Page 152 of Villainous Rise

“I’m here supporting her. My plan was to fucking shut it down if it appeared to be more than she could handle. But you?” Havoc’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You had to come, force Valor’s hand. Break her in a way I couldn’t stop.”

“Force his hand?” The pillar creaked again under my grip.

“You don’t think that kiss was spontaneous, do you?” Havoc’s mouth curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You showed up, looking every bit the covetous, hungry bastard with the way you stared at her. Valor saw an opportunity to stake his claim. And then,” he gestured toward Winters, “you punished Annie for it.”

“Bravo.” His voice dripped with mockery. “Truly a strategic masterstroke from the so-called genius.”

My jaw clenched so tight I could hear my teeth grinding. Every muscle in my body coiled, ready to lash out.

“For someone with your intellect,” Havoc said, finishing his drink, “you can be remarkably stupid when it comes to her.”

He set his empty glass on a passing tray.

“Annie told me about the ultimatum the Syndicate gave you. Don’t do anything idiotic. I’ll handle Valor and the Alliance. You figure out how to fix what you’ve done to Annie.” He straightened his suit jacket.

“But when you can’t and she refuses to have anything else to do with you? When she finally washes her hands of you?” He leaned closer. “I’m going to fucking destroy you.”

He walked away, leaving me alone with the weight of my own fucking stupidity.

I turned back to the room, eyes automatically finding Annie. She stood beside Valor, her posture perfect. Too perfect.

She laughed at something someone said. The sound didn’t match her eyes. Her smile didn’t reach them either.

Every gesture was mechanical. The way she tilted her head when someone spoke. The precise angle of her smile. The careful placement of her hand when Valor touched her lower back.

I cataloged each movement, each expression. That was what I’d done. That was what I’d reduced her to. She was a perfect automaton playing the role of devoted fiancée.

A hospital board member approached Annie and Valor with a PR asshole in tow. They exchanged pleasantries, Annie’s responses coming at precisely timed intervals. Perfect. Hollow.

They ushered the “happy couple” toward a photographer set up near the donor recognition wall. The glass behind them shifted to display the hospital logo in soft gold tones.

I let all the other sounds around me fall away, using my enhanced hearing to focus in on what they were going to demand of her now.

“Just a few more shots for the fundraising materials,” the PR woman said, her smile wide.

Annie’s body was rigid despite her smile.

The photographer adjusted his equipment. “Now, let’s get one with the ring prominently displayed,” he suggested. “And then maybe a kiss to celebrate the engagement?”

The PR woman clapped her hands. “Oh, perfect! The donors would love that.”

The board member nodded enthusiastically. “A kiss from the couple would be wonderful for our campaign materials.”

I wanted to turn away, my stomach twisted into a knot of rage and something worse—something that felt dangerously close to helplessness. I couldn’t fucking watch this. Couldn’t watch his mouth on hers again. Couldn’t watch the violation of Annie when she was so broken she couldn’t even stop it now.

The lights blurred into streaks of color. I needed air. Needed space. Needed to not be Thomas Smith for five fucking minutes before I tore this place apart.

But then I saw it and I couldn’t unsee it.

Something fractured in Annie’s perfect mask. A hairline crack in porcelain. Her smile frozen, her eyes widening slightly.

I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t leave her.

Annie’s breathing changed. Short, shallow breaths. The beginning of panic.

Enough. Fucking enough.

The Syndicate be damned. I pushed away from the pillar, but Havoc was already there, moving with the preternatural speed of a Trueborn. He stepped between the camera and Annie just as the flash went off.