Chapter 39
JAVIER
I watched as Vincent Marchetti strolled into my office, the man I least wanted to see in my lifetime, let alone today. He moved with a casual arrogance, his dark suit immaculate, his tie slightly loosened like he’d just walked off a yacht rather than out of a snake pit.
“Javi!” he exclaimed, his arms spreading like we were old war buddies. “It’s been far too long.” He said, taking his time to sit across from me, draping one leg over the other like he owned the place.
I leaned back in my chair, gripping the edge of the desk to keep my composure. My jaw was tight, my teeth clenched so hard it felt like my molars would crack. “Please don’t pretend like we’re old buddies, Vincent.” My voice was low, measured. “And let me remind you again. While I keep my end of the bargain, so should you. That bargain being you never set foot in my office again. Yet, here you are.”
Vincent chuckled, a sound so light and airy it would’ve been charming if you didn’t know better. But I did. His laugh was a mask for a thousand cruelties. “Ah, you wound me, Javi,” he said, placing a hand over his heart in mock offense. “You know I’d never break a promise lightly. But let’s call this a… necessary exception.”
My patience was already paper-thin. “What do you want?”
He leaned forward, his grin widening as his eyes flicked briefly to the door Renée had walked out of moments before. “I’m sorry if I interrupted anything important. Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” His voice dripped with mockery, but his eyes gleamed with something darker.
I kept my expression blank, my tone even. “That was an interview.”
Vincent smirked, the kind of smirk that could curdle blood—sharp, leering, and cruel. “An interview, huh?” His gaze flicked toward the door she’d left through, lingering, as if savoring some sordid thought. “She’s something, isn’t she? Beautiful, poised... And right here in your office, all alone with you. Must have been quite the distraction. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman who walks away without leaving a mark—on your desk, maybe?”
My jaw tightened, a dangerous edge creeping into my silence.
Vincent chuckled. “Ah, come on, don’t look at me like that. I’m just admiring your taste. That kind of beauty doesn’t just wander into a place like this without purpose. And judging by the way you’re about ready to snap that pen in half…” He leaned forward, his grin widening. “...there’s more to her than just an interview, isn’t there?”
“Vincent.” My voice dropped, low and hard, the warning clear, but he didn’t flinch.
“Oh, I see it now,” he purred, his tone dripping with mockery. “You care, don’t you? That’s rare for you, Javier. The untouchable, unshakable Javier Densmore. She’s got you on edge. Makes a man wonder—what’s she to you? A distraction? A weakness?” His smile turned predatory. “Or maybe both?”
My hands curled into fists under the desk, my nails biting into my palms as I fought to keep control. “Get to the point, Vincent,” I ground out.
He chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. “Relax, amigo. Just an observation. But I think you know what I mean.” He shrugged and then, without warning, his tone shifted. The lightness in his voice evaporated, replaced by something cold and heavy. “I need your service again, Javier.”
My stomach tightened, but I didn’t flinch. “For someone who claims to value contracts and vows more than their own life, you sure forget them often,” I said, leaning forward. “We had a deal. The last time I represented you in that trial, it was the last time. No exceptions.”
Vincent’s smile returned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Forget?” he repeated, almost lazily, as if testing the word on his tongue. “Oh, no, Javier. I don’t forget. Not my vows, not the past, not anything . That’s why I’m here.” He paused, letting the silence stretch, his gaze cutting through me like a blade. “It’s my son.”
I leaned back, exhaling slowly through my nose. “And if I say no?”
The shift in his demeanor was instant, like a trap snapping shut. The predatory gleam in his eyes hardened into something lethal, and his voice dropped to a whisper that somehow filled the room. “That,” he said, his grin gone, “isn’t an option. And it wasn’t a request.”
For a long moment, neither of us moved. My mind raced, calculating, assessing the threat, searching for a way to navigate this without dragging myself—or Renée—further into his world.
But deep down, I already knew the answer. Refusal wasn’t on the table, and Marchetti wouldn’t leave until I gave him what he wanted.
RENéE
Tears blurred my vision as I paced outside the operation theater. Everything was fine an hour ago. Everything was just fine. We were laughing. I was with Javier, and Ellie—little, innocent Ellie.
