CHAPTER 20: THE PRICE ON HER HEAD
There were moments that made the two coldest men in Blackhaven forget their war.
The moment someone touched Evelyn, even with words. The thin line between lust and protection, between ambition and possessiveness, was suddenly broken.
The penthouse door swung open, letting in a chilling gust of wind that carried not just the weather but also an ominous premonition. The subordinate, breathless, pale as a ghost, staggered in.
"Boss...!" he stammered, trying to suppress his panic. "A new bounty just appeared on Darkline... five million dollars... to capture Evelyn Sinclair alive!"
The air in the room immediately froze, silent to the point of suffocation. From the electric sparks in their eyes to the furious throbbing of hot heads, everything became still instantly.
Diego was the first to react.
Quick as lightning, he instinctively pulled Evelyn behind him, a strong, decisive tug, like a predator protecting what belonged to him. But Viktor simultaneously reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her close to his chest, like a beast fighting over its prey.
The two opposing forces made Evelyn halt in mid-air, feeling as if her body was about to be torn in half.
"Let go!" Viktor growled, his eyes blazing as he stared at Diego.
"You let go first!" Diego roared back, his tone no less threatening.
Evelyn was caught between two male forces shifting from lust to killer instinct in less than a second. A horrifying, dark transformation.
The subordinate retreated towards the door, trembling, feeling as if he had just poked a giant hornet's nest.
---
Diego stepped forward, his face darkening like a storm that had just opened its eyes, every line on his handsome face now etched with brutality and danger.
"Who dared put a bounty on her?" His voice was hoarse, carrying a terrifying coldness.
The subordinate swallowed hard, his throat dry, trying to remain calm in the face of this extreme rage.
"Un... unknown identity. Only know that the account belongs to the deep layers of Haze District. The money has already been locked in escrow... meaning..."
"They're serious," Viktor finished the sentence, his voice low like a gun being cocked, as if contemplating a cruel plan.
Evelyn felt Viktor's chest heaving, not from rapid breathing, but from suppressing an absolute rage, a rage that could burn down an entire city. Diego leaned his hand against the wall beside her, trapping half her body between him and the cold wall, a possessive act.
"Listen carefully," he said softly, each word sharp as a dagger. "From now on, you are not to move alone. Not a single second outside our control."
"I'm not a prisoner," Evelyn replied, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible, but inside her, a fierce storm was brewing.
Diego bent down close to her face, his eyes locked on hers, full of authority.
"No." His voice deepened, echoing in the silent space. "You are Blackhaven's most valuable target right now. And our only weakness."
Viktor stepped right beside her, his hand on her hip, a gesture not gentle, but one of asserting ownership, an unspoken declaration.
"Not injured. Or touched by anyone." He looked straight into her eyes, his gaze sharp enough to freeze her in place.
"Do you understand? Anyone, even a strand of hair, will pay the price."
Evelyn swallowed slowly. The temperature between the two men had just risen in a completely different way, not the fire of desire burning skin, but the fire of murder.
---
Diego turned to his subordinate, his gaze sweeping over him like a sharp blade.
"How far has this news spread? How many people know?"
"Throughout the underworld, boss. At least four groups have taken the mission. They are all the most notorious bounty hunters."
"Four groups?" Viktor repeated, his eyes darkening, pupils contracting like a predator's.
"Hmph. They truly wish to die. They want to know what hell on earth feels like."
Evelyn stood between the two men who were preparing to kill an entire city just because of a single message on the dark web. She took a deep breath, trying to regain some final composure.
"I can protect myself."
Before she could finish the sentence, Viktor turned, moved closer to her, his voice deepening to the point her stomach clenched, like an unshakeable threat.
"From tonight... you won't sleep alone. You won't move alone or breathe alone. Every moment of yours will be under our supervision."
Diego stood right behind her, his hot breath on her back, forming an inescapable vice.
"And you won't leave our sight. Not even for a second."
"You two are overreacting..." she gasped, feeling her chest tighten.
