THE MAN I CAME TO DESTROY

Chapter 4

Elias pov

I'm late.

Twenty minutes late to a dinner I didn't want to attend in the first place, and Sophia is going to make me pay for every single one of those minutes.

Stephan pulls up to Daniel's at seven-twenty. These the kind of restaurant where being on time is a statement and being late is an insult. Where privacy costs more than most people earn in a month and everyone pretends not to notice each other.

"Sir," Stephan says as I reach for the door handle. "Are you certain you want to go in?"

I pause. Look at him in the rearview mirror. He's been driving me for twenty years. Twenty years of watching my life from the front seat. He knows exactly what I'm walking into.

"I don't have a choice."

"Everyone has choices, sir."

"Not people like me."

I got out before he could respond. Before he can say something that might make me reconsider. Before I do something stupid like tell him to drive me home instead.

The maître d' recognizes me immediately. Of course he does. The Moretti name opens doors whether you want them opened or not.

"Mr. Moretti. Ms. Rossi is already seated. This way, please."

He leads me through the restaurant. Past tables full of people who look up, recognize me, then quickly look away. Power has that effect. Makes people avert their eyes like you're the sun and they might go blind from direct contact.

Sophia is at the center table. Maximum visibility. She planned that. Planned everything about this, probably including my lateness so she could sit here looking patient and elegant while I walk in looking. Disheveled and Distracted

Like I spent the last hour driving a terrified junior associate home because I almost killed him in a parking garage.

She's wearing red. Always red when she wants to make a point. Her dark hair is pulled back severely and perfectly. Diamond earrings that probably cost more than Liam's entire apartment catch the light when she turns her head.

Her smile when she sees me could cut glass.

"Elias. How kind of you to join me."

I sit down across from her. The chair is already pulled out. The wine is already poured. She's ordered for both of us, probably. Decide what I'll eat and drink and say before I even walk through the door.

"Traffic," I say flatly.

"Liar." She sips her wine. "But it's fine. I've been entertained. Watching all these people pretend they're not watching us is always amusing."

The waiter appears. Recites specials I don't listen to. Disappears when Sophia waves him off with one perfectly manicured hand.

"You look terrible," she says pleasantly.

"Thank you."

"I'm serious, darling. When's the last time you slept? You have shadows under your eyes that even expensive suits can't hide."

"Last night."

"Liar," she says again. Softer this time. Like she's commenting on something mundane. "You forget. I've known you for seven years. I can tell when you're lying. When you're distracted. When something's occupying space in that carefully controlled head of yours."

She leans forward slightly. The diamond earrings catch the light again.

"So what is it? Work? Your father? Or something else?"

I pick up my wine glass. Don't drink. Just hold it. Give my hands something to do that isn't clenching into fists under the table.

"Work."

"Of course. Work." Her smile widens a fraction. "Your father called me yesterday, you k,now."

"Why would I know that? He said you called him instead"

"It doesn't matter who ,called, because he's concerned about you. Says you've been distant. Distracted. Avoiding conversations about setting an actual date for this wedding we've been planning for seven years."

She pauses. Let that sink in.

"He thinks you're having second thoughts."

"He's perceptive."

Her expression doesn't change. Doesn't even flicker. That's what makes Sophia dangerous. Most people show you what they're feeling. She shows you nothing until she's ready to strike.

"Second thoughts," she repeats quietly. "About the merger? About our families' alliance? Or about me specifically?"

"All of the above."

The words are out before I can calculate the cost. Before I remember that questioning this arrangement is like questioning gravity. It exists. It's immutable. Fighting it is pointless.

Sophia sets her wine glass down. Very carefully. Very deliberately.

"I see."

Two words. That's all. But they carry the weight of everything we've spent seven years building. Or not building. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes.

"Elias." Her voice drops. Loses the pleasant edge. "Let me remind you how this works. This marriage isn't about love. It never was. It's about consolidation. Power. Your family's legal empire, combined with my family's financial holdings, creates something unprecedented. Unstoppable."

"I know"

"Do you?" She cuts me off. Sharp. Precise. "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you're forgetting. Getting distracted by fantasies about having a different kind of life. Some other option."

She tilts her head slightly. Studies me like I'm a problem she's solving.

"Or maybe it's not a fantasy. Maybe it's a person."

