Chapter 11
Leticia had finally learned when to retreat.
Since the night she stormed into my office with a knife, she had vanished. No more desperate warnings. No more pathetic threats. She had gone silent.
Which could only mean one thing–she was desperately trying to hold onto Benjamin. And failing. Because the wedding? Postponed.
I smirked, lounging on the velvet chaise in my penthouse. The dim city lights flickered through the floor–to–ceiling windows, and across from me, Evander poured himself a drink.
“She’s quiet now,” Evander muttered, swirling the amber liquid. “That’s not a good thing”
I arched a brow. “She’s sulking.”
“She’s plotting,” he corrected. “And desperate people? They make mistakes”
I reached for my wine glass, tapping a manicured nail against the rim. “She already made a mistake. She tried to scare me.” I took a slow sip. “Now she’s afraid of me.”
Evander gave me a look. “And Benjamin?”
My lips curled. “He’s unraveling.”
Evander sighed. “You’re pushing him too close to the edge.”
I smirked. “No, Evander. I’m dangling him over it.”
BENJAMIN’S POV
The gun felt steady in my grip, the weight familiar, almost comforting.
I exhaled slowly, lining up the shot. The warehouse was dim, the only light coming from the flickering bulbs overhead. The stench of gunpowder clung to the air, thick and heavy.
I pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out, echoing off the steel walls. The bullet tore through the target’s center–a clean, effortless kill.
“Sharp as ever,” Dominic muttered beside me, arms crossed as he observed. He was my right–hand, my enforcer. Built like a tank, sharp as a blade. “You gonna tell me why you’re actually here, or are we just pretending this is about target practice?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know. I reloaded, lined up another shot.
Jasmine.
My breath hitched. I hesitated for half a second–just enough for the bullet to land slightly off–center.
“Fuck.” I clenched my jaw, lowering the gun.
Daminin nationd “Thin shout har?”
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off–center.
“Fuck.” I clenched my jaw, lowering the gun.
Dominic noticed. “This about her?”
I exhaled sharply, setting the gun on the table. “She’s everywhere.”
Dominic gave a knowing nod. “Valeria.”
My fingers twitched. “Nevaeh.” The name felt foreign on my tongue, like a memory I’d buried but couldn’t keep dead.
Dominic whistled low. “That’s a fucking problem.”
I ran a hand down my face. “She’s in my head.” A ghost, a shadow. A whisper I couldn’t grab hold of.
I had faced enemies who wanted me dead. Rivals who would sell their souls to see me fall. But this? This was worse. Because she wasn’t coming at me with bullets or blades.
She was using something far more dangerous.
My own mind.
The warehouse door slammed open. Leticia.
Her stilettos clicked hard against the concrete as she stormed toward me, her fury barely contained.
“You postponed the wedding!” she snapped, stopping just short of where I stood. “Jesus. Here we go.” Dominic sighed, already annoyed.
I grabbed another bullet, loading my gun with slow, deliberate movements. “Not now, Leticia.”
“Not now?” She let out a harsh laugh. “You put everything on hold without a word. Do you have any idea what people are saying?”
I didn’t care.
She stepped closer, voice dripping venom. “Is it because of her?”
I stilled. My fingers curled around the gun.
“Careful,” I warned, my voice low.
Leticia scoffed. “You think I don’t see it? The way you look for her? Like a damn ghost is haunting you.”
My grip tightened.
“She’s playing you, Benjamin.”
I set the gun down with a controlled click. “I said, be careful.”
Leticia let out a bitter laugh. “She’s taunting you, and you’re falling for it. She’s always just close enough to drive you insane, but never close enough to touch.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Valeria was there–in the hallways, at meetings, in the places I least expected. But the second I reached for her, she was gone. Like smoke. Like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up
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She wasn’t wrong.
Valeria was there–in the hallways, at meetings, in the places I least expected. But the
second I reached for her, she was gone. Like smoke. Like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up
from.
I clenched my jaw.
“Why her?” Leticia hissed. “You don’t even know her.”
I lifted my gaze. My voice was quiet, lethal. “Get out.”
“You’re seriously dismissing me over-”
“I said, get out.”
She hesitated, something shifting behind her eyes. Her rage turned into something quieter, something sharper. She tilted her head slightly, studying me.
Then she smiled. Not her usual arrogant smirk, but something calculated. Sinister.
“You think you’re obsessed with her now?” she murmured, stepping closer, her perfume a sickening contrast to the scent already haunting me. “Wait until you realize what’s right in front of you.”
I frowned. “Leticia-”
“Valeria knew Nevaeh.” Her voice dropped lower, dripping with something poisonous.
My breath stilled.
Leticia leaned in, lips curling as she whispered, “And maybe… just maybe–she is Nevaeh.”
The air shifted. Something cold slid down my spine.
I stepped forward, my presence looming over hers, but Leticia held her ground. She wasn’t afraid of me–not in the way most people were.
She wanted a reaction.
She wanted to see the cracks in my control.
I forced my expression to remain unreadable. “You’re reaching.”
Leticia tilted her head. “Am I?”
Her nails tapped against her wrist, slow and deliberate. “Think about it, Benjamin. The way she looks at you. The way she plays her game. The way she gets under your skin like she’s been there before.”
I clenched my fists.
“I see it,” Leticia continued, her voice a taunt. “And so do you. But you don’t want to believe it, do you? Because that would mean you failed to kill her.”
My muscles coiled tight. She was pushing me, baiting me, enjoying every second of it.
I took another step forward, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You don’t know when to shut the fuck up, do you?”
Leticia didn’t move. She simply smirked, enjoying the rare moment of my control slipping. “No,” she mused, “I don’t.”
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Wed.
Leticia diant move. Sne simply smirked, enjoying the rare moment of my conwol sample “No,” she mused, “I don’t.”
The silence between us was thick. Suffocating.
Then, slowly, deliberately, she turned her back to me,
A challenge.
I didn’t stop her.
I didn’t move.
Leticia walked toward the door, placing her hand on the handle. Then she glanced beck as me over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with dark amusement,
“You can keep telling yourself it’s impossible,” she murmured, voice soft, dangerous. “B deep down, you already know the truth.”
Then she was gone. The door slammed behind her,
VALERIA’S POV
“It’s working.”
Donovan sat across from me, arms folded as he studied me. “That depends on what your definition of ‘working‘ is.”
I smirked, sipping my wine. “Benjamin is unraveling,”
Evander leaned against the bar, exhaling. “And when he does?”
I set the glass down. “I’ll be the one to decide what’s left of him.”
Chapter 12
