I failed my mother and sister, Returned as a Billionaire

CHAPTER 12

Olivia stepped up beside him, her face twisted with anger and desperation. "Don't think a little street fighting makes you untouchable, Kevin. This isn't some back alley. This is the Meridian Club. These are powerful people. You're just a piece of dirt that crawled out of a cell this morning. You don't get to walk in here and act like you matter."

Kevin didn't stop.

His eyes locked onto Damon's hand around Lily's throat, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees all at once.

Damon tightened his grip. "I'm serious, man. I'll kill her. I'll..."

Kevin moved.

One moment he was five feet away. The next he was standing directly beside Damon with Lily pulled safely into his arms and Damon flying backward through the air like he had been hit by a truck. Damon's body slammed into the far wall so hard the plaster cracked, and he crumpled to the floor in a heap, coughing blood onto the marble.

Kevin set Lily down gently against the side of the overturned cage, his hands careful on her shoulders, and then he turned and started walking toward Damon with steps so slow and deliberate that every person in that room could feel the killing intent radiating off him like heat from a furnace.

Damon looked up at him coming closer and his face went white.

"Wait." His voice cracked. "Wait, please, I didn't..."

Olivia grabbed Blake's arm. "Do something. Stop him. He's going to kill Damon."

Blake opened his mouth.

And someone near the door shouted.

"Miss Ashford's motorcade just pulled up outside!"

The entire room went still.

Olivia's face lit up like someone had just told her Christmas came early. She let go of Blake and grabbed Damon by the collar, hauling him halfway to his feet.

"You hear that, Kevin?" She was grinning now, wide and vicious. "Vivienne Ashford. The CEO of Harvard Company. She's here. Right now. And when she walks through that door, you are finished. You think you can fight her security? You think you can touch one hair on Damon's head with her watching?"

Damon coughed blood onto his own shirt and tried to smile through split lips. "You're done, man. You're so done."

Blake looked confused for a moment, his brow furrowing. Vivienne Ashford had never mentioned attending tonight's banquet personally. He had assumed she would stay at headquarters and let him handle the final partnership selections on his own.

But then understanding dawned on his face.

Of course.

She must have heard he was in trouble. She must have come to support him. After all, he was one of Harvard Company's senior executives, one of her most trusted investment directors. Naturally she would back him up if some ex-convict trash tried to disrupt his event.

Blake straightened his tie and his confidence came flooding back all at once. He looked at Kevin with a cold smile.

"Kneel down." His voice was sharp and commanding. "Right now. Kneel down and slap yourself across the face ten times. Hard enough that I can hear it from here. If you do that, maybe I'll let you walk out of here with just a few broken bones."

Kevin said nothing.

"Or don't." Blake's smile widened. "Either way, I'm going to have my men cripple both you and your blind little sister. And then, after you're lying on the floor bleeding, I'm going to let every man in this room take a turn with her. One after another. All night long. Until there's nothing left."

Kevin's eyes went so cold that the air around him seemed to crystallize.

Outside, heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway, synchronized and getting closer.

Olivia and Damon were practically vibrating with anticipation, waiting for Vivienne's people to storm in and destroy Kevin where he stood.

Blake was smiling.

The doors opened.

Vivienne Ashford walked into the room.

The entire hall sucked in a collective breath.

She was breathtaking. Not in the way magazine covers are breathtaking, but in the way a lightning strike is breathtaking, beautiful and dangerous and impossible to look away from. Her suit was cut so perfectly it looked like it had been painted onto her body. Her heels clicked against the marble with the rhythm of a countdown. Her face held no expression at all, and somehow that made her even more terrifying.

Olivia stared at her and felt something inside her chest shrivel up and die. She had thought she was beautiful. She had thought she was powerful. But standing in the same room as Vivienne Ashford made her feel like a child playing dress-up in her mother's closet.

Damon was staring at Vivienne like a man stares at the sun, captivated and blinded and unable to stop even though it hurt.

Blake hurried forward, lowering his head in respect. "Miss Ashford. Thank god you're here. This man broke into the banquet and attacked my security team. He's been threatening the guests and..."

"He assaulted Damon." Olivia rushed forward too, her voice high and desperate. "He kicked him into a wall. He's completely out of control. He's dangerous. He needs to be arrested immediately before someone gets seriously hurt."

Damon crawled forward on his hands and knees, blood dripping from his mouth. "Please, Miss Ashford. He's insane. He..."

Vivienne's eyes moved across the room.

She saw the shattered doors. The unconscious bodyguards. The overturned cage. The blood on the floor.

And then she saw Kevin standing in the center of it all with his sister pulled close against his chest, her face buried in his shoulder, his hand stroking her hair.

Her expression didn't change.

But something behind her eyes clicked into place.

Olivia was still talking, her voice getting louder, more frantic. "This ex-convict has no right to be here. He has no right to touch anyone. He needs to be..."

SLAP.

Vivienne's hand moved so fast it was almost invisible.

The sound of her palm connecting with Olivia's cheek echoed through the hall like a whip crack. Olivia's head snapped to the side. She stumbled backward, her hand flying to her face, her eyes wide with shock.

No one moved!

PIN DROP SILENCE!

No one even dared to breathe.

“Did I allow you to speak in front of me? And who the hell allowed mad bitches here?” Vivenne said with irritation. 

Then, she took out a tissue, and rubbed her hands on it, and threw it on Vivienne's face. 

She turned away from Olivia like she had just swatted a fly and walked directly toward Kevin. Her heels clicked across the floor. Her eyes never left his face. And when she reached him, she slipped her arm through his, her fingers curling gently around his bicep, and leaned into him with a softness that made everyone in the room forget how to think.

"Sorry I'm late, darling." Her voice was warm honey poured over silk. "I hope you didn't have to wait too long for me."

Slowly, she pecked a kiss on his cheek.