Page 239 of When We Fall: Part Two

With shaking hands, Vander Veer opened the envelope and stared down at the photos.

He paled as he realized we knew precisely what he’d done.

“I-I can explain. It-It’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Truly? I’m listening,” Enzo said easily. “Tell me why you’re seen with Everett Church and Ivanov in these photos.”

“I-I was simply entertaining their weapons request.”

“Sure. I believe that. But what about this?” Enzo looked to me.

I pulled a recorder from my jacket and pressed play. Vander Veer’s voice sounded out.

“I want my daughter married to Ethan Masters. She loves him.”

“Let’s negotiate,” Everett said, laughing at the request.

“Whatever you want. However much money you want,” Vander Veer’s voice sounded out. “She wants him. Break him. Make him give her the baby she wants. The wedding she desires.”

“There’s a problem with that. I want Luca Stepanov. The sugar daddy,” Everett said darkly. “I was granted a week of collecting, but it has to be worth it. Give me the sugar daddy, and I’ll give you a wedding to a stronger man. Lorenzo De Luca. You know how powerful he is becoming.”

Vander Veer was quiet. “Deal.”

“Perfect. Sergio, what do you require?” Everett asked.

“Fox Evans. Dead. Rosalie Bishop is my dead sister’s daughter. I want him dead. I want her to suffer. Then… I’ll collect her myself.”

“T-That seems such a travesty. Fox is a shining star on the football field and of no consequence?—”

“It will be easier to break the horsemen if we have Fox Evans. I’ve watched them for a very long time,” Everett said. “Since before Carmine De Santis asked me to have Amy Evans taken care of. Granted, I used a piece of shit drunken novice to do it, but the job was handled, regardless.” Everett paused. “Fox is fucking my dearly departed wife’s daughter’s toy. She isn’t allowed happiness, so I think Fox is a reasonable request. He is connected to Sergio as well. It makes sense. Plus, he is a De Santis heir. The true heir. Trust me when I say you do not want that cockroach coming back to life.”

“I-I see.” Vander Veer paused. “You killed Sergio’s sister, though.”

“She was a whore who didn’t know better,” Sergio replied without any emotion in his voice. “She was promised to Everett and decided to get knocked up by some low-life piece of trash.”

“So I-I give up the sugar daddy, and Celeste will get the leader? She’ll get Lorenzo?” Vander Veer asked.

“Yes. And we get Fox Evans,” Everett said. “He will help me break your sugar daddy in. It’ll be fun for me. I’ll even throw in your pick of one woman in the underground—any one of them you want. Yours to do with what you will in exchange for what I’ve asked… plus a million in cash. You give me the million, of course.”

“How can you guarantee Lorenzo will agree to a marriage?”

“Because he will. It’s been seen,” Everett said, his voice soft.

“The weird boy with the blue eyes?”

“That’s the one. He’s never wrong.”

“He is a De Santis. You hate the De Santis family,” Vander Veer said.

“Not all of them. This one is my sweet, special boy, and he loves me like I’m his own daddy. He is loyal to me and does my bidding, moving the pieces around the board for me. He is very good at what he does.”

The recording was quiet for a minute before Vander Veer spoke. “Deal. I-I agree.”

“Excellent, let’s go over the details,” Everett said with a wicked laugh.

I clicked off the recording. Vander Veer was visibly sweating.

“We don’t need to play the rest,” Enzo said. “You know what you did.”