Now We Wait
Gigi’s POV
The dimly lit room was silent, apart from the steady hum of rain tapping at the windows and the slow, rhythmic ticking of the antique clock on the mantelpiece. Lucious Davenport sat across from me, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he stared at the documents sprawled on the polished mahogany table between us.
My phone rang, the shrill sound slicing through the tense quiet. Davenport glanced sharply at me, eyes hard.
“Answer it,” he ordered. “It’s her.”
I lifted the phone to my ear. “Victoria.”
“Gigi,” came Victoria’s strained voice. “She’s taken the bait. Remi came to see me today. She has the envelope, and she’s on her way to meet her real father—or whoever’s waiting at that address.”
My pulse quickened, and I exchanged a look with Davenport. He leaned closer, signaling me to continue. “Did she suspect anything?”
“No,” Victoria said bitterly. “She’s oblivious. The girl is blinded by emotion—always has been. She forgave me. Actually forgave me, after everything I’ve done.” Victoria’s voice cracked slightly, irritation mixed with something softer, more fragile. Regret, perhaps. “She’s heading straight into your trap.”
Davenport reached forward, sliding a handwritten note toward me, tapping impatiently. I read it aloud carefully. “And the address? You’re certain she has it?”
“Absolutely,” Victoria confirmed, her voice steadier now. “I handed it to her myself. Exactly as you instructed.”
“Good,” Davenport muttered, eyes dark with satisfaction. “Then your end of the bargain is complete.”
Victoria’s voice tightened with suspicion. “You will still honor our agreement? I want the money, the property overseas, and the assurances that Jules remains untouched. My child is not part of this.”
I glanced at Davenport, waiting for his signal. He gave a small nod, eyes glinting coldly.
“Yes, Victoria,” I assured smoothly. “You’ll receive everything we agreed upon. You’ve done well. Your niece won’t know what hit her.”
She sighed audibly, relief washing over her voice. “Thank you. Now, about the transfer—”
But her sentence was cut short by a sudden burst of sound. Sharp cracks echoed through the phone—gunshots. Loud, violent, unmistakable.
“Victoria?” I demanded urgently. “Victoria!”
But there was no response. Just the muffled sounds of movement, something falling heavily, and then an eerie silence.
I turned sharply toward Davenport, my heart pounding with fury. “You killed her?” I hissed, rage sparking through my veins. “Why the hell did you kill her? She had done everything we needed.”
Davenport’s eyes were cold, indifferent. He calmly took the phone from my shaking hands, hanging up the now-useless call.
“She became a liability,” he said flatly, smoothing his jacket. “Victoria knew far too much. Once Remi makes contact, the last thing we need is a hysterical woman changing her mind and trying to warn her niece.”
“You could have warned me!” I snapped, fists clenched. “We could have controlled her. Killing her was unnecessary.”
He raised an eyebrow, unmoved. “I don’t leave loose ends. Especially when the stakes are this high. You know that. She fulfilled her role perfectly. She gave Remi the bait, and now she’s out of the way. It’s clean, Gigi.”
“It wasn’t necessary,” I repeated angrily, standing up to pace the room. “She trusted us. We promised her safety, a new life—everything she asked for.”
He shrugged dismissively. “And she got exactly what she deserved. Victoria was foolish enough to believe she could bargain with us. You know better.”
I turned sharply, glaring at him, fighting the urge to lash out. “So now what?”
“Now,” Davenport said, leaning back leisurely in his chair, utterly unfazed by my anger, “we wait.”
“For Remi?” I asked, still irritated. “What if she suspects something? If she realizes Victoria’s dead—”
“Then she’ll be more motivated than ever to uncover the truth,” Davenport cut in smoothly. “But she won’t suspect. Not yet. She’s blinded by sentiment and grief. She wants answers. She wants closure. We’ll use that.”
I exhaled slowly, anger still simmering but forced back beneath the surface. “And Cedric? You still haven’t told me who he really is.”
Davenport smiled faintly, a cold, humorless curve of his lips. “Cedric De Luca was never a simple man to track down. He buried himself deeper than any of us anticipated. I had to burn through countless favors, uncovering connections and records long forgotten.”
“And?” I pressed impatiently. “Who is he?”
“He’s everything Victoria and her pathetic family feared,” Davenport said, leaning forward with a grim intensity. “Cedric De Luca is the last remaining heir of a lineage even older and darker than the Vaughns. He isn’t just mafia. He’s royalty in the underworld, controlling an empire more ruthless than any of us imagined. The De Lucas make the Vaughns look like amateurs.”
A shiver crept down my spine. “And Remi is—”
“Their lost princess,” he finished, voice edged with mocking disdain. “Her real legacy isn’t a mere fortune or a title. It’s power. The kind that could topple families like ours. That’s why she was hidden. That’s why Victoria was paid to keep her ignorant.”
I sank slowly into my chair, absorbing this information. “You knew this from the beginning?”
“Not entirely,” Davenport admitted, fingers steepled thoughtfully. “I had suspicions. But Victoria’s information and Remi’s desperation made it clearer. Remi is exactly what we feared—a weapon in waiting.”
I glanced down at my trembling fingers, processing everything. “Then why send her to him? Why risk her discovering that legacy?”
Davenport smiled grimly. “Because it’s better she meets him now, on our terms, while we control the narrative. She’s walking into a trap she believes is a family reunion. By the time she realizes it’s not, it’ll be too late. Cedric won’t embrace her—he’ll destroy her.”
“You sound certain,” I murmured.
“I know men like Cedric,” Davenport said darkly. “Family is a threat to men like him. A vulnerability. He erased every trace of his past for a reason. Remi’s existence threatens his carefully controlled world. He’ll handle her before we have to.”
He stood slowly, walking toward the large window, gazing out into the stormy sky.
“So now we wait,” I echoed softly.
“Yes,” Davenport said. “We wait for her to go and come back. We wait for her to be broken by the truth. And when she returns, vulnerable and weakened, we strike.”
The room fell silent again, the rain still pattering insistently against the glass. My thoughts spiraled restlessly, still uneasy with Victoria’s sudden death, still wary of Davenport’s ruthless approach.
But I knew he was right. Remi Laurent had been nothing but trouble from the start—unwittingly dangerous, stubbornly resilient, and far too close to Rowan. If sending her directly to her destruction was the quickest way to eliminate the threat, then so be it.
“You’re sure Cedric won’t try to protect her?” I asked quietly, breaking the silence again.
“Men like Cedric don’t protect anyone,” Davenport said with absolute certainty. “Especially not daughters they never wanted.”
I nodded slowly, feeling colder despite the room’s warmth. “Fine. Then we let it play out.”
He turned back toward me, eyes sharp. “We must be ready. Once she returns, once Cedric does what we expect him to do, the final pieces fall into place.”
“And Rowan?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “He won’t just stand by.”
Davenport’s smile was coldly amused. “Rowan Vaughn will be too distracted picking up the pieces of his broken wife to see us coming.”
I exhaled slowly, steadying myself. The game had changed. The stakes were higher than ever, and now there was no turning back.
“Then we wait,” I repeated softly.
“Yes,” Davenport
said calmly, eyes fixed firmly on the window as thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. “Now we wait.”
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