CHAPTER 4 The Man Ryan Hates

The last person I expected to hear after losing everything was the man Ryan had spent our entire marriage trying to beat.

Eva Hart? I stopped walking.

The voice on the phone was deep, controlled, and strangely familiar. Yes?”

This is Damian Knight. My fingers tightened around the phone. I knew the name.

Everyone did.

Damian Knight wasn’t just another member of the Knight family. He was the cousin Ryan couldn’t stand talking about without finding some reason to change the subject.

Three years ago, a business magazine had called Damian one of the youngest self-made multibillionaires in the country.

Ryan had thrown the magazine across our breakfast table.

I remembered it clearly. Self-made.

He’d laughed at the word.

“Let’s see how self-made he is when the family stops opening doors for him.”

I thought he was joking. Apparently, he hadn’t been. Why are you calling me?”

I heard about the divorce. I let out a humorless laugh. Apparently everyone has.”

I also heard what Ryan did with the accounts.”

That wiped the smile off my face.

I looked down at the pavement. You’ve been keeping track?

I keep track of things that concern my family.”

Ryan’s your cousin. I’m not. There was a pause.

No,” Damian said quietly. You’re not.

Something about the way he said it made me uncomfortable.

I shifted my handbag higher onto my shoulder.

“If this is a family matter, you should speak to Ryan.”

This isn’t about Ryan. Then what is it about?”

I want to see you. No. The answer came too quickly. I started walking again.

“I don’t need another Knight telling me how sorry they are.”

I’m not calling to apologize. That stopped me.

What, then?”

I want to tell you something Ryan doesn’t want you to know. My stomach tightened.

I hated that he knew exactly how to get my attention. What? Not over the phone.”

I almost laughed.

You really expect me to meet you after everything that’s happened?”

I expect you to want answers. I already have answers. Do you? His voice was calm.

Almost too calm. I closed my eyes.

I didn’t want to hear anything else about Ryan. I didn’t want another piece of information that would force me to relive yesterday.

But some part of me was still that woman standing outside her bedroom door, listening to the man she loved tell another woman he had only married her for her money.

Maybe there were questions I hadn’t asked.

Maybe I was afraid of the answers.

Where are you?” I asked. I can see you.”

My eyes opened. I looked around.

People moved along the sidewalk. Cars crawled through traffic. A woman hurried past me with a child holding her hand. Then I saw it.

A black Rolls-Royce parked across the street.

The rear door opened. Damian stepped out.

I’d seen photographs of him before.

Photographs hadn’t prepared me.

He was taller than I remembered, dressed in a dark suit that fit him without looking like it was trying to prove anything. His expression was unreadable, his attention fixed completely on me.

He didn’t look like Ryan. That was the first thing I noticed.

Ryan had always needed people to know he was wealthy.

Damian looked like he had forgotten money was something worth discussing.

He crossed the street slowly. I should have walked away. Instead, I stood there.

When he reached me, his eyes moved over my face.

Not my clothes. Not my handbag. My face.

And for one strange second, I had the uncomfortable feeling that he could see exactly how close I was to falling apart.

“Eva.”

Hearing my name in his voice did something I wasn’t prepared for.

I hated that. I hated him for noticing. I lifted my chin.

What could possibly be so important that you came looking for me?”

Damian held my gaze.

Ryan didn’t just marry you for your money. My heart stumbled.

“He married you because he needed something your family had.”

I stared at him. What? His expression hardened.

“And if I’m right, Eva, he isn’t finished taking 

I stared at Damian, waiting for him to explain.

He didn’t.

That seemed to be his way. Say something that turned my entire world upside down, then stand there as if he had all the time in the world.

“What does that mean?”

His gaze stayed on mine. “It means your husband wasn’t the only person who knew about your inheritance.”

My stomach tightened. My inheritance?”

“Your grandfather’s trust. I went still.

I had never told Ryan much about it. Not because I didn’t trust him at first, but because my grandfather had made it very clear that the money was mine and mine alone. Even after our wedding, I kept the trust separate from everything Ryan and I owned together.

At least, I thought I had.

Damian glanced toward the café beside us.

Let’s sit down. I’m not hungry. I didn’t ask if you were hungry.”

The arrogance in his voice irritated me enough to follow him.

Inside, the café was warm and crowded. Damian chose a table near the back, away from the windows. I sat opposite him, keeping my handbag on my lap.

He didn’t order anything. Neither did I.

“How do you know about my grandfather’s trust?”

“I know more about the Knight family than you realize.”

“You’re a Knight. Exactly. I waited.

He leaned back slightly. Ryan has always hated me. I noticed.”

Something almost resembling amusement crossed his face.

Did he ever tell you why? I shook my head.

“He said you were arrogant. He would.

He said you thought you were better than everyone.”

Damian’s expression didn’t change.

He also said you got lucky.”

That earned the smallest smile from him.

“Ryan has spent most of his life trying to prove he didn’t need anyone’s help. Unfortunately, he chose me as the person he needed to beat.”

I studied him. And he couldn’t? No.”

The answer was so simple that I almost laughed.

Instead, I remembered Ryan’s face whenever Damian’s name came up.

The irritation. The resentment.

The way he’d always found an excuse to leave family gatherings whenever Damian arrived.

“So what does any of this have to do with me?”

Damian’s expression changed.

“Your grandfather changed his trust shortly before he died.”

My fingers tightened around my handbag.

How do you know that? Because Ryan found out.”

The room seemed to quiet around me. What did he find out?

Damian leaned forward.

“That if your marriage ended before a certain date, the trust would transfer completely into your control.”

I couldn’t breathe for a second. What date?”

He looked directly into my eyes. Tomorrow.”

Everything inside me went cold. Tomorrow.

I thought about the divorce papers waiting on my phone. The bank accounts.

The sudden cancellation of every automatic transfer. Ryan had known.

He hadn’t simply fallen out of love with me.

He had been waiting. Planning.

And somehow, he’d known exactly when to make his move. I pushed my chair back.

Where are you going? Home. Eva. I stood.

I need to find the trust documents.”

Damian reached across the table and caught my wrist. The touch was brief. Warm.

Firm. I looked down at his hand. Then back at him.

Something shifted in his expression. Not softness.

Something darker. Don’t go back to that house.”

Why?

His fingers loosened around my wrist.

“Because if Ryan knows what I just told you, he’ll be expecting you. A chill ran through me.

What are you saying? Damian stood.

“I’m saying you need to trust me for the next twenty-four hours.”

I stared at him. I barely knew him. He was Ryan’s cousin.

A man who had every reason to hate Ryan.

A man with enough money to buy almost anything he wanted.

And now he was asking me to trust him.

Why would you help me? His jaw tightened.

For the first time since we’d met, he looked almost angry.

“Because your husband crossed a line.

Which line? Damian looked toward the window.

Then back at me. The one that makes this personal.”

My phone rang. Ryan. I froze.

Damian’s eyes dropped to the screen.

The call ended.

Before I could move, a message appeared.

I stared at him. “Why would you help me?”

Something shifted in his expression. “Because your husband crossed a line.” He paused, his eyes holding mine. “And because you have no idea what Ryan has been planning.”

A chill moved through me. I wanted to ask what he meant, but before I could, Damian stepped closer. His voice dropped. “For the next twenty-four hours, Eva, don’t trust anyone who comes to you claiming they want to help. Especially anyone connected to Ryan.” He held my gaze for another second before adding, “Because if I’m right, your husband hasn’t just taken your money. He’s about to take something far more valuable.”