Chapter 30

London, England

Sophia knew something was wrong as soon as she exited the car in Viktor’s garage. Ivan’s silence was charged, and it wasn’t the sexual tension she felt between him and Jen. This felt as if he were very angry.

Her nerves were so twisted that by the time they hit Viktor’s door, Sophia took the jamming device from Jen, not willing to wait for the formalities. She ignored Jen’s look and walked in, clicking the door shut behind her.

He had his tense back to her, staring out at the garden and its rain-soaked stone fountain. His eyes connected with hers through the glass, and she swore his shoulders pulled tighter against the confines of his tailored shirt.

“You didn’t wait for your guard to clear the room,” he pointed out, turning to her slowly.

She could tell something was wrong, could feel it in the charged room and in the too-calm way he reached down and clicked a button on a remote. The curtains glided closed as he pinned her with a look she didn’t fully understand.

“Did you see the news?” Was he upset that she’d abdicated? The thought made her frown.

“Yes. What happened?” Something about the way he was looking at her made her feel nervous, as if she were being tested.

“I’m not marrying anyone I don’t want to.” The answer was feeble, only a half-truth. Should she tell him about the video surveillance showing her here? They hadn’t been doing anything wrong. She doubted Jean Luc had anything else, but they would know as soon as they got into the vault.

Viktor’s eyes darkened as she decided what to say. She swore she saw anger and frustration flash in the blue.

He stalked toward her, his eyes changing again, eating up every inch of her body. She’d worn a simple black dress with a few surprises beneath.

She’d never seen this Viktor. She’d seen him animalistic, but not with these undertones.

“What’s wrong?”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she moaned into his punishing lips. His shoulders were locked hard under her hands. His fingers dug into her ass, crushing her against him.

When he broke off the kiss, she felt dazed.

He ran a hand through his damp hair. “You wish to know what’s wrong, Sophia?” His words were clipped as if he were having trouble keeping a hold on his temper.

“Yes.” Though unease was trickling through her nerve endings.

“I just found out the woman I care about is hiding dangerous secrets, ones that could get her hurt or killed.”

At first, all she heard was that he cared about her, but that wasn’t all he’d said. She wasn’t sure what he knew, but she felt another harsh tremor of apprehension.

Swallowing, she asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Sit.” His command was dangerously low. “All the feeds in the room are disabled. I want you to tell me what you see.” He pointed to the open laptop on the coffee table.

She hadn’t even realized she’d forgotten the device in her hand. She set it down without turning it on. He was showing her something on a laptop, and it would disrupt the feeds.

“The secrets end now, Sophia.” His tone was a harsh rasp.

Her heart raced as she scanned the files displayed. Her knees seemed to weaken as she sank to the couch. The information made her stomach twist.

“Do you have someone watching Jean Luc’s safety deposit box?”

That one comment had her eyes shooting to his. How had he known someone was watching the box unless this information had been inside it? No…

He nodded as if she’d actually voiced an answer. That meant whatever she’d thought had shown on her face, which scared her.

A muscle started ticking at his stubbled jaw. He swept a hand in the direction of the laptop. “This is everything you wanted, Sophia.”

Her mouth had dropped, and she forced it up, licking suddenly dry lips. “How?” Why had he gone after Jean Luc’s secrets? To protect her? But what had he found that made him so furious?

“Go through it. See what he had on you,” he demanded; then he turned for the wet bar.

She felt the color drain from her cheeks at his words. Her eyes shot to the information. The thumbnails. Descriptions. Photos. Videos. So many of her. Her friends. Her bedroom. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of Jean Luc watching her sleep. What else had he seen? Her getting off to thoughts of Viktor? She wanted to be sick.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, clicking files on autopilot, the pit in her stomach growing deeper with each opened file. Even with the volume turned down, the sound rang harshly in her ears.

Jean Luc had been watching her. He’d been playing with her. He’d known they were coming after him because somehow he’d pieced together their marks from the ledger. There were pictures of the tome. He’d gotten his hands on more than that accounting book, though. He had video of her as a kid.

Shocked revulsion radiated through her. How? It was of her, Irina, and Riot by the lake, where there shouldn’t have been any cameras. Who’d done this? She could hear her childhood secrets filtering through the speakers and knew she’d gone even paler as she heard herself speak of her mother sanctioning her father’s death, telling them her father had been a monster. A ringing had started in her ears as she witnessed her own shame and felt it again as if she were back in time. She forced it away.

She didn’t look at Viktor. Her mind was buzzing with the implications. She couldn’t force any of it out of her dry lips.

Her entire body had gone rigid by the time he spoke in clipped words. “This ends now, Sophia.”

Her eyes went to the muscle still ticking at his jaw and the flexing of his fingers on the glass.

He knew everything. A sad part of her was overjoyed that her secrets were out, that it somehow meant they could be together. Another part of her died a little at his harsh demand.

Standing tall and commanding, he laid out his verdict. “Give that hard drive to your friends, but you are not involved anymore.”

Something broke inside her. She stood on shaking legs, facing off with the man she loved. “Or what? I told you I won’t be controlled.” She’d had twenty-four hours of true freedom, and she wasn’t ever going to give that up, not even for him. She couldn’t.

He only stared at her with that banked fury. He didn’t take the words back.

After everything with her family and seeing what Jean Luc had been putting into play… no. He wouldn’t tell her she couldn’t live her life. “What I do is important.”

“Let others do it. Not you.” He stalked to her. “I won’t have you in constant danger. You’re safe now, but what next? You have nothing to fucking atone for, Sophia.”

That felt like a slap to the face. He’d heard all her secrets, listened to every word she’d spoken on those videos. “I’m not a doll you can play with and sit in a corner when you’re done. I will never be that.” Not again. Not for anyone.

Her heart was breaking apart as it hammered in her chest.

“What do you want, Viktor?” She felt herself forcing the words out. Would he want something to keep the information quiet? That possibility killed another part of her.

The anger that flashed in his eyes suddenly turned to hard steel. “I want you.”

“At what price? You watched all of this?” She shot a hand at the laptop, betrayal a sour taste on her lips. “You took it to keep me safe, right? But how much of it did you watch?” The man loved his secrets.

At any moment, she was going to break down completely, but she couldn’t do it there. She already felt flayed wide open. She bent and grabbed the hard drive, practically tearing it free. He said to give it to her friends, and she had every intention of doing just that.

As she reached for the door handle, she felt his eyes on her, felt his intensity and his seething anger. She knew she needed to ask more questions, but she didn’t want his answers, couldn’t handle them at the moment.

“I won’t budge on this, Sophia.” His low tone followed her out the door.

She lifted her chin. “Neither can I.”

Jen stepped to her side as she stalked from the room then the house. As soon as they exited the gate, she felt her eyes blur with tears she couldn’t force back. The emotion clogging her throat seemed ready to suffocate her, but she stayed silent as the tears streamed down.