He Introduced Me to a Lover, and My First Love Walked In Chapter 09

He Introduced Me to a Lover, and My First Love Walked In Chapter 09

Julian froze for a moment when he saw Vincent Sloane in the visitation booth.

The man who had once ruled Bayhaven’s underworld looked nothing like the volatile, arrogant figure he used

to be.

His once-long hair had been buzzed down to dark stubble. The hands that had once so often held a gun or a knife were now cuffed in front of him. His face had gone gaunt, his eyes sunken deep into their sockets, leaving him looking like a ghost of the man he’d once been.

Vincent picked up the receiver on his side of the glass.

“You finally came.”

Julian swallowed but said nothing.

Vincent didn’t seem bothered. He smiled instead.

“Do you know how I ended up like this?”

Julian didn’t answer.

He had no idea.

Vincent clearly hadn’t expected him to.

“I made the mistake of crossing a lunatic,” he said. “His name is Evan Ashford. I’m guessing you know him

too.”

Julian looked confused.

He knew the name. He knew Evan was the sole heir to the Ashford family.

What he didn’t understand was when they were supposed to have met.

As far as Julian knew, they never had.

Vincent saw his confusion and only smiled wider.

“Evan keeps a low profile, but he recently agreed to a cover profile in a major financial magazine. It was his first real public appearance in the business world. Look him up.”

A terrible feeling settled over Julian.

He opened the browser on his phone and searched Evan Ashford.

The second the familiar face appeared on the screen, Julian’s expression changed.

Vincent had been watching him closely.

The moment he saw Julian’s face, he burst out laughing.

“Just as I thought. Evan played you for a fool too.”

Julian’s face turned grim.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked coldly.

Vincent smiled.

“I think there’s only one reason Evan is this insane.”

“Who?”

“Audrey Quinn.”

For a second, Julian’s face went completely blank at the sound of his wife’s name.

Vincent knew exactly how much Julian hated the thought of him and me together.

Which was precisely why he brought it up.

“Don’t you want to know why your wife climbed into my bed?”

A chill went through Julian.

Every instinct told him he didn’t want the truth.

He asked anyway.

“Why?”

Vincent smiled.

“Julian, Audrey has more backbone than anyone in your family.”

Then Vincent told him a story.

Julian and I had been married for just one year when the Prescott family landed a major deal and acquired a tract of land on the south side of Bayhaven.

They planned to turn it into a massive mixed-use development combining hospitality, retail, and residential

space.

Vincent wanted the land too.

Unlike the powerful families who kept their influence respectable and out in the open, Vincent never played fair when he wanted something.

He kidnapped members of the Prescott family, including Julian’s parents and me.

Then he told Julian that trading the land for our lives was an incredible bargain.

After all, lives mattered more than money.

But I knew Julian couldn’t give him the land.

Julian had sunk half the Prescott family’s fortune into that project.

It wasn’t just a business deal to him.

It was his ambition. His dream.

I couldn’t let Vincent destroy it.

So I took the initiative and made Vincent an offer.

I told him that if he left Julian alone, I would do anything he wanted.

Vincent studied me before asking a question I never could have anticipated.

“What if I agree to leave Julian alone, but only if you become my mistress?”