“You failed.” Elisa lets a grin run free as she stares the mean girl down. “You failed, and you’re going to pay for it, big-time.” She turns to me, taking my hand and smiling softly. “What did you do?”
“You’re not going to hurt us, right?” Susie says, flicking her eyes from me to Elisa.
“You might not have instigated it, but you’re both far from innocent,” I say, clutching Elisa’s hand. Her small palm is warm against mine, and the usual fiery tremors zip up and down my arm. No one’s touch has ever ignited my blood like my Lili’s touch.
“You could have stopped it, stopped her, at any time,” Elisa says, “but you let her belittle me, time and time again. Like Caleb said, you’re far from innocent.”
Susie starts crying again.
“I’m sorry, Elisa. More than you will ever know,” Cara says.
“You’re only sorry you got caught,” Gia says. She eyeballs me with purpose, knowing how this will go down because she helped to set it all up. “Throw the book at them, Caleb. They deserve it.”
My phone pings at that exact moment with a video confirming everything is going like clockwork. Playing press on the video, I turn my screen around so the three girls can see. “What the fuck?” Cara’s eyes almost bug out of her head. “What’s going on at our place?”
“The cops have discovered a large narcotics stash in your apartment, and a warrant for all three of your arrests has just been issued. News reports are flashing pictures of your faces. The dean has been advised, and your expulsion papers are being typed up as we speak.”
Shock splays across Cara’s face as Susie dissolves into more tears.
“You won’t get away with it,” Gwyneth barks. “We’ll tell them it’s a setup.”
“The cops work for us.”
“Then we’ll hire lawyers!”
“With what money? The large amounts deposited into your back accounts are being frozen as evidence of drug dealing,and you’ll never get your hands on it. And don’t bank on your families to help either.” I swipe my finger across the screen, showing how I’ve drained their families’ bank accounts.
“I’ll sell my house,” Gwyneth retorts.
“You mean the house your grandma left you that’s being repossessed in the morning?”
“You can’t repossess a house when the mortgage has already been paid, asshole.”
“You can if you know a guy who hacked into the bank system and doctored the records to show a mortgage deficit that has slipped through the cracks.” She opens her mouth to retaliate again, but I cut across her. “And don’t think the paperwork you have on file will help because we hacked into your laptop and destroyed all the evidence, along with the illegal recordings you made of me, and the backups you saved to the cloud. That USB key in the top drawer of your desk in your bedroom met an unfortunate death, along with your car.” Her face finally pales as I show her the video of her car engulfed in flames.
“I’ll go the press. I’ll tell them what you’ve done.” Her lower lip wobbles as it finally dawns on her.
I grab her chin and thrust her head back, digging my nails into her flesh. “I’ll put a bullet in your skull before you get the chance.” Letting all my darkness shine, I pour it into the look I give her. “In case you need additional incentive, if you breathe a word about me or Elisa or any of this, I will kill every member of your family.” I let her chin go to pull up the files I got from the PI. Her face is like a ghost as I flick through photos of every member of her family. “I can have them all taken out in the blink of an eye.” I snap my fingers before turning my attention to the other two girls.
“The same goes for you two.” I show them photos of their loved ones as well. I’m banking on Cara and Susie making a deal and hanging Gwyneth out to dry. All of them will do time, butwith her friends pointing the finger in her direction, Gwyneth will spend the longest time in jail, and it’s how I want it to go down. “In case any of you get ideas in jail, know I can get to you there too. Even whisper my fucking name, and you’ll pay a heavy price.Capiche?”
“Please don’t do this,” Susie cries. “I don’t want to go to prison.”
“You should have thought about that before you hurt the woman I love.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Giulio and Vittus exchanging a shocked look. “You targeted the wrong people. If Gwyn hadn’t sent Elisa that video, maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” I lie, just wanting them to really drive the knife into her back when they make their statements. “You are lucky I’m letting you live.”
Silent tears stream down Gwyneth’s face as the truth about how screwed she is finally hits home. “Let this be a life lesson. Don’t be a cunt. Serve your time, and when you get out, you disappear. Come near Elisa again, and I won’t be so lenient next time.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Caleb
“Fuck, at last! I’ve been calling you nonstop for the past ten minutes,” Joshua says when I answer his call after stepping out of the meeting.
Urgency threads through his tone, and I’m instantly on high alert. “I had that meeting with the brand management company this morning.” I did tell him, but he’s walking around with his head in the clouds this past week since he put a ring on Gia’s finger.
“Where are you?” he asks as I exit the building and nod at the twosoldatiwho accompanied me to Midtown. Even though the mysterious Italian boss has reached out and a truce is in place until the big meeting next week, Massimo warned everyone not to drop our security detail.
“I’m on Fifth Avenue. Why?”
