“It’s all a lie,” he hisses. “A story based on rumor and bullshit, started bymeto fuck with your father.”
Andrés’ smile falters.
“I planted that fairy tale in his head to waste his time and resources,” Vaughn shrugs. “Let me guess, you only heard about this heir whenhetold you about it, right before you killed him?”
The smile drops entirely.
“Keep pulling on that thread if you want.” Vaughn chuckles. “I can tell you where it’s going to lead. You’ll eventually find out that about twenty-nine years ago, Victoria King and your father happened to be staying at the same hotel in Madrid. You’ll even probably dig up the CCTV footage of the two of them having drinks together at the bar, and thepointof all of this is to lead anyone looking into believing that Carson King is your father’s bastard heir.” He shrugs. “Now, I truly don’t know if your dad fucked Carson’s mother, but I do know, unequivocally, that there weren’t any children that came of it.” He smiles coldly at Andrés. “Victoria King underwent a voluntary sterilization after Carson was born.”
Andrés’ jaw ticks.
“But,” Vaughn smiles. “If you’d like more concrete proof that Carson isn’t your half-brother, I’msurehe’d be more than thrilled to leave a DNA sample all over your front door.”
Andrés’s face darkens.
Vaughn shrugs. “There arefortywomen who’ve come forward over the years accusing Diego of being the father of their children. I’ve got the list if you want, but I’ve already gonethrough it hoping to get leverage against your father and none of the accusations has any substance.You do not have a half sibling.”
The seconds tick by as Andrés face darkens even more. He brings the glass in his hand to his mouth and knocks back the rest of his sherry.
“I’ll take that list.”
Vaughn shrugs. “It’s all yours. But it’s a lesson in futility.”
The seconds tick by.
“Fine,” Andrés finally growls. “But the rest of the arrangement stands. I don’t destroy Evelina’s life, and in exchange, youwalk awayfrom Knightsblood and all your plans there. I’ve even taken the liberty of drawing us up a contract.”
He pulls a folded piece of paper from his jacket pocket and drops it on the table between us. Then he holds up a pen, grinning.
Slowly, doubt begins to sink icily into my body.
What if Vaughn doesn’t agree?
What if what we have isn’t worth more than his plans involving the Syndicate?
He’s told me how the Syndicate is everything. His family, his life. I’m…what?
A plaything? A distraction? Even “girlfriend” isn't much when you look at it from that perspective.
Andrés smiles. “You give me your board seat, your power at Knightsblood, and I keep the money you’ve already paid me. Inexchange, I won’t appear in court sobbing about how brutally your girlfriend treated me during my captivity.”
My heart tightens. How could hepossiblychoose me over?—
“Deal.”
There’szerohesitation as the word falls from his lips. He just takes the pen, bends down, and signs his name at the bottom of the contact.
I stare open-mouthed as he drops the pen to the table and stands upright, locking eyes with a similarly shocked-looking Andrés.
“There’s your contract. If you go back on it, or if youeverthreaten her again, I’ll cut your fucking head off.”
Andrés dips his chin. “A pleasure doing business with you both.”
“Let’s go.”
Vaughn grabs my hand and pulls me after him as he walks from the room.
We make it all the way downstairs and out onto the street before I can’t take it anymore.
