Page 243 of Love Me Stalk Me
I see the exact moment he starts to believe me.
His shoulders drop slightly, some of the tension bleeding out of his posture. He wants to believe me. He needs to believe me, because that means I'm not here for vengeance. That means I'm not here for her.
It's almost too easy.
I roll my shoulders, stepping closer, the concrete floor cold and hard beneath my boots. "You were supposed to break her down, Evan. That was the job. You were supposed to find someone we could use, get inside, gain her trust. Make her need you. And for a while, it was working."
Evan wipes at the blood under his nose, his lips twitching slightly. The collar of his once-pristine button-down is now stained crimson. "She was tough," he admits. "Took longer than expected. But I had her. Ihadher. Just needed a littlemore time."
I keep my expression neutral, nodding slightly, like I'm actually considering his words. Like I’m not thinking about ripping his throat out with my bare hands.
"So what happened?" I press.
Evan exhales, rubbing at his bruised face, shifting slightly where he sits on the cold concrete. The smell of his sweat cuts through the stale air. "She started getting stronger. I don't know what changed, but she started... fighting back. She got distant. Started pulling away. That wasn't supposed to happen."
My fingers twitch inside my pockets. The amount of restraint it takes not to reach for the knife tucked at my hip is monumental.
"And then?"
Evan scowls. "Then she fucking dumped me." His voice is bitter, full of venom. "And I had to act fast. I tried to get her back on my side, but she wouldn't fucking budge."
I hum. "Tough break."
He shakes his head, wincing slightly at the movement. "She would have been perfect. A manager at Monarch? She'd have access to all the inventory listings, the weekly shipment schedules, the security access codes—the entire operation. They’re corporate team doesn’t watch things close enough. She complained about that all the time. The amount of inventory we could have moved..." He scowls again. "But no, she had to go and develop a fucking backbone."
My vision flares red.
But I don't move.
Not yet.
I let him keep talking, because the more he talks, the more he buries himself.
Evan lets out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. "Whatever. Doesn't matter now. She'll do what I tell her to do, one way or another."
I tilt my head. "And if she doesn't?"
He grins, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. "Then I'll make her watch while I kill her family one by one."
That's it.
That's the moment I lose all reason.
I smile, letting the silence stretch, thick and dangerous.
Evan's face twitches. "What?"
I shake my head, chuckling softly. "You're such a goddamn idiot."
His expression shifts.
He starts to realize.
And then Ipull out my phone and turn the screen toward him.
The recording plays back loud and clear.
His own voice damning him.
