Page 4

“Leave him be.”

Evan’s eyebrows twitched. Of coursehewas here too.

Bruce quickly straightened, and the men parted robotically to make way for their boss standing at the threshold of the house. The owner of Phantom Finance Corporation, Tiago Diaz.

A pair of cold eyes settled on Evan before snapping to the rest. “Out.”

The men scurried to follow his order, and Evan almost rolled his eyes.

Pathetic little pricks. It was amusing how meek they turned in front of their boss, tails tucked between bucked knees, while the said boss ignored their existence.

Those cold eyes crinkled with a smile as they came back to Evan. “Good morning, Evan.”

What exactly was “good” about this morning?

Evan straightened to his feet, still feeling the burn on his busted lips and aching abdomen as Tiago strolled inside, straightening the sleeve of his custom-tailored suit that hugged his tall, buff frame. A strand of ginger hair fell onto his forehead, the rest of it slicked back perfectly. Everything about him screamed “untouchable."

Fucking awesome. Evan had no intention of touching him.

With an unbreachable calm, Tiago took hold of Evan’s chin, inspecting the cut on his lower lip while Evan tried not to yankhis face away. The calluses on Tiago’s fingertips scratched the base of Evan’s chin, something he found borderline repulsive.

Or maybe it was just Tiago as a whole that was repulsive.

Beneath that unruffled facade and inquisitive eyes lurked a perverse wolf, waiting to pounce the moment Evan lowered his guard. As he neared, Evan held his breath, the scent of expensive cologne assaulting his sensitive nose.

“Why do you provoke my men when you know you can’t handle the consequences?” Tiago murmured with an undercurrent of amusement.

Of course he found it funny. For years, Evan had been a source of continuous entertainment to him.

The only thing Evan’s father had left behind before disappearing one day was a ridiculous amount of debt with more digits than Evan could count. Throughout his teenage years, Evan struggled to pay back the debt, working three—sometimes four—part-time jobs.

Yet, all Tiago had ever bestowed upon him was his sincere interest to get into Evan’s pants.

“I don’t have enough for this month’s due,” Evan said, shifting his face away from Tiago’s touch as innocently as he could. “There haven’t been many clients.”

Tiago’s gaze wandered around the living room. “You still in that shaman business?”

Evan quietly gritted his teeth. “Next month, I will pay—”

“How is Celie doing?”

Upon the mention of his sister, Evan’s eyelids fluttered up.

“What?”

Tiago, in all his expensive-suited glory, took a seat on the rundown wooden chair. “I heard she’s working hard in school. First in her class, excelling in extracurriculars and all. Kind of reminds me of you when we first met. Hard-working and resilient.”

What he meant was stubborn and inflexible.

Evan’s thumbnail scraped the inside of his fingers, grinding down the urge to ask him more.Resistingthat urge. Fuck, did he have to dig information about his own sister from another man?

Ever since her middle school years, Celie had started drifting away from Evan, building a wall between them that Evan couldn’t by any means penetrate. Perhaps it was because of their father disappearing on them, or the communication lag that comes with a ten-year age gap between siblings. So, he tried to be there for her. But for every step Evan took forward, Celie took two back.

Eventually, Evan stopped trying to force her to talk to him.

But Tiago, with the excuse of being their father’sold friend, managed to get Celie to mingle with him. As much as Evan hated his presence anywhere near her, he couldn’t help but notice the way Celie looked at Tiago, like she could see their father in him. That sparkle in her eyes, Evan couldn’t bring himself to take that away from her.

“You’re trying too hard,” Tiago stood up, walking back to Evan with a smile full of feigned kindness. “How many years has it been, hm? You wasted your prime years working yourself to the bone, trying to make a good life for your sister, paying off your father’s debt,” his hand came up to rest on Evan’s shoulder. “What aboutyou? Isn’t it time you lived for yourself?”