Without warning, I reached down and gave her ass a hard smack.
"That's for spray painting my car," I said.
Her breath hitched, and she bit her lip, trying to suppress a smile. "You're such a caveman."
"Caveman? How about this?" I said, smacking her...
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ESMERALDA'S POV
The rush of adrenaline from my little stunt faded as I drove away from the warehouse, but the thrill of confronting Caleb only fueled my determination. I wasn't going to let him push me aside; I would show him just how irresistible I could be. I wanted to get under his skin, to make him feel the same burning obsession I did every time he so much as looked at me. But underneath all that fire, something else festered—a deep, gnawing unease that clawed at my chest the more I replayed what I had overheard.
Once I get my hands on Trevor's legacy, he'll wish he never crossed me.
The words echoed in my head, each syllable striking like a whip. The meaning behind them settled like a heavy stone in my stomach. Caleb wasn't just playing games with Trevor—he was planning something serious, something dangerous. And if I knew one thing about the two of them, it was that neither would back down until one of them was bleeding out on the ground.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles turning white as I fought to keep my emotions in check. What the hell do I do? Telling Trevor meant setting off a war. A war where my brother wouldn't hesitate to kill, and Caleb... Caleb wouldn't hesitate to fight back just as brutally. If I said nothing, I was complicit in whatever Caleb was planning. But telling Trevor also meant betraying Caleb, and God help me, the thought of hurting him twisted something deep inside me.
My loyalty was being split down the middle, and the weight of it was suffocating.
Trevor wasn't just my brother—he had raised me in ways mum never did. He was my protector, the one person who had always put me first, no matter what. Even when he was being overbearing, controlling, infuriating—I knew it all came from a place of love. But Caleb... Caleb had carved himself into my soul in a way I couldn't explain, a way that scared me. The mere thought of him getting hurt sent a visceral panic through me, and I hated myself for it.
I slammed my foot on the gas, needing the speed to match the storm raging inside me.
Betraying Trevor also meant betraying myself. Because I was Trevor. His blood ran through my veins, his battles were mine. He had sacrificed too much for me, and now, I was supposed to turn a blind eye while the guy I couldn't stay away from plotted against him? I swallowed hard, my throat dry as hell. No. No fucking way.
But confronting Caleb? That was a whole different kind of dangerous.
I pulled up to my dorm and cut the engine, my mind spinning with the weight of my decision. I had two choices—warn Trevor and set off a war, or handle Caleb myself and pray I didn't get burned in the process.
