The acronym landed in the ballroom like a live grenade.

Celeste stopped rubbing her stomach, her hands dropping to her sides.

Victor moved with a desperate quickness a man his age shouldn’t have. “Daniel. To the private office. Now. Do not say another word.”

But it was far too late.

Chapter 3 — The Breach

The gilded oak doors of the ballroom didn’t open. They exploded inward.

It wasn’t dramatic the way movies do it. There was no slow motion. It was worse than that — clinical, brutal, professional.