Chapter 31 #2
I sit frozen beside him, his hand wrapped around my wrist like a steel cuff, tight enough to remind me who’s in charge.
We glide down the tree-lined road toward the fundraiser. The world outside sparkles with fairy lights and cocktail dresses. Inside, I’m suffocating.
Vander doesn’t look at me. His soulless eyes fix on the tinted window, reflecting the passing world.
“We’re on the same page.” His words are not a question, but a command.
I swipe at the tears on my cheeks with shaking fingers. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He scoffs, still not looking my way. “Why am I doing this to you ? That’s rich.” His grip tightens, and I try not to flinch. “I repeat, we’re on the same page.”
My whole body trembles. “No. I can’t do this.”
He reaches forward, calmly sliding the partition shut between us and the driver.
“That’s fine. Just means a slight change of plans for me.” His tone is casual, like he’s discussing a tee time instead of my life.
He opens the leather satchel by his side and flips through a stack of papers, almost bored.
“Pearl Topete,” he reads aloud. “Young, pretty little thing. Lives in a condo near Hollow Creek. Secluded patio out back where she likes to read there. Cameras on the front and sides of the building, but none on the patio. Convenient oversight.”
I gape at him, my blood freezing in my veins.
“Your whore, Griffin Topete. Ran a construction company that went belly up. Bad luck. Quite the reputation with the ladies, with a particular fondness for older women. Hence, you and Lauren, I assume.” His tone is mocking, yet another bullet aimed in my direction.
“His cabin—charming, in that rustic hillbilly fashion. No security system, though. More bad luck. For him, at least.”
He flips another page. “Would you like me to continue?”
I swallow hard around the lump in my throat, determined to downplay my fear. “So what? You hired some private dick to spy on everyone? Good for you. Now you know their zip codes and their floor plans.”
He chuckles, a low, menacing sound. “No, Reese. That’s not the fun part.”
I whisper, “The fun part?”
His eyes finally find mine, utterly devoid of warmth. “What I’ll do to them if you don’t follow my orders.”
My brain scrambles for a loophole, a bargaining chip, anything. But I have nothing. He knows it. I don’t have money. I don’t have power. He has both in spades—and he’s using every ounce of it against me, and against the people I love.
“You’re a monster.”
He leans in, so close I can see the thread count in his starched shirt. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
I try to pull my arm free, but he doesn’t let go. Instead, his voice drops to a whisper, as sharp as a scalpel.
“Pearl wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Not with that injury of hers.
Makes her an easy target, don’t you think?
Griffin would be absolutely gutted by the news.
By the knowledge that he couldn’t keep her safe.
Because I’d make sure to start with her.
And he’d hate you for it, Reese. Despise you for the rest of your days—because you brought it on them. ”
Thoughts of Griffin flood my mind—the way he loves me, the way he loves everyone . The way he tries so damn hard to protect me. And now everything could be taken from him. His sister. His home. His life. All because of me. All because of my psychopathic ex.
I love him too much to let that happen. I’d burn the world down before I let him suffer. And Vander knows it. Hell, he’s counting on it.
My stomach lurches at his list of threats. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Shut your mouth. Don’t forget who you’re talking to.”
I press back into the seat, heart hammering.
“I have eyes and ears everywhere,” he says, voice rising just enough to unnerve. “You’ve embarrassed me. And for that, you will pay.”
“I’ve already paid.”
He straightens his jacket, smoothing out an invisible wrinkle. “Hardly. Now, you can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It’s your choice. I’m being magnanimous in offering you these options.”
“Your easy way is my leaving Griffin.” I bite out the words, the thought a cancer in my heart.
He clicks his tongue against his teeth. “As if a simple breakup would satisfy me. No, you will go into this fundraiser and destroy your little whore. You will let him know you are leaving, never to return, and that he is nothing to you.”
Tears slip down my cheeks. “Please don’t make me do that.”
He doesn’t blink as he examines his manicured hands. “Then you’ll be attending a few funerals before the week is out.”
My lungs squeeze so tight I can’t breathe. I knew Vander had a temper. I knew . But I stupidly believed he also had a heart. Seems I was wrong on that part.
“And once I’m done with them,” he says, “I’ll move on to your family. Your mother. That flaky sister of yours. Maybe I’ll start with the damn cat. Something dramatic to really get your attention.”
I stare at him, trembling. “You’re sick.”
“I’m powerful.” He twists his lips, a mocking semblance of a smile. “I have bottomless pockets and a very long line of people who owe me favors. And right now, you’re at the top of my hit list.”
The limo slows, lights glittering through the tinted glass.
We’ve arrived. It’s showtime.
Vander smooths his lapel and turns to me with a predator’s smile. “Mark my words, they will meet a terrible end if you don’t play by my rules.”
I have one card to play in this twisted game of chance—compliance.
“If I do as you ask, you leave them alone.” Now it’s my turn to throw down the gauntlet. “ All of them.”
Vander shrugs, already bored of this discussion. “Are we clear?”
I choke out a single word. “Crystal.”
The fundraiser is elegant in that showy, over-the-top way—every corner a reminder of wealth and power.
Vander’s playground. The glittering chandeliers and champagne fountains only make me feel smaller, more out of place.
He knows how to move in these waters, smooth and effortless, like he was born for it.
I wasn’t. Every step I take feels heavy, unnatural. He strides in as if he’s fresh from a day at the spa, while I want to claw my way out of this dress and bolt for the door.
