Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN HIS DAUGHTER CHOSE
The dog had bitten three assassins, terrified federal agents, and once broken a man's arm for getting too close to Kendrick Ashford's daughter.
But that night, Titan did something nobody in Manhattan's underworld had ever seen.
He lay down at a waitress's feet.
And then Kendrick's five-year-old daughter—who had barely spoken in three years—pointed at the same woman and whispered:
"I want her, Daddy."
The ballroom went dead silent.
Eighty-eight floors above Manhattan, fifteen women from fifteen powerful families stood beneath crystal chandeliers, dressed in silk, diamonds, and ambition.
The ceremony had been Barrett Ashford's idea.
"Choose one," Kendrick's uncle had told him.
A marriage would calm rival families.
A wife would give Penny a mother.
An alliance would keep Kendrick's empire stable.
Kendrick had agreed to attend for exactly one reason.
To make everyone stop asking.
He had no intention of choosing anyone.
Then Titan stood.
The massive gray Neapolitan Mastiff walked directly past the women lined before Kendrick.
One heiress actually stumbled backward.
Another lifted her gown out of his path.
Titan ignored them all.
Penny hurried beside him, one tiny hand wrapped around his thick collar.
He crossed the ballroom.
Stopped in front of a waitress.
And lowered himself to the marble.
The woman froze.
She couldn't have been older than twenty-eight.
Dark brown hair pinned into a cheap bun.
Black uniform.
Scuffed shoes.
No jewelry.
No makeup beyond what was necessary to hide exhaustion.
An empty silver tray shook slightly between her fingers.
Titan pressed his enormous head against her shoes.
Then his tail moved.
Once.
Twice.
The room erupted in whispers.
"That's impossible."
"He hates strangers."
"Who is she?"
The waitress crouched cautiously.
Her hand touched Titan's head.
For one second, something flashed across her face.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Kendrick saw it.
Then it vanished.
"Titan," she whispered.
The dog whined.
Kendrick's eyes narrowed.
How did she know his dog's name?
Penny stepped closer.
The little girl stared at the waitress with an intensity that made Kendrick rise from his chair.
Penny hadn't voluntarily spoken to a stranger since her mother died.
Doctors had called it trauma-induced selective mutism.
Therapists had come and gone.
Teachers had failed.
Specialists from three countries had failed.
Penny spoke occasionally to Kendrick.
Sometimes to Titan.
No one else.
Now she reached for the waitress's hand.
"I want her, Daddy."
A champagne glass shattered somewhere behind them.
Barrett shot to his feet.
"This is ridiculous."
He marched across the ballroom.
"Get the waitress out."
Two guards moved.
Titan growled.
They stopped.
Barrett's face reddened.
"Did you hear me?"
"I heard you."
Kendrick descended the steps.
His voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
"If anyone touches the girl or my dog, they'll regret leaving this building."
Barrett stared at him.
"She's staff."
"Congratulations. Your eyesight works."
A few guests looked down quickly to hide their reactions.
Barrett lowered his voice.
"This ceremony matters."
"Not anymore."
Kendrick approached the waitress.
Up close, he noticed something else.
A scar disappeared beneath her left sleeve.
Thin.
Pale.
Old.
He looked into her eyes.
She was scared.
Terrified, actually.
But she didn't look away.
"What's your name?"
"Willa Hart."
Something tightened in her jaw when she said it.
Kendrick noticed that too.
"How long have you worked here?"
"Tonight is my first event."
"Interesting."
Her fingers tightened around the tray.
"Why?"
"Because my dog has known men for ten years who aren't allowed to touch him."
Titan leaned harder against her leg.
Kendrick glanced at Penny.
His daughter was still holding Willa's fingers.
"And my daughter doesn't speak to strangers."
Willa's eyes softened when she looked at Penny.
"I don't know why she spoke to me."
Kendrick watched her closely.
"Neither do I."
Barrett interrupted.
"Kendrick, enough."
Kendrick didn't turn around.
"She stays."
"What?"
"Find her a room."
Willa's face changed.
"I don't need a room."
"That wasn't a request."
Her fear sharpened.
There.
Kendrick saw it again.
She hadn't been frightened by the mafia families.
She hadn't been frightened by Titan.
She hadn't even been frightened by him.
But the moment he told her she couldn't leave...
She panicked.
Interesting.
Two hours later, Willa sat alone inside a private guest suite.
The door wasn't locked.
It didn't need to be.
There were armed guards outside.
Her hands trembled as she pulled a small silver locket from beneath her uniform.
She opened it.
Inside was a faded photograph.
A man.
A woman.
And a teenage girl who looked very much like Willa.
Except beneath the photograph, someone had engraved another name.
EVELYN MERCER.
Willa stared at it.
Six years.
She had spent six years hiding.
Six years becoming Willa Hart.
Six years waiting for one chance to enter Ashford territory.
She had expected to spend months working her way inside.
Instead, Kendrick Ashford's daughter had pulled her directly into the center of everything.
Willa closed her eyes.
"God, Dad..."
Her voice broke.
"I didn't plan this."
A floorboard creaked behind her.
She spun around.
Kendrick stood in the doorway.
May you like
And his eyes were fixed on the open locket in her hand.
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