Chapter 26: Simon Showed Up

POV: EVE

Monday morning came too soon.

Eve sat at her desk at Phoenix Talent Agency, trying to focus on the contract in front of her, but her mind kept drifting back to the weekend.

To the warehouse.

To Dimitri breaking a man without flinching.

To the eleven-inch dildo stretching her beyond her limits.

To the two inches of his cock he’d given her before pulling away.

She shifted in her chair, her body still tender, still aching, still desperately wanting what he refused to give her.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Dimitri.

DIMITRI: How’s my good girl today?

Despite everything, despite the violence and the denial and the absolute insanity of her situation, she smiled.

EVE: Sore. Frustrated. Thinking about you.

DIMITRI: Good. I want you thinking about me. Wanting me. Aching for me. Marco’s outside. You’re safe.

EVE: I know.

DIMITRI: I’ll pick you up at six. Wear the red dress I left in your closet. And the black lace underneath. Nothing else.

EVE: Yes, sir.

She sent it before she could think too hard about how easily the submission came now. How naturally she obeyed his commands. How completely he owned her.

A knock on her office door pulled her attention.

"Come in."

Melissa poked her head in. "Ms. Thorne, you have a visitor."

Eve frowned. "I don’t have any appointments scheduled."

"I know, but he’s insisting. Says it’s urgent." Melissa’s face showed concern. "It’s your... um... your husband."

Eve’s blood turned cold. "Ex-husband. We’re divorced."

"Right. Sorry. Should I tell him you’re busy?"

Every instinct screamed yes. Tell him to leave. Call Marco. Call Dimitri.

But some part of her....the part that still remembered being married to Simon, that still felt guilty for how everything had ended....made her pause.

"It’s fine," she heard herself say. "Send him in. But leave the door open."

"Are you sure? He seems..." Melissa trailed off, but the implication was clear.

Unstable. Drunk. Dangerous.

"I’m sure. It’ll be quick."

Melissa nodded reluctantly and disappeared.

Thirty seconds later, Simon walked through her door.

Eve barely recognized him.

He looked like he’d aged ten years in two weeks. His hair was greasy, his face unshaven, his suit wrinkled like he’d slept in it. But it was his eyes that made her stomach turn.

Wild. Desperate. Unhinged.

"Eve." His voice cracked on her name. "Thank God. I need to talk to you."

"Simon, we have nothing to talk about. The divorce is final. My lawyer...."

"Fuck the divorce!" He slammed the door shut despite her instruction to leave it open.

Eve’s hand moved to her phone, but she didn’t pick it up yet. "Simon, you need to leave."

"No. Not until you listen to me." He moved closer, and she stood, putting her desk between them. "This is insane, Eve. You’re throwing away three years of marriage for what? Some fling with Dimitri Valentino?"

"It’s not a fling."

"Then what is it? You think he cares about you? You think he’s going to marry you? Give you the life you want?" Simon laughed, bitter and cruel. "He’s using you. Men like him don’t settle down with girls like you. They fuck you and throw you away."

Each word was meant to wound. And a month ago, they might have.

But Eve had spent two weeks being owned by Dimitri Valentino. Had watched him torture a man. Had felt his control and his possession and his absolute certainty that she was his.

She knew the truth. Simon was wrong.

"You need to leave," she said, her voice steady despite the fear starting to curl in her stomach. "Now. Or I’m calling security."

"Security?" He laughed again. "Your bodyguard outside? The big scary man in the black suit? You think he scares me?"

"He should."

"I’m not afraid of Dimitri’s attack dogs. I’m not afraid of him. And you shouldn’t be either." Simon rounded the desk, backing her toward the window. "He’s dangerous, Eve. He’s killed people. He runs the fucking mafia in this city. Is that really what you want?"

"Yes."

The word came out before she could stop it. Simple. Honest. True.

"What?" Simon looked genuinely shocked.

"I said yes. That’s exactly what I want." She lifted her chin, met his eyes. "I want a man who’s powerful enough to protect me. Who’s strong enough to control me. Who looks at me like I’m his entire world instead of an inconvenience he has to schedule time for."

"I looked at you..."

"You looked at me like a trophy. Like something to display at parties and ignore at home. Dimitri looks at me like he’d burn this city down before letting someone hurt me. There’s a difference."

Simon’s face twisted with rage. "You stupid bitch. You have no idea what you’re talking about. You think you’re special? You think you’re the first woman he’s fucked? You’re nothing. You’re just his current toy. And when he’s done playing with you, he’ll throw you away like garbage."

"Get out."

"No." He grabbed her wrist, yanked her toward him. "You’re coming with me. We’re going to talk. We’re going to fix this. We’re going to..."

"Let. Go."

"I’m not letting you ruin your life over some criminal..."

Eve brought her knee up, hard and fast, right between his legs.

Dimitri had taught her that. Taught her how to defend herself. How to fight.

Simon dropped with a choked gasp, releasing her wrist.

She ran for the door, yanked it open.

And Marco was there.

He must have heard the commotion. Must have been waiting. His massive frame filled the doorway, his face carved from stone, his eyes cold.

"Ms. Thorne," he said calmly. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine. He grabbed me. I want him out of my building."

Marco nodded once, then stepped into the office.

Simon was still on his knees, gasping for breath. He looked up at Marco and whatever he saw there made him go pale.

"Come with me, Mr. Ward," Marco said. Not a request. A command.

"Fuck you. I’m not going anywhere..."

Marco moved so fast Eve barely saw it. One moment Simon was on his knees. The next, Marco had him by the throat, lifting him off the ground like he weighed nothing.

"You have two options," Marco said, his voice deadly calm. "You walk out of this building on your own two feet and never come back. Or I drag you out and make sure you never walk anywhere again. Choose."

Simon’s face was turning purple. He clawed at Marco’s hand, but it was like trying to move steel.

"Marco," Eve said quietly. "Let him down. Please."

Marco looked at her, and something in her expression must have convinced him. He dropped Simon, who collapsed to the floor coughing and gasping.

"I’m calling the boss," Marco said, pulling out his phone.

"No...." Eve started.

But it was too late. Marco had already hit dial.

Three rings, then: "Marco. What’s wrong?"

Dimitri’s voice came through the speaker, sharp and alert.

"Simon Ward is at Ms. Thorne’s office. He grabbed her. She defended herself, but he’s unstable. Requesting instructions."

Silence on the other end. The kind of silence that made Eve’s blood run cold.

Then, in a voice that could freeze hell: "Keep him there. I’m on my way. If he tries to leave, break his legs."

The line went dead.

Marco pocketed his phone, then looked at Simon with something that might have been pity.

"You should have left when you had the chance," he said.