Chapter 5
Everett paused, listening to his unseen underboss on the other end of the encrypted line. His angular face remained an unreadable mask of stoic authority.
"Will you bring two men into the dining room immediately?" Everett asked quietly, before sliding the phone back into his suit pocket.
Odilia’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror. She knew exactly what Marcus did for the Westbrook syndicate. He was the man who made Everett’s problems disappear into the icy depths of the river.
"No! Everett, please!" Odilia shrieked, kicking off her expensive heels and scrambling backward across the hardwood floor. "You can't do this! I am a Reed! My family will kill you! He will slaughter your entire syndicate for this!"
The heavy mahogany double doors of the dining room swung open violently. Marcus, a towering man with a heavily scarred face and a dark trench coat, stepped into the room, flanked by two equally intimidating enforcers. They moved with absolute, silent precision, ignoring the lavish surroundings of crystal and ivory, focusing entirely on their boss.
"Will you escort my former fiancée to the holding cells in the sub-basement?" Everett asked, not taking his eyes off the weeping woman backed against the carved marble fireplace.
"No! Please!" Odilia shrieked, kicking and thrashing wildly as the two enforcers reached out and grabbed her by the arms. They hauled her to her feet with effortless strength, the delicate fabric of her sculpted satin gown tearing audibly at the seams. "My father will slaughter your entire family for this!"
"Will you ensure she is gagged if she continues to scream, Marcus?" Everett inquired, casually adjusting the cuff of his dark suit.
Marcus nodded grimly. "Yes, boss. Let's go, princess."
The enforcers dragged Odilia backward toward the doors. Her threats devolved into hysterical, panicked sobs that echoed down the grand hallway until the heavy doors clicked shut behind them, sealing the dining room in a profound, suffocating silence once more.
Everett stood perfectly still for a long moment. The tension slowly bled out of his powerful shoulders. He turned his head, his thick, slightly wavy hair catching the light of the crystal chandeliers, and looked across the room to where Josie was standing.
Josie was shaking. Her fitted black maid dress felt incredibly thin in the aftermath of the violence. She had just witnessed the destruction of a massive mafia alliance, all because she had brought a frail, terrified man to the dinner table. She looked at the mafia boss, terrified of the impending war that was surely about to consume the estate.
Everett walked slowly back to the table. He dropped to one knee on the polished hardwood floor, completely ignoring the crease it put in his expensive trousers, bringing himself down to Arthur's eye level.
"Are you harmed anywhere, Arthur?" Everett asked, his deep voice softening just a fraction, losing the lethal edge it had carried moments before. He gently reached out, resting his tattooed hand on the armrest of the velvet chair.
"I am just tired, son," Arthur whispered, his pale eyes looking into Everett's cold, observant ones. "I have run for so long. She poisoned my food. I spent three months in a hospital bed while she told everyone I abandoned her."
"Would I ever let her lay a finger on you while there is breath in my lungs?" Everett asked, his chest tightening with a cold, terrifying anger. He looked at the old man, realizing how close he had come to sharing that exact fate.
Arthur let out a small, broken sigh and leaned back into the chair. "She is a monster. I just wanted to stop her before she put you in the ground too."
Everett stood up slowly, the cold fury settling back into his bones. He turned his attention back to Josie.
"Are you injured, Josie?" Everett asked quietly, his perceptive eyes searching her delicately featured face.
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"I am unharmed, sir," Josie answered, her voice trembling as she kept her hands folded over her neatly tied white apron. "But... I know what just happened. I know her family will come for you because we spoke."
"Do you believe I would allow a woman who murders her husbands to remain in my home out of fear of her father?" Everett asked, a flicker of profound, protective warmth entering his cold eyes as he looked at her.
