“I want you ready,” I cut in. “And quiet.”
Levi nods, jaw flexing. “Copy.”
Devil’s Peak is too small for this. Too tight. Too familiar. A man like Graham should stand out, but he doesn’t—because men like him blend in with smiles and paperwork. They hide behind legality and reputation, and everyone lets them because it’s easier than calling it what it is.
Control.
We pull up behind the alley by Devil’s Kiss, out of sight from the front windows. Snow crunches under the tires. My hands are already shaking with restrained violence.
Levi reaches for his door handle.
I stop him with one word. “Wait.”
He freezes, then looks at me. “Wyatt?—”
“I’m not walking in and letting him see me yet,” I say, voice flat. “Ellie needs him to keep talking.”
Levi exhales, frustrated but understanding. “Fine. So what’s the play?”
I glance toward the building, scanning. “We flank. We listen. We keep the door covered. If he touches her?—”
Levi’s grin is gone now. “Say less.”
We move around the back quietly, boots soft on snow. The shop’s back entrance is closed. I can hear voices inside—the muffled cadence of conversation, the smooth rhythm of a man who thinks he’s winning.
I press closer to the wall, ear near the doorframe.
Graham’s voice floats through, fake-soft. “Ellie, sweetheart. You’re making this so hard.”
Ellie’s voice answers, sharper than I expected. “Stop calling me that.”
Graham chuckles. “Why? Your new… arrangement doesn’t like it?”
My blood turns hot. Levi’s shoulders tense beside me.
Ellie’s tone is steady. “My husband doesn’t like you.”
Graham laughs, low. “Your husband is temporary.”
My jaw clenches.
Ellie doesn’t flinch. “You don’t get to decide that.”
Graham’s voice shifts—still calm, but there’s a hard edge under it now. “You’re in default. You breached contract. If you keep pushing, you’ll lose everything. Your shop. Your credit. Your little life here.”
Ellie’s voice is quiet, controlled. “You’re threatening me.”
“I’m warning you,” Graham says smoothly. “There’s a difference.”
I close my eyes for half a second. This is his trick. Make the knife sound like a handshake.
Then Ellie says, “You’re the one who changed the locks.”
Graham’s sigh is theatrical. “I did what I had to do. You forced my hand.”
Ellie’s breath hitches once. Then she steadies. “No. You punished me because I left.”
Silence.
