Devil's Captive (Fallen Dynasty 1)

"Not so fast, Devlin," the voice went on. "You can't care about her all that much given what you had her do in front of her dad's coworkers. You must realize how humiliating that must have been for her."

"Don't question me," I ground out. "I know what the fuck I'm doing, and you don't get a say. Maybe if you weren't such a coward and you actually approached me with a reasonable offer."

It was a lie, but I was better out without people knowing just how much Violet meant to me. Otherwise, someone could use it against me – or her.

"Twenty million," the voice bit out. "And you give her to me."

"Twenty million?" I repeated. "A good offer. But no, thank you."

I could almost feel his simmering anger on the other side of the line, and I grinned to myself, knowing I was running the game.

"Now give me one good reason not to end this call right now," I said plainly.

"I can give you more than money," the voice cut in, an edge of desperation easy to notice even with the machine the guy was using to distort the sound. "I can give you the one thing your money can never buy."

"And what, pray tell, is that?" I asked easily. "What do I want so badly I'll give up my toy to get it?"

"You really need to ask?" the voice roared. "Your father, behind bars where he belongs. If you give me Violet Cabot, I will put your father in jail, with no way of getting out. He'll never cross you again. And as a bonus, I’ll get Hugo Cabot out."

My lips tightened as I contemplated the offer.

Of course, there was no way I was going to accept. I wanted Violet, and nothing would be good enough to convince me to get rid of her. Not even the promise I’d made to her myself.

"You seem to know a lot about me," I said thoughtfully. "But I fear you've overestimated the family rift here. As much as I want to beat my father, I don't want him behind bars."

"No?" the voice mocked. "Think of it, Devlin. The ultimate betrayal. Dominic would be stabbed in the back by the one person that means the most to him. Wouldn't that be a win in your book?"

"No," I replied simply. "It would be an utter betrayal. And I don't work like that. Now, if that's all, I have a pretty brunette waiting on her knees to me, and I'd like to give her the cock she so badly craves before she starts crying for it."

"You... I..." The voice was lost for words, and I grinned to myself knowing I'd beaten him at his own game. "You can't fuck her. For God's sake, don't do it!"

"She's my property," I said lazily. "So, I'll do whatever the fuck I want with her. Now, be a dear and fuck off. Don't call this number again."

I cut the call to a number of protests from the robotic voice and got up from my desk.

I walked out of the office, finding Jasper standing in front of the office looking worried.

"Is everything alright, Sir?" he asked. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but the weird voice, the call at such an odd hour... I thought you'd want to deal with it."

"You did the right thing," I said to him. "Now, I need you to trace the call. I need to find out who that was. I have a feeling they might make trouble for me in the future."

"Of course," Jasper nodded, and I walked him back to the office.

He worked on the phone, connecting it to a laptop and going through programs and numbers I didn't know shit about.

Finally, after a few minutes of this, he scratched the back of his head, giving me an apologetic look.

"Looks like it's untraceable, Sir," he said. "I tried everything."

"You sure?" I asked, rubbing my chin. "Keep fucking trying. I'm indisposed for the night now. Even if they call again, do not disturb me. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." Jasper was nodding, obviously wracking his brain for a solution to the problem at hand. "Is... is everything okay?"

"Yes," I replied firmly, not offering anything else for an explanation.

I walked out of there, leaving him to work on his own with my mind spinning.

The money robo-voice had offered was a lot, but not nearly enough. Nothing ever would be when it came to Violet.

I needed to get her dad out of prison, but I wasn't going to put my own father behind bars to get that done. I needed to outsmart the guy on the phone. I needed to be one step ahead in case he tried to meddle again.

I walked back into the playroom with every muscle in my body tense from the call. But once I entered the room, my body relaxed at the sight of Violet sleeping soundly in her cage.