Chapter 1
"Stop changing the subject, Vera."
Leo blocked me just as I was getting into my car. His motorcade had mine completely surrounded.
I watched coldly as he confronted me on behalf of another woman.
"Lily's been rushed to the hospital. The doctor said her face might be permanently disfigured. You really couldn't stand to let her be?"
Leo's sharp features twisted.
True enough. I had ruined Lily's face.
I'd thrown a cup of coffee at her and had my people slap her a few hundred times.
"So what? You're here to avenge her?"
I let my gaze drift up, vaguely amused.
"What do you want, half my life? Or are you planning to scratch up my face as an apology to her?"
Leo stared at me like he wanted to tear me apart.
"I'm asking you one more time. Why did you do that to Lily?"
"Because she deserved it."
Simple.
Those three words pushed him over the edge.
"Get out of the car!"
The words were barely out of his mouth when one of his men, eager to score points, charged at my car door and yanked it open.
One pull, two, and the door was wrenched open.
But before the blond thug could reach me, my driver Jake had already dislocated his arm.
Crack.
Someone screamed.
I pressed two fingers between my brows, mildly irritated.
"Too loud."
The screaming stopped cold.
Leo's lips went thin. "Are you planning to work your way through everyone around me today, Vera?"
Every word came out from between clenched teeth.
"Don't forget, Vera. Ashton is my city now. You touch my people, you ask me first."
A short laugh escaped me.
Right. Everyone in Ashton knew Leo Lawson was the Quinn family's man. My own father had handed him the whole city to run.
What Leo seemed to have forgotten, though.
I was the Quinn family's only daughter.
Before he married me, Leo had been nothing but the most forgettable foot soldier on our payroll. Everything he had now, I had given him.
I ignored his demands and raised one hand, signaling Jake to drive. I needed out of this suffocating place.
The engine revved. In the rearview mirror, I caught a last glimpse of the pure hatred carved into Leo's face.
