Chapter 154

Layla

“Agent Carter?”

I didn’t know whether or not to be relieved or

My eyes went wide with surprise before narrowing with deep suspicion. What the hell was he doing here?

The whole time, I’d seriously believed that it was Vanessa or someone else from the Rossetti family, trying to hunt me down for what I had tried to do. I could obviously see why they would have wanted to try.

But this situation was far more puzzling. Why on earth would Agent Carter travel all the way out here?

It didn’t take long for that unsettling feeling to return. I didn't like the smile that slowly curved the edge of his mouth.

“Layla.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” I questioned harshly.

He tried to move closer which immediately set off an alarm in the back of my mind. Something was clearly wrong. His voice was eerily calm. Too calm.

“I wanted to talk to you again now that you aren’t under the heavy weight of the Marcellos,” he said.

My eyebrows pulled together. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He took another step forward, causing me to slowly inch back. “I could tell that the real reason you weren’t willing to talk to me before was because you were afraid of someone finding out,” he said.

There was no way that I had spent the entire day on edge, feeling stalked like an animal for this man to confront me about my testimony from a week and a half ago!

“Are you serious?” I hissed. “No, Agent Carter. I didn’t talk to you because I was scared—I kept my silence because I refused to speak to someone who is actively working to destroy my family and my life.”

I glared at him in seething anger. Eva and Stasia kept their stance a few feet behind me.

“Keep in mind that he’s already done that to your career,” Eva muttered.

Thank you, Eva. As if I needed a reminder.

When he first got out of his own car, Agent Carter turned to glance at the twins. He was trying to evaluate them the same way that Ethan had back at the house.

“You’re not part of the Marcello family,” he noted. “Who are you?”

“Oh, you mean you don’t actually know?” Eva asked, mockingly. “That’s surprising given your...skills.”

I was tempted to turn around and ask what she meant by that. Carter looked slightly taken aback by Eva’s tone. He went stiff and even paled from her words.

Why? What exactly did they know about Agent Carter that we didn’t?

“So, what? Did Aldo Marcello hire you to watch over Layla? Is that it?” he inquired bitterly.

The twins scoffed.

“As if,” Eva sneered.

“None of your concern, Agent Daniel Carter,” Stasia slithered. “You don’t know us, but I can guarantee that we know a hell of a lot about you.”

This time, Carter was the one who scoffed. He raised a single brow and smirked. “What could you possibly know about me?”

“Oh, we know enough.”

“Your full name is Daniel Evan Carter—son of Jonathan and Lisa Carter. You were born and raised in New York where you decided to follow in your family’s long legacy of police work. You climbed the ladder and rose up to be a federal agent having worked as a regular police officer for the last several years,” Stasia said.

“Why don’t we dig a little deeper, huh?” Eva asked playfully. “Your blood type is AB-negative. You’ve never been married but there have been a few relationships in the past that were just used as fillers for what you’ve really wanted. You’ve put away over a dozen criminals in the last eight years all due to your persistence and lack of empathy. Many consider that impressive; however, you don’t really care about that, do you? None of your accomplishments in your career hold much value to you.”

“Don’t leave out his manipulative tendencies,” Stasia added.

“Oh, how could I forget,” Eva giggled.

Carter was growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute. It was like Eva and Stasia had placed him under a magnifying glass and were slowly prying pieces of him apart.

“That’s complete bullshit,” he denied.

“Is it?” they asked together.

“You manipulated Layla into getting her to speak out against her own family by hanging her own career over her head...”

“...And when she wouldn’t talk, you revoked her license.”

Carter’s resolve was cracking under the pressure. I noticed the ways he kept clenching his hands into fists at his sides. The corners of his eyes kept twitching while fighting back a sneer.

“Layla broke the law,” he stated tightly.

“True. But that wasn’t the reason why you tore up her medical license. Was it?” Eva questioned. “See, the truth is that you don’t really care about the law, Agent Carter. You view the law as something that can be bent and reshaped however you wish to use it.”

“We’ve come across many people like you before,” Stasia said.

“Like what?” he snarled.

“Sociopaths,” they answered.

My heart dropped into my chest.

“But you really want to know what truly gave it all away, Agent Carter?” Stasia asked. I didn’t need to turn my head in order to know that the two of them were both wearing that devious expression on their faces.

“It was that insane collection of photos you have stashed away in your apartment,” Eva said.

Wait, what? Pictures? What pictures?

Why the hell does it feel like I was missing a huge piece of the puzzle here?

Agent Carter was on the verge of snapping. The whites of his eyes grew as he gaped in shock at Eva’s unexpected admission.

His mouth twisted into a nasty scowl. “You broke into my apartment?! You know I could have you arrested for that?”

“You’re a bit beyond your jurisdiction there, Agent,” Staisa hissed.

“Plus, even if you ever did manage to bring the two of us in, you’re the one who’s going to have a hell of a time explaining to the authorities why you happen to be in the possession of several hundred photographs of Layla Marcello.”

Every muscle in my body went stiff. “What?” I asked, feeling numb.

Agent Carter refused to even look at me. He kept his gaze firmly fixated on the twins.

“Show her, Eva,” Stasia said.

Oh, God. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see whatever it was that was on Eva’s phone. The moment she appeared at my side, it was as if all hell had broken loose. Agent Carter reached for the gun in his side holster.

“Don’t move!” He kept his aim directly at Eva.

My heart jumped into my throat as I tried to shield Eva from the potential danger. The sudden sound of a gun being clicked back echoed in my ears. I glanced back to find Stasia aiming her weapon at Agent Carter.

“Shoot her and your life ends now,” she said coldly.

“Drop the phone,” he ordered.

“I don’t think so. You really thought you could go on hiding a secret this big? Think again.”

I begrudgingly glanced down at the phone screen Eva held out for me. My stomach churned in absolute terror as I scrolled through dozens of taken photos. All of me.