43

Chapter 43

Martin’s POV

My second appearance had gone perfectly. Clean, sharp and exactly as I’d planned. She didn’t see me coming.

As I sat on the couch in my bedroom, with my feet raised up on the table, and a glass of cold whiskey in hand, replaying the day’s events with utmost satisfaction.

The shocking looks on her face when she saw me step out behind that tree—pure terror. That was what I wanted.

She had looked so at ease at the park, laughing with that little girl, finally relaxed. That was her mistake. She let her guard down. That’s when I struck. Not physically, of course I wasn’t stupid enough to touch her in public. But the effect was just as powerful.

It took only two seconds. Two seconds for her to see me and realize I could reach her anytime, anywhere. No billionaire’s mansion, no bodyguard, no new job could keep her safe from me.

And I’d gotten away clean. The guard—Leo, I think she called him but he was distracted. By the time he noticed me and started running, too close he held me but my hand slipped from his and I ran off, fading into the trees like smoke. He never even got close. Right timing has always been my gift.

The whiskey burned my chest in a good way as I swallowed, it tasted like victory spreading through me. This was just the beginning. Adrian needed to be afraid. She needed to look over her shoulder every moment. She needs to be reminded that her so-called new life could crack whenever I chose.

Fear is the weapon I'll use to break her, and it is working.

The bedroom door opened. Amelia walked in looking sexy, wearing a lace robe that made her body and curves visible. She's hardly covered at home.Glowing from whatever she’d been doing all day.

"Darling,you're in a good mood today...” she asked, "Tell me about it."

She crossed her legs over on me then sat on my lap. She kissed me slowly, tasting like red wine.

I kissed her back, more eager than I had in weeks. Success had a way of improving my mood.

“I should be,” I said. “Today went exactly as I wanted.”

“Oh?” Her eyes brightened. “Tell me.”

I told her about the park. How Adrian froze. How she instinctively shielded the child. The fear in her eyes when she knew she could do nothing.Amelia’s lips curled into a cruel smile, and then she gave out a soft laugh. Sharp, and mean.

“I can picture it,” she said. “She really thought she was safe with her billionaire boss. Thought money would keep her clean.”

“Exactly,” I said. “She’s learning the hard way.”

“Poor Adrian,” Amelia said mockingly. “Always trusting people. Always thinking she’s stronger than she is.”

I sipped my whiskey again, feeling that old thrill. This was what we were good at—scheming together, building plans that tore others apart.

“What about the task I gave you?” I asked, hand sliding along her hip. “Any luck finding dirt on Darcy Rodrigo?”

Her eyes gleamed. “Soon. I’ve got leads. Women he’s paid off. One of my contacts knows a girl who swears she slept with him—for money.”

“An escort?”

“Something close,” she said with a shrug. “She’s ready to talk if we pay her right. Photos, texts—whatever she’s got. I’m meeting her next week.”

I smiled. “Good work. If we release that when Adrian gets arrested—”

“He’ll be too busy saving his reputation to help her,” Amelia finished, grinning. “Exactly. Once this goes public, he won’t have time for anything else. Adrian will be ruined.”

The plan was falling into place—two attacks at once. Her world would collapse from every direction.

“For now honey, let's celebrate” Amelia said, lowering her voice, “For Adrian’s future despair.”

She poured us the remaining wine, and we toasted to her future despair and to our success. I felt that rush of desire again, and that old excitement of being ahead of everyone else.

Amelia set her glass down and kissed me passionately, deeper this time. Her body pressed on mine, I felt her soft breast on my chest and I didn’t need much convincing.

"Naughty girl,"I said, "but I need you to focus on..."

She cuts in, “Then you focus on how to fuck me harder tonight,” she whispered against my lips.

The kiss that followed burned through me—fast, hungry, real. I gave in completely, letting the heat and power blur everything else.

The rest of the night was a haze of wine and want, a storm of kissing, touching each other and getting to the peak of pleasure, what Adrian never gave me before we separated.

For some hours, nothing matters more than us satisfying our pleasures and fantasies.

We were under the bedsheets in the dark, body moving in calculated precision. Amelia moans filled the whole bedroom. This bound us in secrets that kept us powerful.

---

After the fun, I stood naked by the top window, staring down at the city lights that scattered like stars.

I felt good. Better than I had in months. The weight that had been pressing on me since Adrian walked free had finally lifted. I’d reminded her who was in control.

Amelia was delivering what she’d promised—evidence that could destroy Darcy’s clean image. Soon, Adrian would have nowhere to run.

Everything is moving fine. Just as planned.

I turned, Amelia still sleeping.

The smell of sex and our sweats was stuck in the air. She gave me as I needed it tonight—wild, eager, useful.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Probably an email or a spam text. But something made me check.

An unknown number. The preview showed only the first few words, but they froze me.

I opened the message.

I’ll get you, I'll feed your head to the dogs. No mercy for what you did.

I read it again. Then again. My pulse started to race.

Who the hell was this?

Adrian? No. She was too scared for something like this. She could barely talk to me earlier, trembling the way she did.

Darcy Rodrigo? Maybe. How come? But how would he know it was me? I’d been careful. Too careful. I’d stayed in the shadows, made sure the cameras wouldn’t get a clean shot. Unless Leo saw more than I thought. Unless security had caught something. Unless Adrian had finally told him everything.

My hand tightened around the phone. The calm from earlier vanished. The paranoia I’d fought to keep buried came rushing back.

Someone knew. Someone knew what I’d done—and they were haunting me.

They wrote they would have no mercy for what I did. Questions filled my mind. What did I do that made them send this?

But what exactly did they know? The frame-up? The drugs? The night I sold Adrian’s virginity? The order I gave to get rid of her baby? Or something else from my business dealings—people I’d crossed, partners I’d cheated?

It could be any of them. I've made lots of enemies from my drug dealings.

I looked at Amelia, sleeping peacefully. Should I wake her? Tell her about the threat? Or maybe someone is trying to scare me?

I read the message again, trying to make a point.

I’ll get you. Personal.

Feed your head to the dogs. Violent. Real.

No mercy for what you did. Someone who knew something specific.

This wasn’t random. This was someone with intent.

Darcy had the power to make a threat like this real. He had the money, the people, the reach. If Adrian had told him the truth about me, he’d have every reason to want me gone.

But it could also be someone else. A rival from my other business. Someone who finally decided to collect. Or worse—someone connected to the nurse. The one who’d vanished after the baby’s birth, taking money from both sides. Maybe she’d kept records. Maybe she’d sold them.

Too many enemies. Too many loose ends.

The park suddenly didn’t feel like a victory anymore. Showing myself had been a mistake. I’d exposed myself, given whoever was watching proof that I was still in the game.

And now they threatened to catch me and kill me in a brutal way.

I froze in fear, holding the phone that contained the treat. The room was quiet apart because of Amelia’s breathing.

Despite all my success, my careful planning and power, everything he worked for is now vulnerable.

After what I've achieved. All the control and careful planning, could all stumble. The money I'd made, the drug operation I ran, the life I built with Amelia could fail at any point.

Someone out there knew what I’d done. Someone was coming for me.

The city lights below didn’t look beautiful anymore. They looked like cold eyeswatching, waiting. Every shadow outside the window seemed to move. Every sound made my muscles tighten.

Then, I felt the one thing I’d spent my whole life trying to make others feel.

Fear.

And deep down, I knew—I was the one being hunted now.