Julian stopped dead in his tracks. His smug smile faltered for a fraction of a second, his eyes darting from Clara’s cold, unblinking gaze down to the matte-black muzzle of the gun pointed at his sternum.

Then, incredibly, he laughed.

It was that same patronizing, breathy chuckle he always used

The grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel was a sea of crystal chandeliers, flowing champagne, and the suffocating perfume of the city’s most elite socialites. The Thorne family’s annual charity gala was meant to be the social event of the season. Tonight, however, it was designed to be a coronation.

The grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, once a glittering monument to the Thorne family’s unearned prestige, had been reduced to an active crime scene.

"Get your hands off me!" Beatrice Thorne shrieked, her voice cracking in a hysterical, grating pitch that echoed off the crystal chandeliers. "Do y