Viktor bent the armrest of the steel chair beside him - crack! Metal bent like paper in his hands, his extraordinary strength evident in his furious action.
"That's not overreacting." He spoke slowly, each word piercing the air. "That's a warning. To anyone who wants to touch you. A bloody warning."
Diego placed a hand on the back of her neck, gently pulling her hair back, not roughly, but clearly possessively, as if branding her as his own.
"Muñeca... if they get you for just one minute, you won't be on this earth in the way we want you to be anymore. You'll become a commodity, a tool, and that is unacceptable."
She shivered. But not out of fear of the invisible enemies out there. But because of the way these two men were looking at her, as if she was their only weakness, the only crack in their impregnable fortress wall.
Viktor didn't hesitate, giving orders in a cold, decisive voice.
"Lock down the entire building. No one is to enter or leave. Set the alarm system to the highest level. Any suspicious movement must be reported immediately."
The subordinate hurried away, obeying the command without a moment's hesitation. Diego waited for the door to close, creating a sealed, inescapable space, then turned and pulled Evelyn into the center of the room, facing him.
"Do you know what this means?"
She shook her head slightly, her eyes confused, trying to read the deep thoughts in his dark eyes.
His smile was no longer mischievous; instead, it was cruel and determined.
"It means... someone wants to use her to threaten us... or someone wants to kill us by getting her back. Both scenarios lead to a war."
Viktor stood beside her, his voice sharp as a freshly honed blade.
"Anyone who touches her... will face a new war. A war without end."
Diego gently squeezed her waist, pulling her close to his chest, like an undeniable declaration of ownership.
"Not a North-South war like we've always faced. But a war... between me and you. Whoever touches her first, that person will face the wrath of the other."
Viktor grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from Diego's embrace, his eyes threatening as if he wanted to tear him apart.
"No. Not between us." He looked straight into Diego's eyes, his gaze fiery.
"...because I will kill anyone who comes near her before we even get a chance to fight. And I won't let anyone have the chance to touch her, not even a finger."
Evelyn gasped, her heart pounding like a drum.
"Stop it... both of you!!!!"
Diego placed a finger on her lips, silencing her, his eyes full of obsession.
"No stopping. Because there's no turning back."
Viktor whispered right behind her ear, his hot breath caressing her nape.
"Not from now on. Everything has begun."
The two men's faces pressed close to her on both sides—the heat, the breath, everything tightened around her again just like in chapters 17, 18, but this time even more intensely.
It was no longer just deadly seduction, but a terrifying blend of lust and protective instinct.
They wanted her out of physical desire, and they wanted to keep her from being killed, from being harmed. Their two most primitive instincts combined into the most dangerous thingabsolute possession, leaving no gaps.
Evelyn tried to pull away from them, feeling as if she was being suffocated.
"I... need time to think. Need a little space."
Diego held her hand, his eyes locked on hers.
"No more time. A decision must be made immediately. Your life is being threatened."
Viktor leaned down, his voice deep like a gunshot echoing in the silent night.
"Evelyn... tonight you will sleep between us. For absolute safety."
She widened her eyes, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"What? Are you two joking?"
Diego shrugged, his eyes dark but full of hidden meaning.
"For safety. Not for anything else." He leaned close to her lips, whispering. "Just... safety. Trust us."
Viktor placed a hand on her back, pulling her back between their two bodies, a tight and inescapable embrace.
She breathed heavily, feeling as if she was trapped in a living nightmare.
"You two... are crazy. Completely crazy."
Diego chuckled softly near her neck, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.
"Men only go crazy for two reasons... power and women. And you are both. You are power, and you are a woman."
Viktor moved closer, his voice enchanting.
"And you are the reason we would destroy this entire world."
From the penthouse window, a red laser beam suddenly appeared, sweeping across the dining table where the tense struggle had just taken place, then stopping directly on Evelyn's chest, precisely over her heart. A sign that couldn't be clearer.
A sniper was aiming directly at her. And the real war, had just officially begun.