Chapter 73

Osborne After ending the call with Hamilton, I let the phone slip from my fingers and land on the desk with a dull thud. The room felt heavier, the tension still humming in the air from the conversation. Across from me, Alex was staring, his eyes fixed on me like he was looking at a stranger. Fear flickered there, sharp and obvious. “Your eyes are going to come off if you keep staring like that,” I said dryly, breaking the silence with a joke. He swallowed and tried to smile, but his voice came out unsteady. “Well… if I said I wasn’t scared of you, then I’d be a liar. When did you become like this?” I leaned back in my chair, studying him. It’s better he knows me now, I thought. Better he understands the kind of man he’s working for. But even as I sat there, anger pulsed through me. That lunatic had gone too far. I had paid him to cripple Bella, nothing more. Maybe he thought that because I gave him money, we were suddenly allies, maybe even friends. But rape? That was never part