Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Victor
Evelyn wore a flimsy black silk camisole, pale skin exposed everywhere, golden hair tumbling loose over her bare shoulders. She looked almost innocent.
That rare docility pleased me.
"Asshole, I can't pay you. Your method of handling blind dates is way too brutal."
So much for docile. She proved that the second she opened her mouth.
"He was just some poor bastard who didn't know what he was getting into. You cut off his finger and sent it to Alexander."
"I showed restraint." I snorted and raised my glass.
"That sanctimonious prick already had two mistresses on the side.
Got one of them pregnant. If I wasn't worried your frail old grandfather might have a heart attack over receiving a head in the mail, I wouldn't have stopped at a useless finger as a warning. "
Shock flickered across Evelyn's face. She had no clue about the Smith family's dirty secrets. Richard had sheltered her too well. She'd lived in the relatively clean world of law, completely ignorant of how hypocritical men in this circle could be.
"I had no idea." Evelyn bit her lower lip hard, then twisted her mouth in contempt.
"I'd bet Alexander knew. As long as the family's powerful enough, he'd approve the match with his eyes closed.
To these old-guard power brokers, a woman's marriage and happiness mean nothing compared to expanding the family's interests. "
I knew it was twisted, but hearing Evelyn's disappointment in her own family gave me a sick sense of satisfaction.
I was enjoying her pain and isolation, because her disappointment meant she had no choice. And no choice meant she could only depend on me, stay by my side.
"Relax. Alexander won't get his way. As long as I'm in New York, you're not marrying anyone."
That made Evelyn laugh softly through the screen, her laughter tinged with bitter self-mockery.
"Guess I should thank you for making me the woman no one dares touch."
"As long as I want you, that's enough. Don't change the subject. You should thank me properly." I responded in a low voice, my gaze locked on her chest rising and falling with each breath.
Two unnatural patches of red bloomed on Evelyn's cheeks. She looked away uncomfortably, eyes darting around the room.
"Now? Where are you?" She was clearly flustered. "There's a meeting tomorrow morning. Maybe... next time."
Did she think I was planning to show up at her new apartment and demand physical payment? Though I wanted to, considering tomorrow's meeting, I decided to be merciful. We'd do this over the phone.
"No. Right now. Get out of bed and open the bottom drawer of your closet."
Evelyn stared at me through the screen, confused about why I'd make such a strange request. But eventually she complied, taking her phone with her.
She got up, walked to the closet, and pulled open the bottom drawer with one hand. Then she straightened abruptly and shouted at me through the screen.
"Victor! You sick pervert. You broke into my new apartment again!"
Her voice pitched high with shock and fury. That drawer was full of revealing lingerie I'd had Luca custom-order from a high-end boutique.
Honestly, Luca's taste surprised me—I'd expected this knuckle-dragger to bring back oversized red thongs at best, but what he delivered was far hotter than I'd imagined. Maybe I should consider giving him a raise.
These carefully selected pieces that perfectly matched my taste had completely replaced her boring, conservative cotton underwear.
"Just dropping off some necessities." I calmly enjoyed her rage, completely ignoring her curses.
"So you trashed my old apartment, too? I thought someone else did it." Evelyn wasn't buying my deflection.
"That wasn't me. If I'd ordered it done, not a single cop would find a trace of evidence." I denied the accusation. "And no media outlet would dare report it openly."
Hearing that definitive denial, Evelyn's expression turned grave. She was a smart lawyer.
"Fuck, never thought I'd say this, but right now I wish it had been you."
"Drop the naivety. Someone's really after you, and your security system means nothing to them."
I laid out the real threat Evelyn faced. But I didn't tell her that the person who took Richard wasn't just one of my men—it was my second-in-command, Marcus.
The most vicious, bloodthirsty guy under me. Extremely capable, long serving as my number two handling the rats in the sewers, familiar with all my security arrangements and operational patterns, controlling vast underground resources and a network of killers.
And he'd always been the decisive type. Richard was alive, but barely. Marcus could only crack so many codes—the truly valuable information in that black book could only be unlocked by Richard himself.
And Evelyn, as Richard's only daughter, was perfect leverage against Richard.
My surveillance of Evelyn was never just for fun.
She was genuinely walking the edge of death.
Evelyn swallowed hard. She nervously scanned her empty apartment, finally seeming to grasp her predicament.
"To fully protect you and save that crumbling family behind you." I presented the plan I'd already worked out. "I need to publicly formalize our relationship. Only by branding you as Victor's woman in the open, keeping you by my side, can I protect you."
I needed all of New York's underworld and every power player to know that Evelyn was Victor Moretti's, and anyone who wanted to touch her better think twice about the consequences.
"What? Public?" Evelyn's voice shot up half an octave, those eyes on screen going wide. "Do you know what that means?"
Of course I did.
Evelyn just broke off her engagement with Julian, and now she'd be with me.
People would call her a power-climbing whore.
Say she was passed between Moretti father and son.
Say the Gray Family's daughter gave up her last shred of dignity to survive.
Manhattan's high society—those well-dressed hypocrites excelled at using elegant language to grind a woman's reputation into dust.
"I know exactly what it'll cost you, Evelyn." I watched her pale face through the screen, voice soft. "But the Gray family's a target now. Without this, there'll always be idiots causing trouble for you."
Evelyn fell silent for several seconds. Then her gaze shifted beyond the screen, voice dropping like she was talking to herself.
"Alexander will lose his mind."
Didn't matter. Alexander would agree eventually. He'd soon understand what really mattered.
Evelyn's worry didn't stop. She closed her eyes, like she was making one last struggle in that brief darkness.
"And Julian... how do you plan to make him accept this?"
"Julian's my problem." My tone left no room for negotiation. "As for what people say—let them talk. They've got mouths, but you've only got one life. Choose."
I waited patiently on my end of the screen for Evelyn's final decision. I wasn't worried at all, because she could only walk the path I'd laid out for her.