After dropping off Victor at his new school and assuring him that he’d have a good day because he’s just about the best kid in the world, I make my way to work. I’m dressed in a standard nurse’s uniform because I feel like it’ll impress my interviewer. I’ve added on my fake resume that I have a job I work at night so it gives them the impression that I’m very capable. The number is Anthony’s, and he’ll answer the call and give them a good feedback in case they do decide to call. Which I think they might. I’ve been planning this meticulously for weeks and I have high expectations for how things are going to go. I’m very confident that I’ll get the job. The Redburn Estate is on the other side of the city, which is more quiet. It seems Evan lived in a gated community. Fancy. Every time I think about it, I can’t help but feel pangs of hatred because he used my money to get to where he is. Well, soon, he’ll realize that he should’ve just left me alone. Honestly, I could
“So,” Mr. Montgomery begins, “before we start, would you like something to drink? Water perhaps? Something else?”I say, “No, sir, thank you for offering.”“I would like it if you called me Julius,” he informs me. “I feel Mr. Montgomery is too…formal. If we’re to work together, then I would like for us to get to know each other very well.”I smile and nod. “Of course.”Right off the bat, I can tell that this man isn’t what I expected him to be. When they mentioned an older patient, I thought they meant that he would be senile or something. That’s not the case because this man is very sharp. Too sharp. He’s not even that old. In fact, I don’t like the way he’s studying my face nor how his gaze keeps lingering on my chest area. A terrible feelings develops in my gut area and suddenly, I understand why the position wasn’t taken yet. It was too good to be true, and usually when that happens, it means that it probably is. “You’re certainly overdressed,” he tells me matter-of-factly. I l
Evan’s POV As I take a seat behind my desk, annoyance surges through me. I’m surrounded by incompetent people. The only reason why I won’t say anything bis because Phillippa is here and I know she doesn’t like it when I berate her stupid fucking cousin. Honestly? I never thought that a Montgomery could be so idiotic. He fails to follow simple instructions and I’m just supposed to accept that. For instance, he told me he’d arranged a meeting with a prospective business partner today, but he told the man it was yesterday, and so he flew all the way from the other side of the country to get here only to discover that I wasn’t at the meeting and that there was no meeting. The man wasn’t understanding and threw a scene, and nasty words were exchanged between him and the manager of my company. He called me a fucking idiot, not knowing that someone else was to blame for the horrible incident. Now, he sends his apologies and wants to try again but I’m the one who doesn’t want
I spend some time just walking around the city and then I pick up Victor from school and we head on home together. He’s so cheerful, telling me about school and how easy it was for him to make friends. He mentions that his class is mostly comprised of rogues, so it’s easier for him to fit in compared to back home, where rogues were the minority and were still looked down upon. Everyone has this idea that rogues are criminals or something, but what’s so bad about not belonging to a pack? Why should I? Is that what determines who’s a good person and who isn’t?One of the most important Alphas of this city is a thief. What do they have to say about that, I wonder?“It was so awesome, Mom!” he exclaims. Then, he mentions, “Maybe coming here wasn’t so bad. Like you said. I have more friends now, and the teachers are nicer. Oh, and I’ll also have to work on this science project. I need some stuff.”“We’ll take care of it,” I tell him absentmindedly. “We’ll head into the store later to ge
The next day, I get to work early. I’m very eager to get the first day done and over with. I skip the front door and go around the house, as I was told. Then, I go straight to Julius’ cottage. I don’t come across a single person. Even the backyard is empty. It’s half past eight, so that confuses me a bit. What time do these people wake up? Is everyone gone already? I’m not saying that I wanted to come across anyone, but I find it eerie that everything is so still. Maybe they’re so rich that there’s no reason why they should get up late. I push all of this to the back of my mind when I reach the front door. I hold my breath and knock, then, I wait for Julius to let me in. He opens the door. A wide smile tugs at the corners of his lips and he looks at me up and down. The first thing he says to me is, “I see you’ve dressed into something more comfortable.” I look down at my outfit. I opted for jeans, high-heeled boots, and a loose blouse. No cleavage for him. It’s still a
The day goes by surprisingly well but not as quickly as I would’ve hoped. Julius is a talker. That much I’ve figured out by now. He likes to yap about the things he’s done and how much of a man he is. Emphasis on the word ‘man’. I don’t like him, and the feeling seems to intensify the longer I stay in his presence. But thanks to all his talk, I’ve managed to get very important insight on Evan, or Hector, as everyone knows him. “Let me tell you,” Julius says before slapping his thighs and inching closer to me. “I’ve never quite met someone like him. He’s as uncivilized as they come and that’s not a bad thing, not at all. Not if you know what I’m trying to get at. I like someone who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty and this is a trait especially important in men. Back in my day, I was a beast, honey. I wasn’t afraid of seeing blood. I still am not. Hector is like that. He’s vicious. I think he would be an excellent successor. You need to have something immoral about you to make