My chest tightens. My face stays blank. Years of practice make that easy.

"There's no one."

"Liar." Third time. She's keeping count, probably. "You're getting sloppy, Elias. Used to be better at hiding things. But lately" She waves one hand vaguely. "Lately you've been obvious. Taking personal calls. Leaving events early. That distracted look you get when you think no one's watching."

She picks up her wine again. Sips slowly.

"I've seen it before. Three years ago, remember? When you had that little…what did you call it? Distraction? With that intern."

My blood goes cold.

The temperature in the room hasn't changed but suddenly I'm freezing. Suddenly every instinct I have is screaming at me to leave. Get up. Walk out. Don't let her finish that thought.

But I stayed because leaving would confirm everything she's implying.

"That's ancient history," I say carefully.

"Is it?" Sophia's smile sharpens. "I remember it quite clearly. You were different then. Lighter, somehow. Like you'd found something that actually made you happy. Unprecedented, really. I'd never seen you happy before."

She pauses. Let the silence stretch.

"What was her name? I can never remember. Something simple. Classic."

"Sophia." The name comes out sharp. A warning. My jaw clenches hard enough to hurt.

"Chloe." She says it like she's just remembered. Like she hasn't been sitting here planning this entire conversation.

"That was it. Chloe Hart. Pretty girl. Young. Ambitious. Completely inappropriate for someone in your position, but that was part of the appeal, wasn't it? That she didn't care about your name or your money or any of it."Every word is a knife sliding between my ribs.

"She's dead," I say flatly. "This conversation is pointless."

"Dead. Yes." Sophia nods slowly. "Suicide, they said. Such a tragedy. Twenty-two years old with her whole life ahead of her, and she just" She makes a gesture. Fingers falling. "gave up."

She sets her glass down again. Leans forward.

"Though there were questions, weren't there? Whispers. Peoaimedre wondering why a happy, successful young woman would suddenly kill herself. Why was the investigation closed so quickly?. Why was certain evidence never examined too closely?"

"The police investigated. Found nothing suspicious."

"The police found exactly what they were told to find." Her voice is soft. Deadly. "Your father made sure of that. He's very good at making problems disappear. At ensuring the Moretti name stays pristine no matter what messiness has to be cleaned up."

My hands clench under the table."What are you saying?"

"I'm saying your father is a practical man. And when his son gets involved with someone inappropriate someone who might become a complication, a liability, a threat to carefully laid plans he handles it. Efficiently. Permanently."

She picks up her menu. Casual. Like she's discussing the weather instead of being a manipulative b***h

"You're saying my father had her killed."

"I'm saying problems have a way of being solved. Especially when people like your father decide those problems need solving." She glances up at me over the menu. "I'm saying you should be more careful about what complications you create. Because they don't just disappear on their own."

The room feels too small suddenly. Too warm. The walls are pressing in.

"You knew," I said quietly. "You knew what happened to her."

"I know what happens to inconvenient people in our world, Elias. They become examples. Warnings. Reminders of what happens when you forget your place. Forget your obligations."

She closes the menu. Signals the waiter.

"I'll have the salmon. Elias will have the steak. Rare. Like always."

The waiter nods and disappears. Sophia turns her attention back to me.

"Now. Let's talk about why you're really late tonight. Traffic, you said. But traffic doesn't make you look like you've seen a ghost. Traffic doesn't put that expression on your face."

She leans back in her chair. Crosses one leg over the other.

"So where were you? What or who kept you?"

I don't answer. Can't answer. Because telling her would be signing Liam's death warrant.

Her smile widens.

"Ah. So there is someone. How predictable."

"Sophia"

"Let me guess. Someone new. Someone fresh. Someone who makes you feel like maybe you could have a different life. Someone" She pauses. "vulnerable. In need of protection. That's always been your weakness, hasn't it? The damsel in distress. Makes you feel important. Needed."

She uncrosses her legs. Leans forward again.

"So who is it this time? Another intern? A paralegal? Please tell me you learned your lesson about f*****g the help."

"There's no one."

"Liar. Fourth time, darling. You're really not trying anymore."

She pulls out her phone. Taps something. Turns the screen toward me.

It's a photo. Security footage from the parking garage. Time stamp: 7:04 PM. Less than thirty minutes ago.

