Chapter 12 - The Iron Vow
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The interrogation took place in the soundproof basement of the Marshall estate.
Naya stood in the shadows near the staircase. Leo had told her to go upstairs, to stay out of the ugly side of the business, but Devan had countermanded him.
“She saved my life,” Devan had said coldly. “She stays if she wants to.”
The waiter was tied to a metal chair in the center of the room, bleeding from a shoulder wound. Devan sat in his wheelchair a few feet away, his face carved from stone.
“Who gave the order?” Devan asked, his voice deathly quiet.
“Go to hell, cripple,” the assassin spat.
Devan didn't flinch. He simply nodded to Leo. Leo stepped forward and drove a combat knife cleanly through the assassin’s hand, pinning it to the wooden armrest.
The man’s scream bounced off the concrete walls.
Naya squeezed her eyes shut, her stomach violently turning, but she forced herself not to look away. She forced herself not to run. This was the reality of the man she had bound herself to.
“I will ask you once more,” Devan said softly over the man's sobbing. “Who gave the order?”
“Rossi!” the man shrieked, tears streaming down his face. “Don Rossi paid me! He said if you died tonight, he would take the harbor by morning!”
Devan signaled Leo to pull the knife out. The assassin slumped forward, weeping.
Devan turned his wheelchair slowly and approached the shadows where Naya stood. He looked at her pale face, her trembling hands.
“This is my world, Naya,” he whispered fiercely. “It is violent, and it is cruel. You can walk away right now. I will pay your mother’s medical bills in full, and I will let you go. I will not trap you in this.”
Naya looked at the blood on the floor. She looked at the man in the chair, and then she looked at Devan. She saw the desperate fear in his eyes—the fear that she would look at him with the same disgust Camilla had.
She took a deep breath, stepped out of the shadows, and placed her hand firmly on Devan’s shoulder.
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“We have a contract, Devan,” she said steadily. “And I don't break my promises.”
Devan closed his eyes, leaning his cheek against the back of her hand, anchoring himself to her quiet strength.
