I make my way down the hall, each step echoing through the marble like a countdown.
Her father’s office is exactly where I remember it.
I don’t knock.
I push the door open and step inside like I own the deed.
I will soon, after all.
Her father jolts to his feet, eyes bulging when he sees me. He’s aged, and badly. Sweat stains circle his collar. His hand twitches toward his phone like he’s debating whether to call for help.
Cute.
Help isn’t coming.
You let the devil into your house through the front door.
“You’ve been busy,” I say, strolling farther in, nodding at the stacks of paperwork scattered across his desk. “I’d congratulateyou, but everything you’re working on is already dead. So this feels like watching a man perform CPR on a corpse.”
He stiffens. “Who the hell are you?”
I smile, slow, sharp. “The man holding your leash.”
“If this is about the fire, we—”
“Oh,” I interrupt, waving a lazy hand. “The fire was adorable. But no. I’m here about the rest of it.”
He blinks. “The rest?”
“Yes.” I lean in, tapping a finger against a framed photo of his family. “The part where I burn your whole world to the ground.”
His mouth opens, but before he can speak, the office door swings wider.
Her mother steps in, and she freezes right away, hand flying to her mouth. “Lorenzo?”
He whips toward her. “You know him?”
Her gaze never leaves me. “He . . . he worked here. Years ago. The summer Victoria—”
I tilt my head. “Good to know I made a lasting impression.”
Mr. Danforth stares, expression shifting from confusion . . . to recognition . . . to something close to horror. “You’re the boy who—”
“Don’t say it like that.” I cut in with a laugh. “You’ll hurt my feelings. Actually—” I pretend to think, tapping my chin. “No. Feelings require a soul. Mine’s been on vacation for a while.”
He narrows his eyes. “What do you want?”
I step forward until I’m in his space.
Let him see the boy he destroyed, who was reborn into a monster.
“Everything.”
His jaw clenches. “Why?”
A slight sound slips from the mother’s lips. “Is this because we sent you away?”
I grin, slow and unhinged. “Sending me away was the best thing you ever did to me.” They both freeze. “Because that boy you threw out like trash? He’s gone. Dead. Buried. And in his place is the man whose sole purpose is to ruin you.”