God, why? Why her?
The tears came harder, uncontrollable, as if the pain inside me couldn’t stay bottled up anymore. How could someone do this? To a child—a child who had already been through so much, an orphan with no one to shield her from monsters like this?
The doors to the operation theater swung open, and I rushed forward, heart pounding in my chest. The doctor, still in her scrubs, looked exhausted. Her face was pale, tight with restrained emotion, and I knew. I knew it wasn’t good.
“Doctor, please,” I begged, barely recognizing my own voice. “Is she… is she okay?”
She sighed, her shoulders sagging as she looked me in the eye. “Ms. Margot, Ellie suffered severe internal bleeding and vaginal trauma. She was… sexually assaulted, and from what we can tell, it went on for hours before anyone found her. We’ve done everything we can, but her condition is critical. She’s unconscious, and… it’s possible she may not wake up.”
The words hit me like a freight train. My knees buckled, and I barely caught myself on the wall. My chest felt like it was caving in, like all the air had been sucked out of the room. My Ellie—our bright, beautiful Ellie—reduced to this.
The hours blurred after that. The police came, asked questions, took notes, and left. I sat outside the ICU, staring blankly at the door, my eyes locked on Ellie’s fragile, barely breathing body through the small window. She looked so small, so helpless under the harsh fluorescent lights.
And then they came. The people from the orphanage.
They didn’t cry. They didn’t mourn. They just talked amongst themselves, glanced at Ellie, and left like they were checking off a chore on their to-do list.
One man even had the audacity to look smug. Smug.
If this wasn’t a hospital, I wouldn’t have needed a weapon to kill that bastard. His indifference lit something inside me, something dangerous and dark. He glanced at me and walked away as if Ellie’s life meant nothing.
Hellen approached me next, her face drawn, her hands wringing nervously in front of her. “Ms. Margot,” she said softly. “I… I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I know how much you care about Ellie—how much she means to you. This… this shouldn’t have happened.”
Her words snapped something in me. I was on her in an instant, grabbing her by the collar and slamming her against the wall.
“If you knew how much I cared about her,” I hissed, my voice trembling with fury, “if you knew how precious she was to me, why didn’t you call me? Why did you just sit there and do nothing when you knew she was missing since yesterday?”
“Ms. Margot, please—”
“No!” I screamed, shaking her. “I wouldn’t have even known this happened if Marco and Olivia hadn’t called me! You have the nerve to say you care about Ellie? You dare to say that when you’re responsible for this? If you did your job—if you were even a halfway decent human being—this wouldn’t have happened!”
“Ms. Margot, I—”
She straightened her blouse, brushing my grip off like I was the one inconveniencing her. “I know this is upsetting, but honestly, we can’t watch all of them every second. Kids like Ellie… they’re bound to fall through the cracks eventually.”
That was it.
That was the moment I saw red.
My fist connected with her face before I could stop myself. She cried out, stumbling, but I didn’t let go. My other hand gripped her shirt as I hit her again. And again.
People were shouting, rushing toward us, but I didn’t care. She deserved this. She deserved every ounce of my rage.
It took three people to drag me away from her. I was kicking, screaming, thrashing in their arms as they pulled me back. She crumpled to the floor, holding her face, and all I could think was how much I hated her.
How much I hated everyone who had failed Ellie.
Including myself.
An hour later, Javier was bailing me out of jail. That bitch had the audacity to file a complaint against me. I’d deal with her later—oh, I’d deal with her. But right now, I had bigger things to focus on. One thing, to be precise: finding the bastard who dared to lay his hands on my Ellie.
As Javier drove, his silence filled the car like a thick, suffocating fog. My mind was spinning, fueled by anger and guilt. I gripped the edge of my seat, trying to steady my breathing. I couldn’t.
“Turn the car around,” I said, my voice cutting through the quiet like a whip.
Javier glanced at me, his brows furrowing. “What?”
“I said turn the car around.”
“Renée, you just got out of—”
“Turn. The. Car. Around,” I snapped. There was no room for argument, no room for compromise.
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting in Hael’s office. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes flicking between me and Javier before settling on me.
