Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Her father jolts to his feet, eyes bulging when he sees me. He’s aged, and badly. Sweat stains circle his collar. His hand twitches toward his phone like he’s debating whether to call for help.
Cute.
Help isn’t coming.
You let the devil into your house through the front door.
“You’ve been busy,” I say, strolling farther in, nodding at the stacks of paperwork scattered across his desk. “I’d congratulate you, but everything you’re working on is already dead. So this feels like watching a man perform CPR on a corpse.”
He stiffens. “Who the hell are you?”
I smile, slow, sharp. “The man holding your leash.”
“If this is about the fire, we—”
“Oh,” I interrupt, waving a lazy hand. “The fire was adorable. But no. I’m here about the rest of it.”
He blinks. “The rest?”
“Yes.” I lean in, tapping a finger against a framed photo of his family. “The part where I burn your whole world to the ground.”
His mouth opens, but before he can speak, the office door swings wider.
Her mother steps in, and she freezes right away, hand flying to her mouth. “Lorenzo?”
He whips toward her. “You know him?”
Her gaze never leaves me. “He . . . he worked here. Years ago. The summer Victoria—”
I tilt my head. “Good to know I made a lasting impression.”
Mr. Danforth stares, expression shifting from confusion . . . to recognition . . . to something close to horror. “You’re the boy who—”
“Don’t say it like that.” I cut in with a laugh. “You’ll hurt my feelings. Actually—” I pretend to think, tapping my chin. “No. Feelings require a soul. Mine’s been on vacation for a while.”
He narrows his eyes. “What do you want?”
I step forward until I’m in his space.
Let him see the boy he destroyed, who was reborn into a monster.
“Everything.”
His jaw clenches. “Why?”
A slight sound slips from the mother’s lips. “Is this because we sent you away?”
I grin, slow and unhinged. “Sending me away was the best thing you ever did to me.” They both freeze. “Because that boy you threw out like trash? He’s gone. Dead. Buried. And in his place is the man whose sole purpose is to ruin you.”
Color drains from their faces so fast I almost clap.
“That’s right.” I lean back on my heels. “You didn’t just piss off a teenager. You pissed off a psycho.”
Silence suffocates the room. I savor it.
“Let me clear up a few things…” I chuckle. “I took everything from you.” I pace the office.“Let’s recap, shall we? Your steel plant? Ashes. Your inventory shipments? Missing. Your overseas accounts? Gone.”
I turn and grin.
“Oh. And the house?” I gesture around the room. “It’s technically mine now. Paperwork was surprisingly easy.”
Her father stumbles backward until he hits the bookshelf.
“You’re lying.”
I hold up a set of folded documents between two fingers. Inside are his bank reports, his asset liquidation notices, and his bankruptcy projections.
I place it down in front of him. “Read it. This will be fun,” I purr.
Her mother sinks into the nearest chair, her face ghost-white. “Is this because of Victoria?”
“In part, but it’s also because of my mother. You treated her like she was beneath you. Mocked her often. And then there’s me, what you did to me…” I reply, pocketing the papers again.
Her mother’s eyes narrow. “You still love her?”
I laugh so violently it echoes off the walls. “Love?” I repeat, pretending to wipe a tear from my eye. “No. No, Mrs. Danforth. I don’t love your daughter.”
I step close enough that she will feel the heat of the threat behind every syllable.
“I hate her. And I plan to spend the rest of my very long and violent life making sure she regrets ever walking away from me.”
Her husband coughs. Hard. “What is this? What do you want? You’ve already taken everything.”
“Not everything,” I correct.
I stroll to the desk and drop a thick envelope onto the polished wood. It lands with the weight of a guillotine blade.
Inside is a contract.
A proposal. An ultimatum.
“I’m offering you salvation,” I say. “A bailout. Complete erasure of your debts, a restoration of your company, and protection under my organization.”
Her father stares at the envelope like it’s ticking. “What’s the condition?”
I smile. Like a wolf circling its prey. “I marry your daughter.”
He pales. Mrs. Danforth opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She’s in shock, apparently.
It’s Victoria’s father who finds his words first. “That’s impossible, she’s already marrying Grant.”
“Nothing is impossible. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And I can be very convincing, as I’m sure you’ve noticed already . . .”
“Victoria would never marry you,” the asshole grits out.
“She doesn’t have a choice—”
“You can’t be serious,” his wife shrieks.
I lift a hand. “You don’t want to fuck with me. I haven’t even started to show you what I’m capable of.”
“Fine.” Her father straightens his jacket, swallowing hard. “If this is the only way—if this saves the company—”