The Stand-In Is Done Being His Second ChoiceChapter 2

Sofia was quiet on the other end of the line for a long time.

To Sofia, I was Victor's weapon. Cold, obedient, and ready to strike wherever he pointed me.

Betraying the family was unthinkable for someone like me.

But obedience was the only reason I'd survived in a family this ruthless.

While Diana gave orders from the safety of her tower, I fought through gunfire and dragged myself home covered in blood, carrying the severed heads of our enemies.

Only then would Victor and the elders begrudgingly acknowledge me.

But I didn't want to be a shadow or a blade anymore.

Early the next morning, Victor took me to see the new safe house we would live in after the wedding.

Out of habit, I reached for the passenger door of the armored SUV, but he caught my wrist.

"Eve, have you forgotten the rules? That's Diana's seat. The bumps in the back strain her eyes."

Diana was coming down the steps. Victor gallantly put a hand over the door frame to protect her head.

"Diana needs to check out her new territory in the West District anyway. It's on our way."

Without a word, I opened the back door and got in.

"Mm."

The villa was built like a fortress halfway up the mountain.

The moment Diana reached the second floor, her eyes lit up.

"The view from the main bedroom is perfect, and the bulletproof windows are thick enough. My classified files would be safest here."

Victor stood beside her, looking at her tenderly.

"If you like it, the room's yours. You can come stay whenever you want.

"I'll have the best security team install an infrared defense system for you."

I leaned against the wall in the hallway.

Back when they chose the site and built the safe house, Victor hadn't even bothered to look at the blueprints.

He always said, "It's an outpost that could be bombed anytime. As long as it's bulletproof, it's fine."

Now he and Diana stood side by side at the window, eagerly discussing camera blind spots and firing positions.

They looked like the couple about to move in.

Diana turned and shot me a challenging look.

"Eve, you won't mind if I take this room, will you?"

I looked up at Victor.

"Do you remember that the blueprints call this the master bedroom?"

Victor's expression didn't flicker.

"Master bedroom is just a name. It's not like you need a specific temperature and humidity the way classified files do.

"There are a few rooms left on the first floor. Just pick one."

I clenched the dagger hidden in my sleeve until pain shot through my palm.

"Whatever makes you happy."

Victor came over and stroked my cheek.

"Eve's so understanding."

After we left the safe house, the Italian tailor called the manor.

My custom bulletproof wedding gown was ready.

Diana affectionately slipped her arm through mine.

"Come on, dear sister. Let me check how thick your bulletproof gown is."

To anyone watching, we looked like loving sisters.

But just as I changed into the deep sea-blue velvet gown, her comm unit rang.

After the call, Diana looked anxious.

"Victor, there's an important dinner in the West District tonight, but the bulletproof dress I ordered is stuck in customs..."

Victor frowned and looked around the tailor's shop.

His gaze finally landed on the deep sea-blue gown I was wearing.

"Diana can pull off this color, and the protection is good enough. This one will do. Have Eve take it off."

The old tailor's eyes widened. He couldn't help speaking up.

"Don, this gown was custom-made for Eve! The Kevlar lining was tailored to fit her body perfectly!

"Besides, what kind of groom makes his bride give her wedding dress to another woman?"

Victor gave the tailor a cold look.

To him, there was nothing to discuss.

If Diana was in danger, my armor was hers to take.

I pressed a hand to the bulletproof plate over my chest. Somehow, the heart beneath it couldn't hurt anymore.

I turned, went into the dressing room, took off the gown, and handed it to Diana.

"Take it. I won't be in any danger anyway."

Victor seemed caught off guard, then gave a satisfied smile.

"That's more like it, Eve. I'll have the tailor make you another gown with even better materials."

But the moment he'd said it, he couldn't take his eyes off Diana in my wedding gown.

He knelt on one knee and adjusted the holster under the hem of her skirt himself.

Every time I'd come close to death, I'd imagined him doing something like that for me.

I'd come to this tailor's shop for more than a dozen fittings.

He only came with me once.

That time, the tailor suggested Victor help adjust my waist strap, saying it would bring us closer.

He didn't even look up. His answer was curt.

"Why bother? I'm paying you to do that, aren't I?"

I looked at his back as he knelt at Diana's feet.

Only then did I realize what those fantasies had cost me.

All my life, everyone had favored Diana.

The elders did. So did Victor.

Yet I'd been drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

When I first joined the family, the elders scolded me like a dog.

Only Victor had handed me a spent shell casing after everyone else left.

"Keep your hand steady when you pull the trigger. Be ruthless, and no one will dare look down on you."

I'd clung to those words like a lifeline.

Then he proposed to Diana, and she told him the Mafia needed power, not love.

Devastated by her rejection, he turned to me and tossed me the ring that symbolized our marriage arrangement.

I knew I was his second choice, but I caught it anyway.

I was better at intelligence analysis, but I forced myself to carry a heavy machine gun.

I copied Diana's fighting style and charged into battle for him.

No matter how hard I tried, I'd never be Diana.

My terminal buzzed.

An encrypted message from Sofia popped up.

"The route to the South Shore is open. When are you leaving?"

Diana had already changed out of the gown and left in a hurry with her people.

Victor grabbed a black trench coat with a high collar from the rack and tossed it to me.

"Eve, throw something on. We need to go. Diana's waiting for backup, so hurry up.

"That black coat will do. It hides stains, and it suits you."

Black again. The color I hated most.

I lowered my head.

I typed a reply on the screen.

"Before dawn on the wedding day. Once I'm gone, I'm never coming back."