Chapter 2 - BAPTISM BY FIRE
The shockwave hit them before the sound did. Roman didn't think; his predatory instincts seized control. He grabbed Claire by the waist, throwing his heavy frame over hers just as the ornate mahogany table splintered into a thousand jagged projectiles. The explosion ripped through the dining room, a deafening roar of fire and shattered glass that turned the exclusive restaurant into an inferno. The ticking beneath the floorboards had been a distraction; the real bomb was embedded in the kitchen walls. Smoke choked the air, thick and acrid. Roman hauled Claire to her feet, his ears ringing with the screams of the remaining patrons. Through the haze, he saw the silhouette of Isabella, untouched, flanked by the three men in black. She didn't look back as she stepped out the rear exit. She had just declared war. Roman pulled his sidearm, dragging the terrified waitress through a side service door into the freezing Chicago alleyway. "You saved my life," Roman snarled, wiping blood from his jaw. "Now tell me who you really are."
