Chapter 68 Evidence
Anna's POV
He released my wrist and stepped back, running a hand through his hair. Some of the coldness cracked, revealing the raw pain underneath.
“I can’t stand it,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “Knowing he touched you. Knowing you let him. Last night… while I was lying awake thinking about you.”
My stomach twisted. “Lucas, please. This isn’t going to end well.”
He laughed bitterly, the sound echoing in the small room. “You still don’t get it, do you? I would burn this entire mansion down for you, Anna. Even if it means going against him.”
The intensity in his eyes made my skin crawl.
This was the Lucas Eve had warned me about — the silent snake moving in the shadows.
I took a cautious step back. “What are you planning to do?”
Lucas’s gaze locked onto mine, dark and unreadable. “That depends on you.”
“What happened to the loyal Lucas I met?” I asked, my voice echoing slightly in the cold basement room. “The one Xavier used to brag about?”
Lucas turned to me, his eyes burning with something dark and possessive. “This has nothing to do with loyalty. I met you first, Anna. I met you before Xavier even knew you existed. I’m the one who got you out of that prison cell.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my breathing steady. “Technically… I met Xavier before you. We didn’t talk, but I saw him first.”
Lucas let out a fake, bitter laugh that sent chills down my spine. “So you’re defending him now? Just one night’s fuck and you’re already on his side?”
“I’m just trying to avoid any clash between brothers,” I said carefully. “That kind of thing won’t look good to people outside the family.”
“So you care about the clan now too?” Lucas sneered, stepping closer. “You suddenly give a fuck who clashes with who?”
I lifted my chin, refusing to back down. “Lucas, stop acting like a woman. You’re being too dramatic.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
Lucas’s face twisted with rage. He swung his fist and punched the concrete wall hard. The loud crack made me flinch violently. He didn’t even wince from the pain.
“I’m being dramatic because I’m in love with you!” he shouted, breathing heavily.
I shook my head slowly. “You’re obsessed with me. I can see it, and I can understand it… but I don’t think you actually love me. You only love yourself.”
Lucas stared at me like I had slapped him. “So you’d rather be with Xavier than with me?”
“I didn’t say that,” I replied quickly. “I’d rather be with no one. I don’t want to be with Xavier either.”
He was quiet for a moment, then his expression changed into something colder, more calculated.
“Then I’ll help you escape from him. I’ll take you somewhere he can never find you. If I can’t have you… Xavier sure as hell shouldn’t have you either.”
My mind raced to my mission, the real reason I was here. I couldn’t tell him the truth about Serena or Zack. “I’m sorry, Lucas,” I said softly. “I can’t leave. At least… not now.”
Lucas nodded as if he had expected that answer. “I thought as much.”
He reached over and pressed a hidden button on the wall.
A section of the concrete slid open with a low mechanical hum, revealing another heavy door behind it. “Go in,” he ordered.
My eyes widened. “Are you going to lock me inside there?”
He didn’t answer. His voice turned ice-cold. “I said go in.”
I obeyed, my legs feeling heavy as I pushed the door open slowly.
The moment it cracked, the strong smell of marijuana hit me, followed by the unmistakable, expensive scent of Xavier’s cologne. I almost sighed in relief.
I stepped into a large, dimly lit hall. Xavier was seated at a round table with several dangerous-looking men — his capos.
They all turned to look at me as I entered.
Xavier narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze sharp and piercing, as though he had just discovered something about me that he didn’t like.
My stomach dropped. I hated that look.
But as I drew closer, his expression shifted. He smiled, that dangerous, charming smile, and said, “I called for you, Anna. Come.”
I hesitated for a second before walking slowly toward the table.
The other men watched me with varying expressions: some serious, some openly lustful, others completely unreadable.
“I’m sure you’ve all met my new wife,” Xavier announced smoothly. He motioned to the empty chair beside him. “Sit.”
I sat down without saying a word, keeping my posture straight even though my heart was hammering.
Lucas moved to the opposite side of the table, sitting directly across from us, his eyes never leaving mine.
Xavier leaned back slightly. “Anna, meet my capos.”
I forced a polite smile and nodded at them, but they didn’t return it. Most looked displeased, and the few who tried to hide it weren’t very good at it.
“I’m sure many of you don’t agree with the idea of bringing her here,” Xavier continued, then pointed at Lucas. “Lucas, am I making a mistake?”
Lucas forced a tight smile, glanced briefly at me, then looked back at Xavier. “You’re the boss. You can do whatever you want. But I think Anna can be trusted. She hasn’t given us any reason not to.”
“Or she’s just good at hiding her tracks,” another capo cut in sharply, his eyes glaring at me with open hostility.
Several others nodded in agreement. One of them spoke up. “You agreed none of us should marry outsiders, let alone allow them to get involved in the business.”
Xavier nodded calmly. “Yes, I remember. I made that rule for all of you. But Anna is no longer an outsider. She’s part of us now.”
“She hasn’t been proved,” another man argued. “She’s only been here a few months.”
A third capo snorted. “She has nothing to offer. She’s a nobody.”
Xavier smiled again, but I had seen that smile enough times to know there was no humor in it. It was cold. Lethal.
“Anna is my wife now,” he said, his voice dangerously soft. “So I’d advise you all to be very careful with what you say about her, especially in my presence.”
The room went deathly quiet. Some of the men stiffened visibly.
Then one of them suddenly leaned forward. “What if we have something against her? Something that proves she’s not who she claims to be?”
My heart started racing so fast I could barely breathe.
Xavier casually reached over and threaded his fingers through my hair, playing with it lightly as if we were having a normal conversation.
The touch was possessive, almost tender, but his next words sent ice through my veins.
“Bring it out,” he said calmly. “Let us see. If it’s true… then I’ll kill her myself. Right now.”
My heart skipped a hard beat. I felt the blood drain from my face as every eye in the room turned toward me.