chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Snake in the Grass

​The drive to the Upper East Side felt like a descent into a war zone. My knuckles were white as I gripped the leather steering wheel of my SUV. Beside me, Marcus remained silent, his eyes scanning the mirrors, his hand resting near the holster tucked under his jacket. We weren't just two people in a car; we were a shield.

​"She went to the daycare, Marcus?" I asked, my voice vibrating with a low, dangerous frequency. "The one in Queens? The one we left four months ago?"

​"Yeah," Marcus grunted. "The director called the old burner number I kept active. Said a blonde woman in a car that cost more than the building was asking questions about 'Anna’s' son. Asking if there were any records of a father, or if anyone ever picked him up besides you."

​A cold, oily rage slid down my spine. Elena. The woman who had glided into my home before my scent had even left the bedsheets. She wasn't satisfied with stealing my husband; now she wanted to audit my struggle. She wanted to find a crack in my story, a way to tell the world that the "Phoenix" was just a common liar.

​"She’s desperate," I whispered, more to myself than to Marcus. "The stock market is eating her dowry for breakfast. She realizes that if Lucius loses the company, she’s just the wife of a man in debt. She’s looking for leverage to force me into a settlement."

​"What are you going to do?"

​"I’m going to cut her head off," I said. "Metaphorically. For now."

​We pulled up to the front of the Sterling-Valentine townhouse. It was a narrow, elegant building that screamed 'Old Money.' I didn't wait for Marcus to open my door. I stepped out, my heels clicking against the pavement like a countdown.

​I didn't ring the bell. I pounded on the door.

​A shocked-looking maid opened it, her eyes widening as I pushed past her. "Ma’am! You can't just—"

​"Elena!" I screamed, my voice echoing up the spiraling marble staircase. "Get down here before I start breaking things that cost more than your soul!"

​A door opened on the second floor. Elena appeared at the railing, wearing a silk robe that probably cost three months of my old rent. She looked down at me, her face twisting into a mask of faux-innocence.

​"Nina? My goodness, the neighbors will think a savage has escaped the zoo," she said, her voice dripping with that high-society poison. "Lucius isn't here. He’s at the office trying to fix the mess you made."

​"I don't give a d*mn about Lucius," I said, walking to the foot of the stairs. I felt Marcus step into the foyer behind me, his presence a silent shadow that made the maid gasp and retreat. "I heard you were in Queens this morning, Elena. Visiting a daycare. Asking about my son."

​Elena’s hand froze on the railing. Her eyes flickered with a brief, sharp fear before she masked it with a sneer. "I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was at my pilates class."

​"Don't lie to me," I hissed, stepping onto the first stair. "I spent five years learning how to smell a snake before it even rattles. You were looking for a way to prove Leo isn't a Valentine. You were looking for a way to hurt me."

​"And what if I was?" Elena snapped, her voice rising in pitch. She walked down a few steps, leaning over the railing to look me in the eye. "You think you can just waltz back into New York and take everything? That company belongs to the Sterlings and the Valentines! You’re just a mistake that Lucius made when he was bored. That child is probably some brat you picked up to use as a golden ticket!"

​I was moving before I even realized it. I lunged up the stairs, grabbing Elena by the collar of her expensive silk robe. I slammed her back against the wall, the framed portraits of her ancestors rattling against the plaster.

​"Nina!" Marcus warned from below, but I didn't care.

​"Listen to me, you pathetic, empty shell of a woman," I whispered, my face inches from hers. I could smell her expensive perfume and her cheap fear. "You can come for my money. You can come for my buildings. You can even try to keep the man who spends his nights crying over my name. But if you ever—ever—breathe the same air as my son again, I will not call a lawyer."

​"You... you’re hurting me," Elena whimpered, her face turning a blotchy red.

​"Good," I said, tightening my grip. "I want you to feel a fraction of the pain I felt when I was working twelve-hour shifts with a fever just so my son could have a warm bed. I want you to understand that I have nothing left to lose, Elena. I’ve already been to hell. I own the lease there. If you touch Leo, I will burn your life down so completely that even the ash won't remember your name."

​I let her go so abruptly she slumped against the railing. She looked at me with pure, unadulterated hatred.

​"Beatrice will never let you win," she gasped, rubbing her neck. "She’s already talking to the private investigators. She’s going to find out the truth about your 'business' in Europe. She’s going to prove you’re an unfit mother."

​"Beatrice is a dinosaur waiting for a comet," I said, straightening my blazer. I felt cold. I felt powerful. "And as for my business? Tell her to look closer. She might find out that I bought the firm she hired to investigate me ten minutes before they took her call. I see everything she does before she even thinks of it."

​I turned on my heel and walked down the stairs. I didn't look back. I didn't need to. I could hear Elena’s ragged, panicked breathing filling the hallway.

​When we got back to the car, my hands were finally shaking. I leaned my head against the headrest and closed my eyes.

​"You okay?" Marcus asked, his voice low.

​"No," I said. "I’m terrified, Marcus. They’re starting to go after the things I can't protect with money."

​"You protected him today," Marcus said. "She won't go back to that daycare. She’s too scared of you now."

​"Fear only lasts so long," I said. "We need to finish this. I want the final acquisition papers ready by tonight. I want Lucius in my office at midnight. No lawyers. No mother. Just him and the truth."

​"And if he doesn't come?"

​"He’ll come," I said, looking out at the city lights. "Because he’s a man who has lost his queen, his crown, and his pride. All he has left is a ghost. And men like Lucius will do anything to catch a ghost."

​My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from Sarah.

​The medical report has been located. Lucius found it in his mother's private safe. He’s headed to you now. He’s crying, Nina.

​I stared at the screen. The final piece of the puzzle. The proof that the Valentines had tried to erase my child before he even drew breath.

​"Take me back to the office, Marcus," I said. "The Phoenix is ready to collect the final debt."