Page 156 of The Owner's Temptation

I don’t need caller ID to know who it is.

I answer with silence.

“You arrogant, thievingson of a bitch!”

Lorenzo’s voice is shaking with rage. Not the cold, calculating kind I respect—but wild, guttural, almost incoherent.

Good. That means he saw the feed.

“I should have fucking killed you when I had the chance,” he snaps.

“You tried,” I say mildly. “Didn’t go well for you.”

“You broke into myhome, Vale.”

I take another sip.

“You really should update your security. It's embarrassing.”

“You stole from me.”

“No,” I say, walking to my desk and tapping the tablet with one finger. The live video feed loads instantly, piping straight into Lorenzo’s screen on the other end. “Irelocatedsome things. Safekeeping. But if you'd like them back…”

I angle the camera.

The artwork. The frames. The family portraits. All of it stacked neatly in the center of the concrete floor.

Then I tilt the angle—just enough for him to see the red gas can at the edge of the frame.

I hear his breathing change.

“You’re fucking insane.”

“No,” I say calmly. “I’m offering a solution. You want to keep what’s left of your life? You end this. Right now. Agree to a truce.”

He laughs bitterly, but there's panic underneath it. “You think I’d surrender to a man who runs whores in designer heels?”

“Careful,” I warn softly. “I don't take well to people disrespecting my employees. You know that.”

He scoffs. “If you do this—if you touch that art—you’ll regret it. You don’t come back from that.”

I lean back in my chair.

“No, Lorenzo.Youdon’t come back from this.”

Silence.

I let it stretch until he speaks again.

But he doesn’t.

So, I continue. “You want to come for my empire? Fine. But don’t pretend like I started this. Your brother abducted one of my Companions and nearly got her killed. An innocent bystander who stood too close to him when his debt collectors came.”

I pause. Let it hang.

“History is bound to repeat itself if you don’t give up your pride and admit he got what was coming to him.”

More silence because he knows I’m fucking right. His pride just won’t let him admit it.

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