When I wake up the next day, it’s with the certainty that I have to do something to sabotage Evan. It’s almost scary how determined I am to work on something. I realize that I don’t have much time before I have to give Julius something to keep him from firing me, and before that ever happens, I want set my plan in motion. I’ve been thinking a lot about hurting Phillippa and framing Evan for it. Naturally, I feel really bad about involving her. She’s an innocent and a really nice person. But what keeps me from backing away is the fact that I’m doing her a favor. She doesn’t know who that man is, the same way I didn’t. When she finds out, she’ll be glad I helped her. First things first, I have to make my way inside the main house. I’ll make sure to only head there when he’s gone from work. I’m going through my underwear drawer looking for something to wear when it hits me all of a sudden. I lift my most scandalous piece of underwear and stare at it for a while before deciding to ta
The decor in the bedroom is just as demure and simplistic as the rest of the house. There’s a large bed right at the center of the room with a dark wooden headboard behind it. There’s a nightstand on either side of the bed. Another thing that captures my attention is how the whole room smells of patchouli. It makes me wonder if this is Phillippa’s perfume or whether it’s a room mist or something. It’s very distinct. Reminding myself to act quickly, I open my bag and fish the panties out. I stare at them and look around the room as I try to figure out where best to put it. I don’t see anything out of line. The room is cleaned well. Everything seems fine. So, it can’t be in an obvious place that will lead to it being cleaned up by a maid or something. I look around the room for a good place. The only thing that assures me that this is their bedroom is a picture frame on top of a heavy looking dresser. It’s of Phillippa and Evan. He looks older, just like in the pictures, and there’s
The longer I stare at Anthony and he doesn't wake up, the more I panic. What if he's dead? What if I didn't just slam the vase in his head for him to pass out? I walk around him, trying to get a good look at his face. He doesn’t appear to be breathing, but maybe I’m just panicking way too much. So, I try not to panic and wait for him to stir, which he hasn’t done in the last ten minutes since I’ve been here standing over him. I decide that I’ve had enough. If he’s dead, then I’d rather know now than wait for longer. I kneel down, barely breathing as I reach out, and press two fingers against his neck, feeling for a pulse. My own heartbeat is so loud that it drowns out everything else. But then—a faint throb under my fingertips. He’s alive.I let out a sharp exhale of relief, though it’s short-lived. Slowly, his eyes flutter open, a groggy confusion clouding his gaze as he begins to stir and come to his senses. For a moment, he looks like he doesn’t recognize me, his gaze unfocused
Evan’s POV The road stretches out in front of me, winding and dark. My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, but I can’t let myself loosen my grip—not until I have him back. The text from her still sits on the screen beside me, her message short and mocking. It’s an address, nothing more, like a command.I’m not entirely sure of what to expect from this. Is she mocking me? Did she believe me when I said that I wanted to be with her?I know her well enough, since we’ve been together for quite some time. She wants me to come crawling. To say I was wrong, that I never should’ve left her. She thinks she has that kind of power over me, and I’ll let her believe it. I’ll say whatever she needs to hear, promise her the world if that’s what it takes to get my son back. I don’t care what I have to do. I’ll do whatever is necessary. I’ll be selfless for once. My stomach twists at the thought, a bitterness that feels like swallowing nails, but there’s no other way.I turn off the main roa
Evan’s POVI call Phillippa, and she doesn’t answer the phone. It’s not off, so she’s probably staring at her phone and smiling to herself as she watches her screen light up with my name flashing across it. “Bitch,” I curse before groaning in frustration. Each passing second deepens the knots in my stomach. Victor’s gone, and every instinct in my body screams to find him, to bring him back where he belongs. I didn’t even think that I had it in me to feel so much paternal instinct. I barely know him, yet my despair would’ve been the same even if I’d raised him his whole life. I’ve lost count of the calls I’ve made by now, and I still have no answers. Even some of the men who once were on my side won’t answer the phone. Then again, they were Montgomery contacts, not mine. Every lead has crumbled, and I’m left staring at the emptiness of my own mistakes.I’m fucked, through and through. I should be leaving the city by now if I have any hopes of escaping the bullshit investigation tha
