamonds. He dropped the ninety-five-thousand-dollar piece of jewelry onto the marble floor and crushed it beneath the heel of his Italian leather shoe. The sound of cracking diamonds and snapping white gold echoed loudly.

“You are wearing a stolen life, Fiona,” Silas whispered, leaning down so only she and Matthias could hear. “And tonight, the debt is being collected.”