Chapter 24
Emily Windsor's POV
These past few days, I'd locked myself in my office, attempting to numb my mind with work, but the mountain of gifts piling up served as constant reminders of the tangled relationship between Luke and me that I couldn't sever.
After the gallery incident, he seemed utterly convinced I couldn't leave. His pursuit had become even more direct.
He'd stopped sending jewelry that screamed wealth and possession, replacing them with something far more... personal.
Yesterday, for instance, a complete set of top-tier skydiving equipment, accompanied by an open-ended plane ticket and reservation card for Dubai's Palm Jumeirah, one of the world's most spectacular jump sites.
This morning brought a lifetime VIP pass to New Zealand's Queenstown Canyon Swing, thoughtfully paired with a beginner's guide to extreme sports.
These gifts struck deeper than any diamond ever could.
During all those years with Jacob, I'd mentioned countless times my desire to try these adrenaline-pumping activities—to see the view from a cliff's edge, to feel the freedom of breaking gravity's hold. Each time, he'd dismissed my dreams with casual excuses that made them seem trivial.
Eventually, I'd buried these longings so deep I'd almost forgotten that side of myself—the one that craved freedom and thrill.
Yet Luke, this man I'd known for mere months, seemed to see straight through my rule-abiding exterior to the restless heart beneath.
He wasn't sending me gifts. He was returning suppressed desires, offering glimpses of who I could have been.
I traced my fingers across the bungee jumping experience voucher, emotions churning.
Finally, I picked up my phone and texted Luke: [Thank you for the gifts. I love them.]
The message barely sent before the door to the adjacent office swung open.
Luke walked in wearing a deep blue dress shirt, sleeves casually rolled to his forearms, revealing toned muscle and masculine lines. The look softened his usual cold edge, lending him an almost domestic air.
He leaned against my desk, gaze falling on the scattered vouchers, lips curving into a barely perceptible smile. "I'm glad you like them."
"How..." I hesitated, then voiced the question burning in my mind. "How did you know I wanted these?"
"That extreme sports magazine on your bookshelf—the cover's practically falling apart from how often you've flipped through it." His casual observation laid bare my hidden secret.
Heat crept into my cheeks.
"About the paintings," I took a deep breath, steering us back to safer ground, "I'll repay you gradually. And these gifts, I'll also—"
"No need." He cut me off smoothly. "Consider it a bonus for your successful case closure."
I studied him, realizing perhaps I shouldn't focus solely on repayment.
Common courtesy dictated I should give him something in return.
But what could I possibly give a man who had everything?
As I puzzled over this, my phone screen lit up with a text from an unknown number.
[Emily, it's Julie. I need to see you. Meet me at that coffee shop we used to go to.]
Julie?
Since that cursing-filled phone call, she'd vanished like smoke.
Now that the storm had passed, what game was this fool playing?
Curiosity won. I had to see what she wanted.
So I went.
When I arrived at the coffee shop, Julie was already seated by the window.
In barely a month, she'd transformed into someone unrecognizable.
The woman who'd once appeared polished and pitiable before cameras now looked sallow-faced and hollow-eyed, wearing a pilled old sweater. Every inch of her screamed defeat and resentment ground into her by life.
Seeing me, jealousy and hatred flashed across her eyes before she forcibly suppressed them.
"You came." Her voice came out hoarse, hands twisting together anxiously.
I sat across from her without ordering anything, cutting straight to the point. "What do you want?"
"Emily, I know I was wrong." She looked at me, eyes suddenly reddening, voice breaking into a sob. "I'm apologizing for everything I did. The Johnsons threw me out penniless. Jacob abandoned me. I have nothing left."
Her performance was Oscar-worthy—tears flowing on cue. Perhaps once, I might have believed her.
Now, I found it laughable.
"So?" I watched her coldly, unmoved.
My composure seemed to crack something in her. The grief on her face froze momentarily, replaced by deeper malice. "So... I want to help you!"
"Help me?" The words almost made me laugh.
"Don't get smug, Emily!" She leaned forward, voice dropping to a sharp, venomous hiss. "You think latching onto Luke makes you untouchable? You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into! The Corleone family is going insane over that gallery situation. They're New York's most unhinged mad dogs—they won't let this go!"
I watched her calmly, understanding dawning. She was trying to scare me with Corleone threats.
"That's none of your concern." I took a sip of my iced water, completely unfazed.
"You—!" Julie bit her lip hard, seeing her tactic fail. Then she threw out her real purpose, teeth clenched. "Jacob despises you. He's been reaching out to someone recently—an Asian crime family, the Lowes. Word is they're the Victor family's sworn enemies! Emily, Jacob wants to team up with them. He's going to destroy you!"
The Lowe Family. That name sent a chill through me.
I'd encountered it in Victor family documents.
The Lowe Family was old-money power in New York, operating far more discreetly than the Italian mob. They clashed with the Victor family over numerous gray-area interests—one of the entrenched forces Luke was systematically dismantling.
And Jacob had found them.
"Why are you telling me this?" I studied Julie closely, knowing better than to believe in her sudden benevolence.
"Because I hate Jacob—and I hate you even more!" Her expression finally twisted completely, the mask dropping away. "I want to watch you tear each other apart! Jacob thinks the Lowe Family is his lifeline, but he has no idea how terrifying they really are. They'll swallow him whole, bones and all. And you, Emily—you think Luke will protect you forever? When those two families go to war, you'll be the first sacrifice!"
Her laughter came sharp and unhinged, drunk on vengeful pleasure.
So this was her endgame.
What she couldn't have, she'd watch burn to ashes.
The sheer stupidity of revealing this now—didn't she realize she'd just given me time to prepare?
I stared at her contorted face, finding only pity.
Standing, I looked down at her with cold dismissal. "Julie, you're pathetic."
I turned and walked away without another backward glance.
"Stop right there!" Julie's shrill voice chased after me, carrying the hysteria of someone thoroughly dismissed and disregarded.
I didn't break stride.