Chapter 14%
Her head snapped to me. “Bullshit”
“Nope.” I said with a light shrug. “Quiet acquisitions through a string of dummy companies, Bought out your vendors. Your top investors. Even your manufacturers. Every custom stitch you’ve bragged about? It’s under my name now
She grabbed her phone with trembling fingers, dialing her secretary with fury. “Brendal Check the list of boardholders now. I want names!”
I stood there, watching her unravel. It was beautiful.3
Brenda must’ve confirmed it because Dulcie’s jaw dropped, and she made an unholy sound–like a dog getting strangled in a designer scarf.]
She hung up violently, face going white, then red, then something between murder and a meltdown.
“YOU CRAZY FUCKING BITCH!” she shrieked. “YOU LIED! YOU SET ME UP! YOU–YOU STOLE MY COMPANY!
“No,” I said coolly. “I just took back what was mine. You walked night into my trap, and now? You’re dancing in it.”
Her hand flew to her hair, pulling at her perfectly coiffed bun like she couldn’t stand the weight of the truth. Her lipstick was smeared. Her mascara, cracked. And that glossy, perfect exterior she always wore like armor?
Gone
“You ruined my fucking life,” she hissed, chest heaving. “You’ve been ruining it this whole damn time?”X
I leaned in again, unbothered, dangerous, whispering one last nail in the coffin: “Oh honey, I’m just getting started.”
She let out a full–blown scream, shoving over a table. The glassware shattered. Everyone in the restaurant tumed.
But I didn’t flinch. I simply adjusted the strap of my gown, smiled politely at a nearby waiter, and turned back to her!
She was still trembling, one hand on her chest, one eye twitching. Tm going to kill you,” she whispered. “I swear to God, I’m going to fucking kill you“}
I just smiled. “Try it. But remember–unlike you, I don’t miss.”
And with that, I walked away
Calm. Deadly. Untouchable 8
SALVATORE’S POV
She stepped into the car like she owned the goddarrin world. And maybe she did.8
Danica no, Elysia–wasn’t the girl I met all those years ago. She wasn’t the fragile heiress with tear stained cheeks and a shaky voice, No. That woman had died in the fire. This one? She was forged in it.!
Her lips were red like vengeance, her eyes sharper than any blade I’ve ever held to a man’s throat. I watched her in the rearview for a second, just breathing her in 2
“You looked at her like she was already buned,” I said, low and calm.
Danica didn’t even blink. “She is “X
And fuck me–1 believed her.
I gripped the steering wheel harder. A man like me didn’t rattle easy. I’d shit throats in back alleys, watched men beg for their lives with a bullet in their gut. But watching her–my queen–hunt like this? It did something to me. Made something raw bum in my chest.
She leaned her head back against the leather, eyes closed, looking like a goddess fresh off the battlefield. She had no clue. No clue what she did to me.
I dropped her off at the penthouse for a few minutes, waited downstairs. She came back in a different dress–wine–red, low cut, like sin wrapped in silk.
“Where we going?” she asked, sliding in beside me.
“You’ll see.”
I brought her to a rooftop dinner. Just us. City lights spread like spilled gold under the stars. The waiters disappeared after serving us. No interruptions. No eyes.
She took one bite of steak and groaned. “This is heaven.”
“You’ve earned it
She looked up. “You always take care of me,78
My jaw tightened “it’s not charity. I protect what’s mine,”
She blinked, almost soft for a second. Then looked away. “Salvatore.”
Heaned in Close. Too close)
“Don’t say it“Z
She sighed. “I need to. I’m not ready. There’s still too much to do. I’m not using you. I just…”
“I know I interrupted, pulling her hand into mine. “You’re not ready. But I’ll wait. Because you’re worth it.”
She smiled–small, sad, fucking beautiful. Then kissed me X
Just a brush. Then more Fire in it. Control
12:42 PM c
But she pulled back. “Salvatore…”
And I just smiled.
“You’re the reason I became Mr. X” I told her. “You were marned to that bastard, and I swore I’d wait one year before I tom you from him.”
Her eyes widened slightly.
“But fate moved quicker,” I continued. “Fate brought you to me. And now, you’re not someone’s wife. You’re my fucking queen.
She stared at me like she was seeing something she never expected. And maybe she was.}
Because I wasn’t just her protector anymore.
I was her equal X
And I would kill the world for her!!
REAGAN’S POVI
That, bitch!
That fucking, conniving, ghost–of a woman bitch.
I knew it, I knew it. It started with the goddamn scent. Lavender and blood. Her favorite perfume, the one I buned with her memory.
Danica X
I sat in my office, drink in one hand, crushed photo in the other. Her wedding photo. Us, smiling. Lies
“She’s alive,” I whispered, running a hand through my hair like a madman. “She’s alive.”2
Quicie came in, makeup smeared, still shaken from whatever the hell happened at the business meeting with Danica.
“She’s back, isn’t she?” she demanded. “Tell me, Reagan. Tell me I’m not crazy”
I didn’t even look at her. “You’re not Danica.”
“What?“!
“You’ll never fucking be her. You hear me?“?)
Her face twisted. “You son of a-
The slap stung but barely registered. My head was full of her. Of that smile. That dress. The way she disappeared into the crowd like smoke.
Dulcie stormed out screaming something about betrayal. I didn’t care.
I poured another drink, Ice. Scotch. Rage.
“She came back to torment me. To fucking mock me,” I said to the empty room. “She loves me. She has to. Why else show up at the wedding? Why else drop hints?”
I picked up my phone.
“Trace Alyssa Voss. Deep. I want everything. Background. Family. Where she shits, when she bleeds, all of it.”
“Yes, sir.”
I leaned back, eyes dark. “And if she’s Danica. I find her
Then it hit me like a goddamn freight train.
If she’s Danica–then the triplets are real.
My hand started to shake!
“My fucking heirs, My legacy. She took them. She faked everything”
I kicked the chair across the room.
“FUCK“!
Breathing heavy. I picked up the sonogram again.8
“They’re out there. She is out there.”
And I’d be damned if I let her run wild.
“Play your games, little queen,” I hissed. “But know this–I’m coming. And when I do, I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m taking You’re mine.”
Because in the twisted mess of this empire, only one woman could drive me to madness.
And she already had.X
you back.
You ever watch an empire rot from the inside out?
