The waltz was a slow, agonizing torture. Vuk's hand on Jay-jay's waist felt like a brand of hot iron. Every eye in the Windsor Ballroom was a camera, recording the "Cold King's" disgrace as his wife spun in the arms of his grandfather's hitman.
Keifer was gone—he had disappeared onto the dark balcony, unable to watch the charade. Jay-jay's heart was a lead weight in her chest. She looked at the exit, praying for the night to end, when the grand double doors didn't just open—they shattered against the walls.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HER!"
A figure in a torn, dirt-streaked tuxedo jacket—the one Felix had been wearing when he was arrested—charged through the crowd. He looked like he had crawled through a sewer and scaled a wall, which, with Seraphina's "legal" bribes to the jail guards, wasn't far from the truth.
The elite of London shrieked as Felix sprinted across the dance floor. Vuk barely had time to let go of Jay-jay's waist before a massive, calloused fist connected squarely with his jaw.
CRACK
The sound of bone hitting bone echoed like a gunshot. Vuk, a man built like a brick wall, was sent staggering back into a table of crystal glassware. The crash was deafening.
"Felix!" Jay-jay gasped, her mask finally slipping. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in—"
"I don't care if I'm supposed to be in hell!" Felix roared, his chest heaving, his knuckles bleeding. He stood between Jay-jay and the dazed Vuk, looking like a guardian gargoyle. "I heard what happened. I saw the news. I don't care if you hate us, Jay-jay. I don't care if you sold us out. But a Watson dog does not touch our Mutya!"
Vuk spat a mouthful of blood onto the white marble and stood up, his eyes turning into those of a predatory animal. He reached into his jacket—not for a phone, but for a combat knife.
"Felix, run!" Jay-jay screamed.
"ENOUGH!"
The voice didn't come from the crowd. It came from the balcony. Keifer stepped back into the ballroom, but he wasn't the broken man who had left ten minutes ago. Seeing Felix—seeing the raw, violent loyalty of Section E—had snapped something back into place.
Keifer walked toward them, his presence so commanding that the security guards froze. He stood next to Felix, the two of them facing Vuk together.
Vuk," Keifer said, his voice a low, terrifying growl. "You were sent here to 'escort' my assistant. You were not sent to provoke my people. Tell my grandfather that if he wants to play games with my wife's dignity, he'll have to come here and do it himself."
"The girl is the Grandfather's property tonight," Vuk hissed, wiping his chin.
"She is no one's property," Keifer countered, stepping right into Vuk's space, his height making the hitman flinch. "And if you touch her again, I won't send Felix. I'll send the entire weight of the Watson legal and black-ops team to erase your existence. Get out."
Vuk looked at the cameras, then at the two men standing like a wall in front of Jay-jay. He knew when he was outmatched. He folded his knife and straightened his tuxedo.
"The Grandfather will hear about this 'insubordination,' Keifer," Vuk muttered before disappearing into the crowd.
The ballroom was silent. Felix turned to Jay-jay, his eyes filled with a mix of anger and lingering love. "I'm going back to the Philippines, Jay. Seraphina got me a flight. But remember this... we didn't come for the Watson money. We came for you. And it looks like you're the only one who forgot that."
Felix walked away, leaving a trail of blood and shattered glass behind him.
Keifer turned to Jay-jay. He didn't hug her. He didn't even touch her. He just looked at her with eyes that said he was finally starting to see the war she was fighting.
Jay-jay," Keifer whispered, his voice trembling with a new kind of intensity. "I don't know why you're doing this. I don't know why you're letting him break us. But after seeing Felix tonight... I realize that Section E doesn't fold. So tell me... are you still Section E? Or should I let you go for real?"
Jay-jay gripped her obsidian dress, her heart screaming. I am Section E, Keifer. I'm the one taking the bullets so you don't have to.