Me. Helping someone into the back of my car. Someone small. Dark-haired. Clearly shaken.

Liam.

"Interesting," Sophia says softly. "You don't usually give rides home to junior associates. Especially not on your way to dinner with you and your fiancée."

She puts her phone away.

"His name is Liam Hart, by the way. In case you were wondering if I'd done my research. Twenty-six. Junior associate. Legal department. Top of his class. No living family."

She pauses on that last part.

"Well. Almost no living family. He had a sister once. Older sister, I believe. Or was it younger? I can never remember."

My stomach drops.

"What?"

"His sister. Chloe Hart." She says the name slowly. Deliberately. "She worked at Moretti Holdings too. Three years ago. Intern in the legal department. Pretty girl. You remember her, don't you?"

Everything stops.

The restaurant. The conversations around us. My heartbeat.

"That's—" I can't finish. Can't process.

"Quite the coincidence," Sophia finishes for me. "Liam Hart. Brother of Chloe Hart. Working at your company. Catching your attention. Needing your protection."

She smiles.

"Almost like it was planned."

My mind is racing. Trying to connect pieces that don't want to fit together. Trying to find a pattern in chaos.

Liam is Chloe's brother.

Liam works here.

Liam..

"Of course," Sophia continues, "he might not know about your history with his sister. Might not know you were the last person to see her before she spiraled. Might not know anything at all."

She tilts her head.

"Or he might know everything. And that fragile, vulnerable act might be exactly what you think it is. An act. A trap. A revenge plot wrapped in doe eyes and trembling hands."

She picks up her wine glass. Studies me over the rim.

"The question is: which is it? Is he an innocent boy who needs saving? Or is he a weapon aimed directly at your throat?"

I can't speak. Can't think.

"Either way," Sophia says pleasantly, "he's a problem. And problems as we've established get handled."

The threat is crystal clear.

"You touch him…"

"I won't touch him." She cuts me off. "I won't have to. Your father will handle it. Like he handled the sister. Like he handles all inconveniences that threaten family interests."

She sets her glass down.

"Unless you want to prevent that. In which case, you know what you need to do. Set a date. Commit to this merger. Stop playing games with junior associates who might or might not be trying to destroy you."

She reaches across the table. Touches my hand. Her skin is ice.

"You really should be more careful who you get involved with, Elias. Remember what happened to that girl? What was her name... Chloe?"

Her eyes lock on mine. Cold. Merciless.

"Such a tragic accident. It would be terrible if something like that happened again. If someone else you cared about ended up ….eliminated."

The word hangs between us like poison.

Eliminated.

Not dead. Eliminated.

Like a problem solved. A complication was removed.

"What did you do?" My voice comes out raw.

"Me?" She pulls her hand back. Laughs softly. "I didn't do anything, darling. I never do. I just make sure the right people know when problems exist. And then those problems handle themselves. Efficiently. Permanently."

The waiter appears with our food. Set plates down that I won't touch. Wine I won't drink.

Sophia picks up her fork.

"Oh, and Elias? That boy ..Liam. Whatever he is to you, whatever you think this is end it. Before it becomes another problem that needs handling. Before your father decides he's a threat to family interests."She cuts into her salmon.

"Do we understand each other?"

I understand perfectly.

She knows about Liam. Knows who he is. Knows or suspects why he's here.

And if I don't fall in line, if I don't commit to this marriage and this merger, Liam Hart will end up exactly like his sister.

Eliminated.

"We understand each other," I say quietly.

"Wonderful." She raises her wine glass. "To partnerships. And to make sure they stay uncomplicated."

I don't touch my glass.

Just sit there across from the woman I'm supposed to marry and realize I've been playing the wrong game this entire time.

I thought my father was the threat. Thought he was the one who controlled everything.

But Sophia has been pulling strings all along. Orchestrating. Manipulating. Using my father's brutality as her weapon while keeping her own hands clean.

And now she's aiming that weapon at Liam.

The question is: what does she know? Does she suspect he's here for revenge? Or does she genuinely think he's just another distraction I need to be scared away from?

And more importantly: if she's telling the truth about what happened to Chloe

Then I helped kill her. By being careless. By being selfish. By thinking I could have something real without consequences.

And now her brother is here. In my company. In my orbit.

Either to destroy me.

Or to be destroyed like she was.