Vander’s hand presses against the small of my back, guiding me forward with an unspoken command.
He leans in, his lips brushing my ear. “Remember, I always make good on my threats. Now go and pay off your little whore with that envelope you’re clutching like a lifeline. What a fool you are, Reese, cashing out your life savings for a fuck. And now, it’s cost you everything.”
No, the only foolish thing I’ve done is believe Vander had a speck of humanity. That was my mistake.
My heels click across the marble floor, every step echoing like a countdown. My thoughts spiral.
Think, Reese. What can I do? Maybe if I can get a message to Griffin. Just one sentence. A warning. Something.
Seems Vander is adept at reading my thoughts.
“Don’t even think of slipping a message to one of your little friends,” he hisses before accepting a glass of champagne from a server. “Because I swear to God, I’ll make you watch as I gut them. Slowly.”
So this is what it feels like to be an animal caught in the steel jaws of a trap—still alive, still drawing breath, but with the knowledge that the end is coming.
Even if I screamed right now, even if I broke free and ran straight to the cops, it wouldn’t matter. He’s already promised he’d kill everyone I love, and I believe him. Vander doesn’t bluff. He hates me too much to let me win. Hell, I wonder if he’ll even let me survive.
Which leaves me with no choice but to abide his demands.
I pivot and scan the crowd, my gaze screeching to a halt on the debonair man standing across the room.
Griffin.
So blissfully unaware that his life hangs in the balance, a puppet controlled by a madman.
So damn beautiful in every way, and for a moment in time, he was mine.
He looks up.
Our eyes meet.
He squints slightly, no doubt wondering about the man standing next to me.
You’ll find out soon enough, my love.
I lift my hand in a small, almost dismissive wave— don’t draw attention, look away, please —but it’s too late.
Vander follows my gaze. “Oh,” he says with mocking interest, “so that’s him? You weren’t aiming very high, were you?”
My fury rises like bile in my throat. “You already know it’s him. Why bother asking?”
“Because I enjoy watching you squirm.”
“You despise me.”
He nods and checks his watch, his smile curdling into something cruel. “And I’m a bad enemy to have. Five minutes, Reese. You’ve had enough rope—now I’m pulling the noose tight. I should kill the man on principle, and I’m this close to doing it. Don’t push me.”
“Stop,” I hiss. “Just please stop. I beg of you.”
“I’m getting a whiskey. You will take care of this situation. Now. ”
And with that, he turns and walks away.
Leaving me alone.
Leaving me with five minutes to crush my dreams.
And destroy the man I love.
I duck into a quiet hallway, my heart hammering in my chest. I need air. I need a second. I need?—
God, I need my phone.
But of course, Vander took it.
I scan the hallway for anything—a pen, pad of paper, hell some chalk would do. But what would I write? What would I say?
The truth is a rusty blade sawing into the marrow of my bones.
There is no escape, Reese. Not anymore.
I don’t hear him approach, too lost in the chaos of my mind.
One second I’m alone. The next, a warm hand slides across my waist, pulling me tight. I know his touch before I see his face.
Griffin. My Griffin.
“Hello, gorgeous,” he whispers against my neck. His lips brush my skin. “You smell amazing. Jesus, Reese.”
But the moment shatters, and I turn in his arms, lifting my gaze to his. What I see there nearly undoes me—love so raw, so certain, it carves me open.
“I made a decision,” he says, voice low, urgent. “I’m not driving Lauren up to Portland. Her driver will bring her back.”
If only your overnight stay was our biggest problem now.
He presses a kiss to my forehead, then lingers, breath hot against my skin.
“I love you more than life itself, Reese. And I can’t wait another second.
We’re going to Vegas. Not tomorrow, not someday.
Now.” His words tumble out in a rush, raw and unguarded.
“I want you as my wife. I want you carrying my child. I want every morning and every night with you until the day I die. So let’s go. Right now.”
I love him so much, and in another life, I would link my hand in his and we would walk out the door together.
We would get married at a silly Las Vegas chapel, make love in a heart-shaped jacuzzi, and plan our new life over steak and cheap champagne.
Four kids, a handful of animals to torment Chowder.
A life we’ll never have.
“What do you say, baby?” Griffin’s eyes sparkle, not realizing I’m about to torch our dreams.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t speak.
The pressure in my chest is unbearable, like my lungs are collapsing.
My fingers shake as I reach into the small clutch. I pull out the envelope—thin, clinical, the cashier’s check tucked inside—and press it into his hand.
His brows pull together. “What’s this?”
At least I can give him this. The $150,000 will help him start his business and with his work ethic, he’ll flourish.
He won’t have to rely on Lauren now. He can still have the future he deserves.
Even if it kills me. Even if Vander kills me before heartbreak can.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, the words cracking in my throat. “I can’t do this with you anymore. You need to stay away from me.”
His smile falters. “What?”
I look at him— really look at him—and see everything I want. Everything I’ll never have. Everything Vander will destroy if I so much as reach for it.
“It’s over,” I choke out. “Please leave me alone.”
That’s all I can manage before I turn and walk away.
Every step feels like a betrayal.
Griffin calls my name, voice full of disbelief, but I don’t stop. I push through the curtain and back into the blinding light of the ballroom, where Vander waits with a whiskey in one hand and a smug, knowing smile on his face.
“It’s done,” I say, barely above a whisper. “Let’s go.”