The orchestra in the Plaza ballroom began playing a slow, sweeping waltz.

Roman pulled Sadi close into his arms, his large hand resting firmly on the small of her back, leading her across the polished marble dance floor with surprising, majestic grace.

Sadi rested her hand on his broad shoulder, looking up into his dark eyes. The tension of the confrontation with Rossi was still humming in her veins, but inside Roman’s hold, she felt an overwhelming sense of absolute safety.

"You were magnificent back there," Roman murmured, leaning down slightly, his breath warm against her ear.

"He threatened me, Roman," Sadi whispered. "Rossi isn't going to stop. He knows I'm the one dismantling his legal network."

"He won't get the chance to touch you," Roman promised softly. His grip on her waist tightened just a fraction—a possessive, protective gesture that made her chest swell with a dangerous, intoxicating heat. "I've placed three extra security details on your apartment building. And starting tonight, you're staying at my estate in upstate New York."

Sadi looked at him, searching his face. "Your estate?"

"It's a fortress, Sadi," Roman said, his dark eyes softening into an expression of raw, unvarnished sincerity. "And more importantly... I want you there. Beside me."

Sadi felt her heart leap against her ribs. She looked at his sharp jawline, at the commanding, lethal man who ruled an empire, yet looked at her as if she were the center of his universe.

"Roman," she whispered softly. "Why are you doing all of this for me? It started with a coffee tip."

Roman stopped moving in the center of the dance floor, ignoring the dozens of wealthy couples dancing around them. He looked down into her green eyes with an intensity that burned away every ghost in her past.

"It started with a tip, Sadi," Roman murmured, his thumb gently caressing her hip through the silk dress. "But the moment you stood up in that grease-stained diner and looked at those dangerous men without flinching... I realized you were the only woman in this city worthy of standing at my side."

Before Sadi could answer, a sudden, muffled pop echoed from the street outside the hotel windows, followed by the shattering of high glass panes in the lobby.

Panic erupted through the grand ballroom.