The bass from the lower floor echoed through the private hallway of The Velvet Crown.
Clara adjusted the satin mask across her face, making sure the tight ties held it in place. Her hands shook, but she forced a deep breath into her lungs. If anyone in this building recognized her face, her life would end tonight.
She was not just another masked VIP hostess serving drinks to men who had more money than sense. She was Clara Vance, the lost daughter of a ruined family. Now, she was just a ghost in a short black dress, hiding her identity while trying to earn enough cash to pay off her late mother’s massive debt. Every dollar she earned at this elite club went straight to the loan sharks who hunted her day and night.
Clara picked up the silver tray holding a cold bottle of vintage champagne and four crystal glasses. She smoothed down her silk skirt, straightened her spine, and stepped toward VIP Suite 1. The heavy velvet curtains were pulled back just enough for her to see inside.
Four men sat around a heavy mahogany table. She knew three of them instantly from every newspaper and magazine in the city. They were the Vane brothers, three men who ran the town with an iron grip.
Lucian Vane sat at the center of the leather sofa. He was the eldest, wearing a hand tailored charcoal suit that fit his broad shoulders perfectly. His sharp jawline and cold, dark eyes gave him the look of a king who ruled without mercy.
Beside him stood Jax Vane, the middle brother, tall and built like a mountain, with broad chest muscles stretching his dark shirt. Silas Vane, the youngest, sat back with a laptop, his sharp eyes calculating every move in the room like a hawk. They were dangerous, rich, and ruthless.
Then Clara saw the fourth man sitting opposite them, and her blood ran cold.
It was Victor Vance. Her corrupt stepfather. The man who had ruined her mother, stolen everything they owned, and driven her family into total poverty.
Clara froze behind the curtain, her fingers digging into the edge of her silver tray. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
Victor leaned forward, a greedy smile on his face as he pushed a set of thick papers across the glass table toward Lucian.
"I am telling you, Lucian, this deal is rock solid," Victor said, his voice full of fake confidence. "I need ten million dollars tonight. In exchange, I am giving you the complete deed to the Vance family estate. The house, the land, the trust fund. Everything that belonged to my late wife."
Lucian did not even look at the papers. He picked up a crystal glass, swirling the dark liquid inside. His voice was smooth, quiet, and terrifyingly cold. "That estate belonged to Eleanor Vance. And after her death, it legally belongs to her daughter, Clara. You do not own it, Victor. You are just a parasite living in a dead woman's house."
Victor laughed, a harsh sound that made Clara's skin crawl. "Clara is a foolish girl who ran away a year ago. She is probably dead in a ditch somewhere. She has no power, no money, and no voice. The estate is mine now. Sign the papers, give me the cash, and the house is yours."
Behind the curtain, Clara felt a hot rush of anger burn through her veins. He was selling her mother's home. The only place she had ever felt safe. Her stepfather was throwing away her entire life just to pay off his own greed.
Her hands trembled so violently that the glasses on her tray clinked together.
"Who is back there?" Jax’s sharp voice cut through the air.
Clara bit her lip hard, forced her facial muscles to relax, and stepped into the room. She kept her head down, letting her long hair fall around her face, relying on her satin mask to hide her true identity.
"Your drink, sir," Clara said in a raspy, fake voice, stepping toward the main table.
She reached down to set the bottle on the ice bucket. But her eyes accidentally met Lucian's gaze. His dark eyes were fixed on her with intense focus.
Up close, the masculine smell of expensive cologne and clean cedarwood drifted off his skin, hitting her senses so hard her knees felt weak. The sheer heat coming off his body filled the space between them. For a second, Clara forgot how to breathe.
Distracted by her own anger toward Victor and the overwhelming presence of the man in front of her, Clara's hand slipped.
The heavy glass bottle tipped over.
A flood of cold, bubbling champagne spilled right across the table and poured directly onto Lucian’s hand tailored suit.
The room fell dead silent.
Silas stopped typing. Jax took a slow step forward.
"You stupid girl!" Victor roared, jumping out of his seat. His face turned bright red with pure rage. "Do you have any idea who you just ruined? Do you know how much that suit costs? You worthless piece of trash!"
Victor raised his heavy hand into the air, aiming a violent blow right toward Clara's face to humiliate her in front of the rich men. Clara flinched, pulling her head back and closing her eyes, bracing herself for the painful slap.
The hit never came.
Lucian moved like a panther. Before Victor's hand could touch Clara, Lucian snatched Victor's wrist out of the air with brutal force.
Victor let out a sharp cry of pain as Lucian squeezed his bone, forcing the older man down to his knees on the carpet.
"No one raises a hand in my presence, Victor," Lucian said, his voice deadly calm. "Especially not against a woman."
Lucian shoved Victor away like a piece of trash. Victor hit the floor hard, groaning as he held his crushed wrist, completely humiliated in front of everyone.
Clara stood frozen, her chest rising and falling fast under her silk top. She stared at Lucian, her mouth dry.
Lucian slowly turned his gaze back to her. He did not look at his wet trousers or his ruined sleeve. He stepped so close to Clara that her chest brushed against his jacket. His hand reached out, his warm fingers brushing against her soft jawline, sending a shiver straight down her spine.
"You look very nervous for a simple waitress," Lucian whispered, his low voice vibrating right against her ear.
Before Clara could step back or scream, Lucian reached behind her head and yanked the silk knot loose.
The mask fell to the floor.
Her long, dark hair tumbled over her shoulders. The bright lights of the suite hit her soft skin, her full lips, and her wide eyes.
Victor gasped from the floor, his eyes bulging in pure terror. Silas leaned forward, his mouth slightly open, while Jax let out a low whistle of shock.
Lucian’s dark eyes lit up with dangerous recognition. A slow, dark smirk spread across his handsome face as he stared down at her trembling lips.
He leaned in close, his fingers gripping her chin tight as he whispered, "So this is where the missing Vance heiress has been hiding."