Chapter 5

Everette didn't look at the card. He stepped forward, his massive body forming an impenetrable wall between Deliah and the exit.

He glanced down at the back of his hand, which was slightly red from the hot coffee. "A card isn't enough."

Deliah frowned, pulling Leo tighter against her leg. "What exactly do you want?"

Everette lied without blinking. "My arm has second-degree burns. You are going to escort me to a clinic to have it treated."

Joshua's eyes widened. The red mark didn't even need a band-aid. But he kept his mouth shut.

Deliah checked her watch. Her pulse spiked. She had less than two hours before the dress rehearsal at the Manhattan fashion show.

"I can give you double the medical expenses right now," she offered, her tone desperate.

Everette's eyes were dead and cold. "I don't need your money."

Leo tugged on Deliah's coat. "Mom, let's just go with the mister. It was my fault."

Deliah looked at her son, then at the immovable man blocking her path. She let out a frustrated breath. She had no choice.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the back of a black Rolls-Royce Phantom. The air pressure inside the car was suffocating.

Everette sat across from Deliah. His eyes roamed over every inch of her face, searching for scars, for any sign of plastic surgery. He was dissecting her with his stare.

Deliah felt her skin prickle under his gaze. She turned her head, staring out the tinted window to avoid him.

The car pulled up to a private VIP medical center near the airport. A doctor rushed in to examine Everette's hand.

The doctor looked at the faint red mark and opened his mouth to say it was fine. Then he met Everette's murderous glare. The doctor swallowed hard. "It... needs an ice pack and observation."

Everette sat in the treatment chair. He closed his eyes as the ice pack was applied, forcing his breathing to slow down.

Deliah's phone vibrated violently in her pocket. It was Mara, the show coordinator, demanding she get to the venue immediately.

Deliah looked at the man with his eyes closed. She made a decision.

She stood up silently. She pulled all the cash from her wallet and placed it on the glass coffee table, along with her business card.

She grabbed Leo's hand. They tiptoed to the door, opened it a fraction of an inch, and slipped out into the hallway. They ran for the emergency exit.

Five minutes later, Everette's eyes snapped open.

The faint scent of citrus perfume in the air was fading.

He turned his head. The sofa was empty.

Everette ripped the ice pack off his hand and threw it. He stood up so fast the heavy chair scraped harshly against the floor.

Joshua opened the door to report, saw the empty room, and froze.

Everette walked to the table and picked up the business card. His eyes locked onto the title: Architect & Guest Designer.

"Sir," Joshua said nervously. "You have a three-billion-dollar merger board meeting on Wall Street in an hour."

Everette crushed the business card in his fist. "Cancel everything. Get the car."

"The penalty fees-"

Everette shot him a look so lethal Joshua stopped breathing.

Everette stalked out of the clinic, his body radiating the dark energy of a predator tracking its prey.

He got into the back of the Rolls-Royce. "Lincoln Center," he ordered the driver. "I will tear this city apart to find her."