Chapter 20 - The Unseen Horizon
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“I am not a maid anymore, am I?” Emma whispered, her heart fluttering as Victor’s thumbs gently stroked the backs of her hands.
“No,” Victor said firmly. “You never truly were. You are the woman who outsmarted an assassin because a chair was moved two inches.”
He stood up, pulling her gently to her feet. He didn't kiss her—not yet. He respected her too much to force his affections on her while the blood was barely dry on his floors. But the promise of something deep and dangerous hung heavy in the air between them.
“I need a new head of intelligence for the Blackwood family,” Victor offered, his voice a low, thrilling rumble. “Someone who notices the things everyone else ignores. Someone invisible, who can walk into a room and read the silence. The position pays excessively well, and it comes with my absolute, permanent protection.”
Emma looked at the terrifying, handsome mafia boss. She thought about her quiet, boring life before this week. She thought about the thrill of outsmarting Julian, the rush of navigating the hidden passages, and the undeniable magnetic pull she felt toward Victor.
She didn't want to go back to polishing silver.
“I accept the position, Mr. Blackwood,” Emma smiled, lifting her chin.
Victor’s eyes darkened with raw admiration. “Welcome to the family, Emma.”
Suddenly, a sharp buzzing sound interrupted the quiet moment.
It wasn't Victor’s phone, or Emma’s encrypted device. It was coming from the heavy oak desk.
Victor frowned, walking over and opening the bottom drawer. He pulled out a cheap, plastic burner phone. It was the phone Marco had pulled from Julian’s pocket after his death.
It was ringing. An untraceable, encrypted number flashing on the screen.
Victor looked at Emma, the relaxed atmosphere instantly shattering, replaced by cold, hard tension.
Julian’s coup was supposed to be over. The Falcone hitmen were dead. So who was calling Julian’s emergency burner phone at six in the morning?
Victor answered the phone, pressing it to his ear without saying a word.
Through the silence of the room, Emma heard a distorted, heavily accented voice echo from the speaker.
May you like
“Julian. The package is secure. But we have a problem. The girl is missing.”
Victor lowered the phone, his silver eyes meeting Emma’s. The war wasn't over. It was just expanding to a terrifying new horizon.
