Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

So that meant the daughter was Dr. Glendaver. Douchebag and Early Botox Girl looked like a perfect match.

Yeah, it shouldn’t be too hard to intimidate her, Phantom decided, sitting back in her office chair.

“What are you doing here?”

The question brought his eyes up from the pictures of her loved ones. Dr. Olivia Glendaver’s voice was soft petals falling off a flower that could only grow in the lush southern heat. It sounded exactly like he’d figured it would, given her old money Kentucky background.

But the woman…

She stopped his heart.

Tall and ebony and beautiful beyond compare. She was the exact opposite of the blonde in the photo. Yet, he knew who she was in an instant. This, not Early Botox Girl, was Olivia Glendaver.

An ebony goddess statue disguised as a doctor in a white coat.

Adoptee, his brain told him, answering the question before he could ask it out loud. But that only brought up another question.

“Why?” He stood and picked up the photo of the white family. His brain had gone all fuzzy, and later he would think about the risk he’d taken in leaving fingerprints behind after he broke into her office. But at that moment, he had to know, “Why aren’t you in any of these photos?”

“Because I took them,” she answered with a careful tilt of her head. “Is this…is this about my family? Are you…?”

She didn’t finish the question, but she didn’t have to. Phantom knew what he looked like. Knew what anybody with half a brain would assume when they found a goon like him waiting in their office.

And usually, that assumption would be one hundred percent on lock. But in this case, he put down the photo and raised both hands to assure her, “No, I’m not here to hurt you. I…”

New problem. Words. He’d never had any trouble coming up with them before, but this woman—she made all his what to say next disappear. The mean-ass things that made a habit of hanging out on his tongue had scattered like cockroaches when she appeared.

And even if they hadn’t. He didn’t want to say all the usual shit to her. Didn’t want to threaten her or do that thing where he pretended he’d ever really lay a hand on a woman in order to inspire them to do what he said.

She already looked scared enough, and he suddenly had no desire to terrify her out of asking too many questions as he normally would.

What the hell was wrong with him?

He stuttered—actually stuttered when he answered, “I’m…I’m a friend of Dawn Kingston’s. She...she asked me to come up here to see you.”

Phantom had no idea where these words came from. They were the opposite of the truth, even though he prided himself on telling it like it is.

“A friend…” she repeated.

Her voice shook, and she eyed him distrustfully. Plus, her hand was in her expensive Hermes bag, probably poised to call 9-1-1 if he made any sudden moves. But she stayed put even though she was obviously scared.

And that made Phantom admire her all that much more, even as he lied, “Yeah, she told me you were worried about her decision not to go the doctor route and move to Rhode Island with her guy.”

He gave the doctor just enough details to sell the story. “And since I was coming into the city, I offered to stop by to let you know she’s all right.”

Dr. Glendaver considered his words. Then she considered him and asked, “So you and Dawn are together?”

Phantom let out a laugh, sharp and barking because hell no. Even if Dawn didn’t belong to his cousin, she was the opposite of his type.

Weird and girly—not to mention the daughter of the man who’d brought their old Red Diamond Triad down.

You’d have to pay him to sleep with Dawn, and even then, there probably wouldn’t be an amount big enough.

But this woman—he’d pay. He’d pay to be able to…

Stop staring, man. Be cool.

He made himself avert his eyes for a couple of beats. “No, we’re not together. She just got married to my cousin.”

“Oh, so this is a marriage thing.” She looked to the side. “In that case, I suppose I understand, even if I wish she’d made different choices. She was very bright. She would have made a good doctor.”

No, she wouldn’t have. Dawn was pretty much at the bottom of Phantom’s list for people he thought would make a good doctor. But he suspected Olivia Glendaver was one of those women who saw the best in everybody.

Case in point, she brought her hand out of her expensive purse as if the information he’d given her meant he could be trusted.

Which he absolutely could not.

He glanced toward the picture of the i-banker on her desk. He could practically see the silver spoon hanging out of that douchebag’s mouth.