~ ALEXANDRO'S POV~

The countdown had begun, voices rising around us like a wave.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

Lauren looked radiant in my arms, her hazel eyes reflecting the golden light of the chandeliers.

All night, I'd been fighting battles on multiple fronts…Julian's machinations, Leonardo's threats, Patrick's jealousy….but here, with her, everything else faded to background noise.

"Seven! Six! Five!"

"Are you ready for the new year?" she asked, her voice almost lost in the chanting crowd.

Was I ready? For whatever storm was coming? For Viktor's inevitable vengeance once he discovered how much she meant to me? For the moment when she would learn the truth about who I was?...