Debt to the Devil

CONFRONTATION IN THE DARK

Cecelia’s POV

The heavy footsteps of Marcus’s enforcers came closer to the curtain, and River suddenly pulled me deeper into the narrow space, wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders while pressing my back against his chest to smother my scent.

I could feel the rapid beating of his heart against my spine, his breathing hitching as his face buried into the side of my neck, and his grip became so fierce and desperate that it felt less like he was hiding me and more like he was claiming me for himself.

“River, you are holding me too tight, I can barely breathe,” I whispered, trying to wriggle out of his embrace, but his hands stayed locked around my waist, and his body remained completely rigid against mine until the voices of the enforcers grew more distant down the main hall.

“I am keeping you alive, Cecelia, because if Marcus catches you here, you will never see the outside of that mansion again,” River murmured back, his voice thick and strained as his fingers lingered on my hips, his face remaining dangerously close to mine even after the danger passed.

“You smell different tonight, you smell intoxicating, and it is taking everything I have not to just take you away from this city right now.”

“We need to move, River, because Richard is going to leave that booth soon, and I did not come all this way just to hide in a closet with you,” I said, pushing his chest firmly until he finally dropped his arms, though his amber eyes kept tracking my face with a dark, unsettling intensity that made me step away quickly.

“He went toward the private VIP lounge at the back of the gallery, so the coast is clear for now, but you have exactly five minutes before the enforcers loop back to this section,” River said, adjusting his jacket while checking the hallway, pointing toward a door marked with a gold plaque.

I didn’t wait for him to change his mind, slipping down the dimly lit corridor toward the private lounge, and I pushed the door open quietly to find Richard sitting alone on a leather sofa, his head tilted back as he poured more liquor into his glass.

He didn’t even notice me entering until I closed the door behind me and locked it with a sharp click, which made him look up with a lazy, drunken smirk that vanished the instant he recognized my face.

“Cecelia?” Richard stammered, his glass shaking so badly that the alcohol spilled over his fingers, his face turning completely pale as he stared at me like I was a ghost.

“How are you here, those lenders told me they had you trapped, they told me you were taken care of.”

“You faked your death and left me to die for your debts, Richard, while you came to this city to live like a king on stolen money,” I said, my voice completely steady and cold as I walked toward him, and my wolf senses made his fear smell incredibly sharp and pathetic in the small room.

“You don’t understand, Cecelia, I didn’t have a choice because those people were going to cut me to pieces,” he cried, scrambling backward on the sofa until his back hit the wall, his eyes widening as he noticed the unnatural silver tint in my stare.

“What is wrong with your eyes, you look different, you look like one of those monsters that runs this city.”

“I am the monster that is going to end you if you don’t start telling me the truth right now,” I threatened, reaching into my coat and pulling out the heavy black pistol River gave me, pointing it directly at his chest while keeping my finger firm on the trigger.

“You told those men at the table that you have leverage over Marcus Vale, so you are going to tell me exactly what you stole and who you are working with.”

“Put the gun down, please, I am your stepfather and I raised you after your mother passed,” he begged, his hands shaking in the air as he wept.

“You used my name to forge criminal loans, so do not talk about my mother, just tell me how you got Marcus’s perimeter data,” I demanded, stepping closer until the cold barrel of the gun was just inches from his forehead.

“A rogue faction approached me months ago, they knew I was running from debts and they offered me millions to act as a middleman,” Richard confessed rapidly, his voice cracking with pure terror as he spilled everything.

“They told me to fake my death so nobody would trace the data back to me, and they are the ones who gave me the access codes to cloned shipping routes.”

“Who is the rogue faction, Richard, and how did they get access to Marcus’s private estate networks?” I asked, my heart pounding as I realized this conspiracy went much deeper than a simple gambling debt.

“It is someone inside the mansion, Cecelia, someone in Marcus’s inner circle who is funding the whole operation,” Richard whispered, his eyes darting toward the locked door as if he expected the walls to listen.

“The insider is paying me to deliver the physical passkeys to the rival syndicates at this auction, because they want to compromise the mansion’s defenses and eliminate Marcus entirely so they can take over the territory.”

“Give me the name of the traitor, Richard, give me the name right now or I will pull this trigger,” I commanded, my grip on the weapon tightening as the sudden realization of a betrayal within our own walls sent a chill straight down my spine.

Richard opened his mouth to speak, his lips trembling as he prepared to utter the name of the person who was funding his luxury while planning a m******e at the estate, but a sudden scratching sound against the glass window behind him made his voice freeze completely.