"I'll call the police!"
Her hands shook as she grabbed her phone, but Cedric stopped her with terrifying ease. He plucked the device from her fingers and set it on the table just out of reach.
"Violet." His voice carried chilling calm, the kind of calm that came from absolute certainty in his own power. "You know how things work in this city. You have lived here long enough. No one crosses me. No one wins against me."
She stared up at him from where she knelt on the floor, too broken to stand.
"Once Clara delivers the baby," he continued, his voice dripping with false promises like honey laced with poison, "you will get your justice. I will make sure of it. But you have to be patient. You have to wait. Just a few more months."
Before she could respond, before she could even find words
