Chapter 1

Every time Evelyn went to meet her lovers, she told her husband Dominic that I needed her.

Either I'd been hurt by male escorts and was too depressed to be alone, or I'd lost too much gambling and needed to hide from collectors. She used every dramatic excuse from every soap opera.

If it hadn't been for the night Dominic showed up outside my office with his men, a gun pressed to my temple as he demanded answers in front of everyone, I never would have known my own life was supposedly so colorful.

Right now, Dominic's phone calls were coming in non stop.

The second I answered, his furious voice exploded in my ear.

"Scarlett, it's this late, and you're keeping Evelyn at your place again?"

"I've had it with you. You're a grown woman. Can you stop being such a parasite? You think the whole world revolves around you?"

"Evelyn is married. She's pregnant. Can you stop sucking the life out of her for five minutes? Do you have any idea how exhausting you are?"

"Or is this revenge because I dumped you? You're trying to wreck my marriage out of spite? Evelyn is a good person. If you keep using her like this, I swear to God, I'll make you regret it. Send her home. Now."

Dominic's voice was loud. His temper was worse.

I used to think Dominic was gentle when we were together.

But Evelyn always said, "He's a dark empire's king. He doesn't have real feelings. He's just obsessed with you for now, playing a role. Don't let him fool you."

Every time Dominic treated me well, she insisted he must have done something behind my back.

So during one of our cold wars, she slipped in as Dominic's sweetest, most understanding female friend.

She spun lies about me.

And in front of me, she kept tearing Dominic down, telling me to leave him.

With Evelyn helping from the shadows, Dominic and I drifted further and further apart.

If I hadn't accidentally seen Evelyn with Dominic, her legs wrapped around his waist, her lips on his neck, his hands gripping her like she belonged to him, I might still be thanking my lucky stars for such a clear headed best friend who helped me spot a toxic man.

Not long after, she married him.

After that, I kept my distance from both of them.

But Dominic didn't see it that way.

I kept getting threatening calls. His crew members would show up at my startup office, leaning against my desk, cracking their knuckles, demanding that I return their boss's wife. My employees were terrified. A couple of them quit on the spot.

My life became nothing but work and making excuses for Evelyn's whereabouts.

I never actually knew where she was.

I just parroted the lies she'd told me to say, bracing myself against the pressure.

Until the day Dominic stormed into my office in the middle of a meeting. He had six of his biggest guys with him. They threw my laptop against the wall, smashed a chair, and put a gun to my head in front of my whole team. Then they stripped me down to nothing in the conference room, stuffed me in a burlap sack, and shipped me to Mexico.

That's when I realized I'd been the patsy. The fall guy.

Thinking back to Dominic's revenge in my past life, and how Evelyn and her lover had silenced me, a fire started burning in my chest.

Dominic. Today, I'm going to make you tear apart your own family's filthy secrets with your own hands.

A cold smile curled my lips.

I said sweetly into the phone, "Evelyn's at that boutique on Mulberry. You know the one. She's been trying on clothes and jewelry for hours, buying up half the store. She can't carry everything herself. Why don't you come pick her up? I think she'll need you."

Then I hung up and turned off my phone. No more wasted words.

But almost immediately, I heard tires screech outside my office window.

The front door of my startup burst open. Dominic's men stormed in, shoving past my receptionist. One of them grabbed me by the hair and yanked me out of my chair before I could even stand up.

Before I could react, several of them had me pinned against my desk.

Dominic himself walked in slow, taking his time. He didn't storm past me. He stood in front of me, looked around my office with disgust, then nodded to his men. They started smashing everything. Computers, printers, the glass conference table. My receptionist screamed and ran out.

Dominic just watched. Then he walked over to me, grabbed my face with one hand, and squeezed my cheeks until my teeth hurt.

"Where the hell is Evelyn?" His voice was quiet now. That was worse than the yelling. "You said she was at a boutique. Bull. I've had guys watching that store for an hour. She never showed."

His face was red, his eyes cold.

Watching him so furious, a dark satisfaction bloomed in my chest.

I raised an eyebrow, slow and deliberate, even with his hand on my face. "I said she was buying clothes. I didn't say she was with me. Maybe she's with your uncle. He owns half the stores on that street. Why don't you ask him?"

His eyes went icy. He let go of my face, grabbed my hair instead, and shoved a gun barrel against my jaw so hard I tasted blood.

"Cut the crap," he growled. "I'm asking you one last time. Where is Evelyn?"