I shove Anthony off of me with all my strength, and even that doesn’t feel enough to completely shake his touch off. It seems this terrible night is determined not to end. It’s like a never-ending nightmare. A surge of disgust and anger rips through me. I can’t believe he’s done this. That he would try to kiss me. I’ve always seen him as a father figure, so this really messes with me more than words can say. He stumbles back, his eyes widening with shock, but his shocked expression quickly changes into a bitter scowl. "Milena," he says, his voice low and edged with that same twisted need he’s tried to rationalize as love only a few moments ago. “You don’t understand. Everything I’ve done... I did for you. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again until you understand. Until it sinks into your thick skull!”“For me?” I hiss, my voice shaking with disbelief and rage. “You murdered Thomas. You tortured Evan. And now you think you can stand here and—what? Kiss me? Confess some sick
Sitting alone in my apartment while Evan goes hunting for our son is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. The silence in the apartment is almost unbearable, pressing down on me with a weight I can't carry. I sit on the edge of the sofa, staring blankly at the door, waiting for it to open, and for Evan to walk into the apartment with Victor safe in his arms. The ache in my chest is relentless; a mixture of fear and guilt and helplessness that threatens to consume me.It’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. This despair is unlike any other. There’s no pain worse than having my son taken away from me by some lunatic with the worst of intentions. I’d been a fool to leave him by myself. I was irresponsible. If anything happens to Victor, I’ll blame myself forever. I’ll never get over it. Not ever. Phillippa took him—our son, my sweet Victor. It’s hard to even wrap my mind around the reality of it, that she would go so far, that she would hurt Evan and me by taking the one th
Evan’s POVThe taxi stops outside Leo’s apartment building, and she pays the nosy asshole before we step outside. Leo opens the door and exits the car quickly. She’s moving fast, her body almost vibrating with energy. She’s probably in shock, maybe in pain after everything that’s happened, but right now, she’s got one focus, and that’s Victor. I don’t mind it. At least one of us should get there fast and make sure that that fuck isn’t there, hurting him. I’ve promised her that I have a place where I can put her and Vic for a while, at least just until she can get to the bottom of this. I’d follow her up the stairs, but I know that I’m not going to be able to make it. I watch her disappear inside the building for a moment, feeling that pull again, that sense of her slipping through my fingers, just like she did once before. But I don’t have time to think about that now. But this is different. Now, we have a sort of understanding with each other. She’s not going to run away. Where wo
After a few minutes of messing with the chains, I finally figure out how to release him. Evan lands on the ground with a thud, and groans in pain as a result. I make my way to his side, wanting to touch him to help him stand up, but then stopping myself. These conflicting emotions will be the end of me. I stare at him as he tries to catch his breath, and for a moment, I feel sorry for him. His eyes meet mine, and within them, I see the same amount of sadness that I feel, but his is blended with disbelief. “You shouldn’t have come,” he says before coughing weakly. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m not...worth it.”His words catch me off guard. “What?”“I deserve what’s being done to me,” he then says before his eyes study my face. His body is shaking, and I’m not sure why. “I’m just glad to know that you’re alright.”I grit my teeth. “That’s not your decision to make, Evan. I’m the one who gets to decide what I do, not you.”He turns on his side, and then peels his shirt from his body, sh
“Why would I tell you anything regarding that?” Anthony says to him in the most cruel voice imaginable. I’ve never heard him use this voice on anyone before. I barely even recognize it. Why has he been keeping Evan here? So, he knew where he was this whole time?I have a terrible feeling in my gut. “I just want to know that she’s safe,” Evan rasps. This is followed by a dull sound, like someone punching a wall of meat, and Evan groans in pain. I cover my mouth with my hand. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Why would Anthony do this? Out of all the things he could do, why? Why keep Evan prisoner? He’s clearly hurting him. I came here thinking that I would find a clue concerning whether he killed Thomas or not, but instead, I find this. And there’s no satisfaction in this for me. This is something I never expected from Anthony. I know he hates Evan, but to go to this extent. I almost feel ashamed of my feelings. It’s not like I’m saying this because I care about Evan—he has ruine
“…right, Leo?”I turn my attention back to Anthony, and ask him, “Sorry, what?”Anthony is standing by the window of the living room, eyeing me strangely. He then says, “Are you okay, Leo? Is there something in your mind? You’ve been distracted all day.”“No, I’m fine,” I claim, even though it’s a blatant lie. “Don’t worry about it.”I have to admit that I haven’t been fine since I found that sweater. My spirit is restless, and I have to find out what the hell is going on here. Anthony is hiding things from me. It’s easier to notice this when I’m paying attention, and I can tell the huge difference between his normal state and now. I’m just horrified. The sun behind him is setting, and the fading light casting long shadows across my apartment. I’m sitting on the couch, trying to seem relaxed, but there’s a tightness in my chest that won’t go away. There are times when I think that my suspicions are nonsensical, and that I should just ask him what the sweater was about outright inste