CHAPTER 13: PRESSURE POINT
The next morning, Evelyn woke up in a luxurious room. What was unusual was not where she slept… but that the two bosses had not touched her all night.
The faint light of dawn filtered through the thin curtains, Evelyn opened her eyes, her head aching slightly, as if she had suppressed too many thoughts and emotions deep inside her last night.
The room was overwhelmingly large, the king-sized bed with pristine white sheets contrasting with her restlessness.
By the window, Viktor stood straight, his arms crossed over his chest, his cold gaze directed at the slowly waking city of Blackhaven. Every movement he made exuded absolute control, even when he was just standing still.
Diego, on the other hand, sat cross-legged in the leather armchair, one leg propped up on his knee, his shirt unbuttoned, his messy black hair showing the obvious signs of a long sleepless night. He didn't look outside, his eyes fixed on the space in front of him, as if considering a grand chess game.
The air in the room was still, a tense silence as Evelyn slowly sat up.
None of the three spoke.
Evelyn instinctively pulled the sheet up to cover her chest. Not out of embarrassment, but because both Viktor and Diego's eyes were on her, as if she were the first and most important thing they needed to assess in the new day.
Diego was the first to break the stifling silence.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice low and husky, a little probing.
"I'm not dead," Evelyn replied, her words sharp and thorny.
Viktor turned around just in time, his cold grey eyes contrasting with the morning light, creating a terrifying contrast. "No one intends to kill you."
She looked straight into his eyes, without any hesitation:
"Here in Blackhaven, sometimes life is harder than death."
Diego curled his lips, a half-smile appearing.
"You're starting to say things that annoy me."
"Not on purpose," she replied evenly. "Just the truth."
The short exchange changed the tone of the room, heavier and more tense.
Diego stood up, walking slowly towards the bed.
He didn't climb onto the bed, didn't force her into any action, but stood right at the edge of the bed, one hand propped up on the mattress, creating a large shadow that covered Evelyn.
The distance between them was so close that Evelyn could clearly feel his warm breath blowing into the air around her, bit by bit.
Diego's gaze slowly slid down her neck, then stopped at the seductive bare shoulder exposed under the thin bed sheet.
The gaze wasn't rough but full of possessiveness and exploration, making her skin heat up every centimeter.
"You said you wanted 'respect' yesterday," Diego said softly, his voice like a confession.
"that sentence kept both of us up all night."
Evelyn raised her head, slightly tilting her face to keep a safe distance.
"So what do you two want from me now?"
Viktor answered from the window, his voice low and clear, like a verdict. "Want to know where your limits are."
She gripped the sheet a little tighter, her nails digging into her palms.
"Limits have nothing to do with you two."
Diego chuckled, a short but defiant laugh of recognition.
"Your limits are what we have to factor into our strategy."
She frowned, a hint of stubbornness evident.
"I am a person, not a formula."
"No," Viktor said, his footsteps starting to move away from the window. "You are the fulcrum. We want to know how much force the fulcrum can withstand."
That silenced Evelyn for a few seconds. Not out of fear, but because… he was right. The cold, stark truth.
She was the friction, the risky intersection between these two mighty empires.
And now, she was bearing all of it. Viktor completely left his position by the window, stepped closer to the bed.
Diego stood on her left, Viktor stood on her right two opposing forces, two different breaths, two different perspectives, forming an invisible clamp that tightened around her.
Evelyn's body tensed instinctively. Not to run away. But to prepare to react, to face whatever was about to happen.
Viktor was the first to speak, his voice low and slow, like an introduction.
"You think we didn't touch you yesterday out of respect?"
Evelyn looked straight at him, glimmer of doubt in her eyes.
"No?"
"No."
"No."
He leaned down, his cold gray eyes almost meeting hers, as if to pierce her soul.
"Because you make us both reluctant."
"A current ran down her spine, not from pure desire, but from a different kind of danger, dangerous because it didn't come with any direct threat.
It was a deeper, more subtle possession. Diego leaned his head close to her ear,his voice low as a devil's whisper.
"The more you resist, the more we want to see how far you can go."
Evelyn kept her gaze straight, unflinching.
"I'm not a power play."
"No," Diego corrected, a dangerous smile on his lips. "You are the result of power."
Viktor nodded, his eyes confirming Diego's words.
"And that result… is pushing us to new boundaries."
She sucked in a breath, not from fear, not from pleasure, but from the stark realization that these two men were about to do something that didn't fit any of the old rules she'd ever known. Their night of restraint was now over.
---
Diego reached up, touching her gently for the first time that morning, just a small spot, just below her collarbone.
A touch delicate enough to make her heart skip a beat. It wasn't rough, but a subtle assertion of ownership.
Viktor watched the scene intently, not interrupting. But his eyes darkened abeat, as if taking in every detail. It was a silent competition, sharper than any directconfrontation.
"Evelyn," he said slowly, his voice low. "You said you wanted to be treated like a human."
She looked at him, not avoiding him, accepting the confrontation.
"So," Viktor lowered his voice, the threat now hidden beneath his calm, "do you have the courage to accept what comes with it?"
Diego continued, his voice hoarse, prophetic.
"You are chosen… but you are also responsible for that choice."
Evelyn swallowed. She knew that "choose" in the mouths of these two tycoons meant more than politics. It also meant belonging, betting on oneself.
The air around them fell silent again, as if the room had shrunk to just three people and an invisible, unnameable pressure.
She asked, her voice weak but challenging:
"What if I choose… to belong to no one?"
Diego let out a small, meaningful laugh. Viktor didn't laugh. His eyes were as cold as knives. He answered directly, without hesitation: "Belonging to no one is also an option."
Then he leaned closer, his voice so low it almost touched her sensitive skin.
"As long as you can afford the price."
Evelyn opened her mouth to ask
"what price," but Diego lowered his hand, grabbing her wrist, gently but clearly, ass if asserting control.
"Facing two men who won't give up, won't let go until they get what they want."
She shivered.
This time it wasn't fear. It was the feeling of being seen as common goal… and both of them wanting to achieve that goal at any cost, by any means.
The two bosses felt that it was not she who was caught between them, but they who were caught in the web she had just spread.
Because, the most powerful thing she had just given them was the opportunity to fight.
And nothing drove two men who had torn Blackhaven apart for power more madly than having a common target to tear apart. That target, was Evelyn.