“It can be done,” Hael said.
“How long will it take?” I asked, leaning forward, my elbows digging into the desk.
“Two, three days max,” he said, scratching at his unshaven jaw. “That’s if the cops don’t get to him first.”
“They won’t,” I said with venom.
Hael gave a short nod.
Javier shifted uncomfortably beside me. “Isn’t it better to leave this in the hands of law enforcement?”
My head snapped toward him, heat rising to my face. “What did you just say?”
His jaw tightened. “I get that you’re angry, love. But murdering him isn’t the solution.”
The chair screeched against the floor as I stood abruptly. In the next second, I had him by the collar, yanking him to his feet.
“That fucker raped a ten-year-old girl! A little girl, Javier! And we celebrated her birthday just two weeks ago!” My voice cracked, raw with rage and despair. “I vowed to protect her! To protect all of them! And you want me to leave this to the law? What the fuck are they going to do? Slap him on the wrist and call it justice?”
He said nothing. Couldn’t even look me in the eye.
I shoved him back, disgusted by his silence. “One way or another, I’ll make sure he dies. If I have to break into his prison cell and strangle him with my bare hands, I will.”
Without waiting for a response, I stormed out.
Three days later, the bastard was arrested. He got lucky; the police gotten to him first.
I was in Hael’s office, the dim light casting shadows on the piles of papers and the chaos he somehow called ‘organized.’
Hael sat behind his desk, a cigarette dangling between his lips, his sharp eyes focused on me as I paced the room.
“They’ll put him on trial,” he said, his tone calm, almost too calm for the storm brewing inside me. “The next step is to make sure we have the best attorney for the case.”
I stopped and turned to him, arms crossed. “Our attorney can handle it, right? You’ve talked to him?”
Hael leaned forward, plucking the cigarette from his mouth and snuffing it out in the ashtray. “I’ve already discussed it with him. It’s not like he has a choice.” He smirked slightly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s personal now.”
“But before we go any further, you need to know something.” He said pushing a file towards me. I glanced him when he placed his gun beside the file.
I frowned, stepping closer. My eyes flicked to the weapon before I reached for the file. As I flipped it open, I caught the way Hael glanced at Javier, who was standing silently by the door.
I skimmed the first page of the file. Lorenzo Marchetti. 23 years old.
Then I saw it and the name punched the air out of my lungs. The file slipped from my hands, scattering papers across the desk and floor.
It wasn’t a mistake. His name was there. His fucking name.
I looked at Hael, my mouth dry, my chest heaving. “You’re not serious,” I managed to say, but Hael just leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
My hands trembled as I picked up the gun. I didn’t even think. I turned around, gun in hand, and aimed it at Javier.
Betrayal. Disgust. Anger. They swirled inside me like a storm threatening to break.
He stood there, silent, his face a mask I couldn’t read.
“How could you?” My voice broke, the words cracking. My grip tightened on the gun. A tear slipped down my cheek, unbidden.
I fired.
The bullet grazed his arm. He winced, grabbing at the fresh wound, but he didn’t move. Didn’t flinch.
“You’re his attorney?” My voice rose, a mix of disbelief and fury. “You’re defending the man who raped Ellie?”
I fired again. The shot barely missed him, the sound reverberating off the walls.
“I trusted you!” Another bullet. “Ellie trusted you!”
Bang.
He still stood there, letting me empty the clip, each shot hitting the wall behind him, missing him by inches. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to kill him. Not yet.
When the chamber clicked empty, I hurled the gun at him. It struck his chest before clattering to the floor.
“You monster,” I spat, my voice trembling with rage. “You fucking monster!”
His silence only fueled my anger.
“How could you do this to Ellie?” My voice cracked again, the words laced with heartbreak. “How could you do this to me?”
My knees gave out, and I sank to the floor, tears streaming down my face. The room blurred, my mind blank, my body trembling.
“I don’t want to see your face. Ever. Again.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
He lingered, his hesitation cutting deeper than any words. Then he turned and walked out the door.
Just like that, he left.
And with him, he took the last shred of trust I had left. He didn’t just break me—he shattered me into a million pieces, leaving me hollow, empty, and utterly alone.