He missed the razor edge in my tone entirely. Men like Daniel always did. They were so accustomed to women yielding that they heard quiet and mistook it for surrender.

“Just have the wine breathing,” he ordered, and hung up.

I poured myself a single neat glass of bourbon, swallowed the liquid fire, felt it settle in my chest, and waited for the doorbell.

The trap was armed. The prey was approaching.

Chapter 4: The Vipers Arrive

At 6:45, the heavy brass knocker echoed through the house.

I opened the door to find Vanessa on the porch, draped in a cream cashmere wrap, the autumn wind teasing her blonde hair. Around her neck sat a staggering collar of flawless diamonds—a piece Richard had proudly boasted about buying her, but which my dossier proved was purchased with funds routed through Apex Synergies.