Chapter 5

Renee

Seven months later

I let out a sigh of relief and pulled out my compact mirror to check my reflection for the umpteenth time, reassuring myself that my face hadn't gone back to being twisted up and scarred while I hadn't been paying attention.

I raised a hand and touched my new face, still doubting the miracle that the healer had worked on my face. It had been seven months and even though I prepared for this day, I was a nervous wreck.

"We're here ma'am," the driver's voice cut through my musings and I jerked my head up to stare at the intimidating high rise building before me.

"Thanks," I handed him some dollar notes and stepped out of the car, bracing myself for the stares and whispers and gasps, but just like it had been for the past few weeks, none of them came. Instead, there were admiring stares and long, second glances.

Smiling, I walked into the building, my four inch heels clicking against the tiles.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a waiter stepped in front of me as I tried to walk past, "You can't get seated without an appointment”

I smiled at him, and felt smug at the flash of red that rose up his cheeks, "I was invited by Mr. Hastings”

His eyes widened, "You should have said so ma'am. I'm sorry for keeping you. Please, he's waiting for you"

I walked past him and crossed the smooth floors of the upscale building, ignoring the admiring eyes that landed on me until I got inside. I pretended not to notice the eyes on me when I walked in through that door. People whispered amongst each other and stared at me as if I was an alien from another planet, not just any alien.

A magnificent one.

I heard someone howl. The room became hushed. They were all watching, wondering who I was . A shiver ran down my spine. I tried desperately not to squirm under everyone’s attention.

But I remembered my new face and so my head was held high, chin up and shoulders back. Even with every pair of eyes scrutinizing me with the same level of scrutiny as they would a bug that they had found beneath their shoe. It was like being naked. But instead of looking away shyly and trying to hide, which is what people generally do in situations like this - no, I stood tall. Faced the sea of curious gazes and ignored it all until I reached my target.

Wordlessly, I slid into the seat in front of him , "Hello, your highness” he was talking to a blonde woman who left, intimidated by my looks

He raised his head slowly, cerulean blue orbs fixing on my intently, "You have ten seconds to state what you want, and then get the fuck out before I change my mind"

My jaw clenched. Roman Hastings wasn't a good man, that much I knew. But as they said, the enemy of my enemy was my friend, and that was why I had bribed one of Roman' s guards to tell me his whereabouts today.

"Ten," he counted, biting into his lunch leisurely.

"My name is…"

"I didn't ask," his cold voice cut me off, "You have seven seconds left"

"I know that you're trying to take over from your father as the king of the red moon pack"

"Six"

"And you need to take Levi down to do that," even saying my ex-husband's name felt like a sharp knife lancing through my chest. He and his so called friend had taken everything from me, and it was time to return the favor.

"I can help you"

"Three”

"I know things about your brother…”

"Step brother," he corrected sharply, "Two. Time's almost up"

"I know something about him that can help you destroy him”

He leaned back in closely, looking large and intimidating, "I don't believe you. And I don't need your help either" No sugar coating.

"If that were true, you wouldn't be waiting to meet up with one of his allies right now to dig up dirt on him," I shrugged, "I know things about Levi that you would want to know”

"And how did you come by this information?" His eyes narrowed in my direction, eyes exploring every contour of my face. For a second, I held my breath, thinking he would surely recognize me, but his face remained blank.

I steeled my shoulders, "I was his business associate for a while." It wasn't quite true, but it wasn't a lie either.

"You're lying," he smirked cruelly, "Leviis attached to Rosalie by the balls, there's no way he kept a business associate like you around”

Sweat started to gather at the base of my spine, "like me?"

"You're a beautiful woman, and I know Rosalie is a possessive one”

The compliment warmed me and gave me a little more confidence, my cheeks were almost red "Then how do I know that the woman who carried Vincent's child wasn't Rosalie?"

He froze, eyes turning cold as ice. I had only recently discovered that my ex husband hadn't kept me at home when I was pregnant because he was worried something would happen to me. He had done so to hide me from the world while his real wife had worn a fake baby bump and received the congratulations.

I had been told about Roman, but Rosalie had warned me to never show myself when he came to the house because he was so deadly that he could try to harm the baby.

Now, I felt like a fool for not having realized that they had been hiding me like a dirty little secret.

"Start talking" he growled.

"Not until we have a written agreement"

He raised one brow, "And what agreement is that?"

"I will help you destroy them, and you won't turn against me at the end”

"what do you get in return, because I don't believe you're so selfless to want to help me. What did they do to you?"

I squeezed my hands into fists under the table, trying to control the fury burning through me, "In exchange, the child goes to me. They killed mine, so I will take theirs. Do we have a deal?"

Roman eyed me carefully, "What's your deal with the mother?"

"Do we have a deal or not?"

"Who are you?" He asked instead of responding.

"My name is Celestria Randul, that's all you need to know for now," I told him, my voice hard.

"I have a counter offer, Celestria," he smiled darkly, "I don't trust you. Not one bit. You're hiding something, a lot of things in fact, and I don't trust that you won't stab me in the back later. So here's my deal, if I go down, you go down with me"

"And how are you going to ensure that?"

He rose to his feet and began to button his suit jacket, "We are going to get married"