Alejandro walked into the Grand St. Regis with another woman—then froze when he saw his supposedly vanished lover, five months pregnant, working behind the service counter.

The heavy wooden door swung shut behind them.

The bright sunlight of the porch vanished, replaced by the cool shadows of the entryway. Valeria stood with her back to the door, the barrel of the revolver never wavering from Elena’s heart.

"Sit on the floor," Valeria ordered, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. "Sit down!"

"I can't," Elena said, her voice shaking but resolute. "If I sit on the floor, I won't be able to get back up. Please, Valeria. Whatever you do to me won't save your company. Alejandro will hunt you to the ends of the earth."

"Alejandro isn't here!" Valeria yelled, her eyes wild, the madness finally spilling out unconstrained. "He’s in a conference room forty miles away, signing papers! By the time he gets here, I’ll be on a boat to South America, and he’ll be planning two funerals!"

A sharp, metallic click echoed through the room.

Not from Valeria’s gun.

From behind her.

"Drop the weapon, Valeria."

Alejandro’s voice didn't sound human. It was the guttural, terrifying roar of an ancient beast.

Valeria spun halfway around in shock.

Alejandro was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He had never gone to the city; the deposition had been held remotely via encrypted link from the local precinct so he wouldn't have to leave the county. He held no weapon. He didn't need one. His entire frame was coiled like a steel spring, his eyes burning with an incandescent, murderous fury.

"Alejandro—!" Valeria shrieked, panicking, swinging the revolver toward him.

*BANG.*

The gunshot deafened the enclosed space. The muzzle flash illuminated the hallway in a blinding stroke of orange fire.

Elena screamed, falling back against the wall, clutching her stomach.

Alejandro didn't flinch. The bullet had torn through the meat of his left shoulder, ripping through his jacket, dark blood immediately blooming across the grey fabric. But his momentum never slowed.

Before Valeria could pull the hammer back a second time, Alejandro crossed the distance like a thunderbolt. His right hand clamped around the cylinder of the gun, twisting it violently downward until bone snapped in Valeria’s wrist with a sickening crunch.

Valeria howled in pain as the revolver clattered harmlessly against the pine flooring.

Alejandro slammed her against the heavy front door, his forearm pressing against her throat, pinning her in place. The wound in his shoulder was pouring crimson down his arm, but his grip was unbreakable.

"You dared," Alejandro whispered, his voice trembling with a rage so profound the walls seemed to vibrate. "You dared to come under my roof... to point a gun at my family."

"Kill me, then!" Valeria spat, blood pooling at the corner of her lip from the impact. "Do it! Let them put you in a cell right next to me!"

The front door blew open from the outside. Marcus and three uniformed state troopers flooded the hallway, their weapons drawn.

"Sir! Step back!" Marcus shouted.

Alejandro stared into Valeria’s terrified, manic eyes for three long seconds. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his arm.

"No," Alejandro said coldly, his voice dead and hollow. "Death is too easy for you. You are going to live in a concrete cage. You are going to watch from a prison television as my daughter grows up, beautiful and loved, bearing the name you tried to steal."

He stepped away, leaving Valeria to crumple onto the floor as the officers tackled her, snapping steel handcuffs around her wrists and dragging her screaming into the sunlight.

Alejandro didn't look at her again. He turned toward Elena, his knees suddenly buckling from the shock of the gunshot wound.

"Elena..." he gasped, hitting the floor before her.

"Alejandro!" Elena fell to her knees beside him, uncaring of the blood soaking into her dress. Her hands hovered over his shoulder, tears blinding her as she pressed her cardigan against the bleeding wound. "You’re shot! Marcus, call the paramedics!"

Alejandro reached up with his uninjured hand, his bloody fingers gently cupping her tear-streaked cheek.

"Are you hurt?" he choked out, his vision swimming. "The baby... is she safe?"

"We’re safe," Elena wept, pressing her forehead against his chest, feeling the wild, stubborn beat of his heart. "We’re safe because of you. Hold on, Alejandro. Please... don't leave me again."