Chapter 1 - The Shift
The silence in the master suite was deafening. Enzo stood frozen, his eyes locked on the lattice of scars marring his new wife's back. The jagged lines were a gruesome tapestry of abuse.
"Harper," Enzo’s voice was a gravelly whisper, stripped of all the venom he had carried into the room.
She flinched at her name, curling tighter into a ball on the hardwood floor. "I’m sorry," she sobbed into her knees, her knuckles white as she gripped the torn silk of her gown. "I couldn't reach the buttons. He always hated when I couldn't do it right. Please, just… just not the belt."
Enzo felt a cold, murderous clarity wash over him. The anger he had harbored for the Whitcomb family didn’t vanish; it mutated. It twisted from a desire for revenge into a dark, violent need to protect. Preston Whitcomb hadn't just murdered Nathan. He had been torturing his own flesh and blood for years behind the gilded gates of Lake Forest.
Slowly, Enzo knelt. He kept his movements deliberate, telegraphing them so he wouldn't startle her. He took off his suit jacket and gently draped it over her shivering, exposed shoulders.
"Harper," he said, his tone firmer but achingly gentle. "Look at me."
She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head.
May you like
"Look at me," he commanded softly. When she finally peered up through wet, terrified lashes, Enzo met her gaze with absolute certainty. "No one is taking a belt to you. Not tonight. Not ever again. Do you understand me?"
She stared at him, searching for the lie. When she found none, the exhaustion in her eyes deepened, and she slumped forward. Enzo caught her before she hit the floor. He lifted his bride into his arms, carrying her away from the shredded remnants of her wedding dress and laying her gently on the sprawling king-sized bed.
