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)
Vin nods sharply. “Got it.”
He disappears again. I pull up Matteo’s name and hit call. He answers on the second ring.
“My favorite cousin,” Matteo drawls. “What’re you up to?”
“A whole lot of nothing,” I snap.
“Sounds about right, you are pretty useless.”
I roll my eyes. “Shut up and listen. I’m going dark for a bit. Need to get my dick sucked.” We’re really moving on Danforth Steel, but he doesn’t need to know that. Let him think I need to blow off some steam.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously, my ex is getting fucking married, which means my cock will be in some whore’s mouth before the end of the night. You got a problem with that? Because you know as well as I do, you’d be doing the same thing in my position.”
“Fair. I got your back.”
Thank fuck for that because honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if he didn’t. I do hate lying to him, though, but this is one secret I’ll have to take to the grave. If my uncle ever finds out what I have planned for Victoria, he’d kill me. And while I’m not afraid of death, the Grim Reaper can’t make an appearance until I’ve gotten my pound of flesh, courtesy of my revenge plot.
I hang up the phone, and the moment I do, Rafe whistles. “Can’t believe you just lied to Matteo, and I can’t believe he bought it.”
“Fuck off, Rafe.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Oh, nothing major,” I say lightly, flipping a bloodstained coin between my fingers. “Just dismantling their company piece by piece. Starting with blowing up the steel arm of their empire.”
“Subtle.” Rafe laughs. “Anyone tell you you’ve become quite cruel?”
“I’m not cruel.” I scoff. “I just know what I want.”
Rafe hums. “And what do you want?”
I smile. It’s a slow and feral kind. “I want to ruin them,” I say. “Strip them of everything.”
His laugh is sharp. “Love that for you. Orders?” he asks.
“Simple,” I say, stepping farther away from the body on my way to the door. “We hit the Danforth Steel plant. Tonight. Don’t destroy it. That’s too obvious. Can’t have them figuring out it’s me yet. How about a fire? Cripple production. Make them scramble.”
His tone darkens with anticipation. “Understood.” He nods before he walks out of the room to put my plan in place.
The warehouse feels quieter now. Heavy in a different way. I walk into the office, shutting the door behind me with a click. The desk is clean except for one thing.
The photo.
Her photo.
Victoria in white, smiling at a man whose hand shouldn’t be there. I drag my thumb across her image—slow, almost tender.
Then I lean back in my chair. “She’ll come back to me.” My jaw tightens. “One way or another. And then she will pay.”
This is war.
And I’ve already won.
24
Victoria
I walk through the hallway of Danforth Steel headquarters, tablet pressed to my chest, hoping I don’t see my father when his yell echoes from behind the closed door to his office.
I freeze.
What the hell is going on?
And why is he so mad?
I inch closer, not wanting to be seen but needing to find out what’s happening at the same time.
“If you weren’t so damn busy trying to marry my damn daughter, none of this would have happened.”
“What the hell does that mean? I have nothing to do with this.”
“Sure, you do. If you had just agreed to the merger . . .”
“Victoria or nothing,” Grant Jameson fires back.
My stomach drops so fast I nearly sway.
“It’s not my problem you couldn’t seal the deal, Grant.”
“Well, she shouldn’t have been a problem. She was promised to me years ago.” There is a low growl, clipped by irritation.
Promised.
I grip the tablet harder.
“It’s not my fault she’s stubborn.”
“You could have forced her—”
I don’t wait for the rest. I shove the door open so hard it slams into the wall. Papers jump on the desk. Both men freeze like I just pulled a gun.
“Forced me?” I snap, stepping inside with the kind of righteous fury I didn’t know I still had. “News flash, gentlemen—I couldn’t have been forced to do anything.”
My father’s face tightens. Grant’s eyes narrow with that calculating, smug tilt I’ve hated since I was seventeen.
I walk in farther, heels clicking against the marble. “And while we’re making declarations, I already lost everything. The one thing I cared about was taken away. So did you really think I’d marry Grant because you said so?”
Grant adjusts his cufflinks, his smirk sharpening. “It wasn’t exactly a suggestion, sweetheart.” He tilts his head like he’s analyzing something. “It’s happening. It’s still the plan.”
My jaw locks so tight I could crack teeth. “You can take your plan,” I say, voice soft like silk, “and choke on it.”
My father slams his hand on the desk, rattling the pen set. “Enough. None of this matters right now.”
“Oh?” I lift a brow. “Forgive me for interrupting this riveting misogyny seminar—”