Veil of Shadows

Chapter Three - Lucas

The room was dark, save for the single bulb hanging overhead, casting harsh shadows on the concrete walls. The man tied to the chair in front of me whimpered, his face bloodied, and his breaths ragged. I wasn't even sure if he was still conscious, not that it mattered much. The bastard wasn't going to walk out of here alive. I wiped the blood from my knuckles, the anger simmering just beneath my skin.

Evie.

The name lingered in my mind like a bitter taste I couldn't wash away. Evangeline Moretti—she was supposed to be far from here, far from this life. But she came back, and now everything was spiraling out of control. I drove my fist into the man's gut, more out of frustration than for information. His groan of pain did nothing to soothe the fury boiling inside me.

She had no right to return. No right to take over what she left behind.

I had bled for this family, killed for it, and now she waltzes back in, thinking she can claim it all just because she shares the Moretti bloodline. My jaw clenched as I thought about her, the way she looked when I saw her again, standing in her father's office, trying to command respect she hadn't earned.

But damn it all, she still looked like the Evie I remembered. Even after all these years, I couldn't shake the memories of what we had—or what we could have had, if she hadn't left. I hated her for it, for running away from the life she was born into, leaving me to clean up the mess. But worse than the hate was the fact that I still wanted her.

I grabbed the man's collar, jerking his head up to face me. His eyes were half-closed, dazed with pain. "You're gonna tell me everything I need to know," I growled, though I wasn't sure if he even understood me anymore. The sound of his broken breathing filled the room, but my thoughts were elsewhere.

Evie, why did you have to come back?

She could've stayed gone, lived her life somewhere far from here, where the weight of this world couldn't touch her. But no, she had to come back and stir up all the shit I'd tried to bury. I slammed my fist into the guy's jaw, more to vent my rage than anything else. The chair tipped over, crashing to the floor as he slumped to the side, unconscious.

I straightened up, the adrenaline slowly ebbing away. The room was silent except for the sound of my breathing. I stared down at the poor bastard, my mind a million miles away. I should've been focused on the job, on getting the information I needed, but all I could think about was Evangeline. Her presence was a storm that had come crashing into my world, throwing everything off balance.

And now, she was sitting in her father's chair, acting like she owned the place. But she didn't understand this life, not like I did. She hadn't been here to see the blood spilled, to make the hard choices. She wasn't the one who'd been by her father's side all these years, doing the dirty work that kept this empire running.

No, that was me. Always me.

But what I couldn't stand—what made my blood boil—was that despite everything, despite all the hatred and anger I felt toward her, I still wanted her. It was a twisted, cruel joke. I wanted to rip her apart for leaving, for coming back, for thinking she could just walk in and take over. But at the same time, I wanted to protect her, to keep her safe from the hell she was walking into.

"Boss," a voice called from the doorway. I turned, my glare enough to make the underling freeze in his tracks. "What?" I barked, irritated by the interruption.

"Mr. Moretti's daughter—she's asking for you."

Of course, she is. I wiped the blood from my hands on a rag, tossing it aside. It was time to face her again, to confront the storm she'd brought with her. But as I left the room, the echoes of the man's gasps for breath fading behind me, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.