Chapter 4
Marcus mistook Nolan’s quiet tone for submission. Believing he held the upper hand as the older brother of the future bride, Marcus squared his shoulders and threw the first punch. He aimed a heavy, sweeping right hook directly at Nolan’s jaw, intending to knock the Mafia boss to the floor.
It was a fatal miscalculation.
Nolan moved with blinding, terrifying speed. The elegance of his tailored suit belied the brutal, trained killer underneath. He simply tilted his head, slipping effortlessly outside the strike. Marcus’s fist sailed through empty air, throwing the older man’s center of gravity wildly forward.
Before Marcus could even blink, Nolan planted his foot and drove one explosive, devastating counterpunch directly across Marcus’s face.
The sickening crunch of cartilage shattered the quiet of the music parlor. The sheer kinetic force of the blow lifted Marcus off his feet. His eyes rolled back into his head instantly.
Marcus spun violently backward, completely out of control. His arms flailed as he flew across the pristine marble floor, crashing directly into the tall rolling sheet-music cabinet.
The impact was catastrophic. The heavy wooden cabinet slammed sideways into the wall with a deafening crack. The doors burst open. Stacks of vintage sheet music exploded across the marble, fluttering through the air like a sudden, chaotic snowstorm. Elegantly framed music scores tumbled heavily from their shelves, the glass shattering upon impact with the stone. Heavy brass metronomes bounced and rolled erratically across the floor, ticking wildly as they went.
Marcus crashed heavily through the folding lower section of the cabinet, the wood splintering beneath his weight. He collapsed into a ruined, bleeding heap amidst the scattered music sheets and broken frames. He did not move.
There was no dialogue. The entire room descended into a heavy, ringing silence, save for the erratic ticking of a fallen brass metronome.
Nolan slowly lowered his fist. He did not even look at the unconscious man bleeding on the floor. He simply adjusted the cuff of his crisp dress shirt, his breathing completely even, as if he had merely swatted a nuisance fly.
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Mae clamped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock as she pulled Nora tighter against her legs. She stared at the man she had been serving for a year, suddenly realizing the terrifying extent of the power he wielded.
Nolan turned his cold, sharp eyes back to his fiancée.
