Chapter 24

London, England

It had been far too long since Sophia last audited the financial accounts, and the numbers were starting to swim in front of her. The only light in Forde’s bat cave came from the monitors, so that might have been adding to her vision issues. She just hadn’t been ready for bright lights in the early hours of the day.

Sleeping, even for a few hours before she was due for breakfast, had been impossible after coming home from Viktor’s.

She shifted in the confines of the leather seat. Her body still ached from the things he’d done to her, but she felt amazing. She’d given him every inch of her body last night, and the way he’d been with her after made her chest swell. He’d been gentle and sweet, carrying her to the shower and cradling her in his arms. She’d felt cherished, and it was enough that her heart ached. All she’d thought of were ways to keep him after their time was up. She could keep him for a while, until their lust burned out, but it meant keeping the biggest part of herself and her life a secret.

“Good. You’re down here.” Forde’s words jolted her from the staring contest she was losing against the spreadsheet she hadn’t been paying attention to.

She spun to face him. “What’s going on?” He was in the same clothes he’d been in when she’d seen him last night, his usually perfect hair ruffled enough that she smirked. “Long night?”

He shot her a look that said she was the last one to talk. “James just called. Jean Luc visited the vault yesterday, and we have the feeds.”

She leaned forward in her seat, excited to have something after so long with absolutely nothing to go on. “What did he see?”

The security feed was exactly what they needed.

“James enhanced the video and uploaded it.” Forde’s jaw hardened as he leaned over the keyboard and started clicking to pull up the files on their secure portal. Emails and texts were too dangerous.

Video streamed on the massive screen in front of them. The impressively clear recording showed Jean Luc in a crisp gray suit, stalking into the private vault as if he owned the place. Small and large drawers lined the walls around him.

He was alone. According to Forde, a high-ranking bank employee had to personally escort a client to the first security point, which meant they had no video of that step. “Retinal scanner to get to this point?” She was trying to remember the steps Forde had said the bank president had ushered him through.

With a nod, he agreed. “After being escorted in and dealing with the retinal scan, then you get to a point that asks for a thumbprint as well as a voice-activated code. That’s what we’re about to see.”

The security features were as high-tech as they came, and that was why the ultrawealthy had no problem paying six figures and up to secure whatever they wished in the vaults—with private, twenty-four-hour concierge service, of course.

She held her breath as she watched Jean Luc place his thumb on a scanner, and listened to his accented voice issue an eight-digit numeric code. A box glided from the wall, and Jean Luc stepped forward to lift the lid. He didn’t bother taking it to the special seating area. He simply added what appeared to be a small drive to the pile they could see when the image zoomed in. The still shot grew grainier as it expanded, but not so much that they couldn’t see the dozens and dozens of electronic devices, some older and some newer, settled haphazardly on top of paper files.

Excitement thrummed through Sophia’s veins. “We need that information. We have to get in that vault.”

Forde had gone still, a pleased grin on his handsome face. “Yes.”

“How long will it take to break in?”

“Cade’s working with Kate to make something work. He says if we’re going to get in there unseen, it could still take some time.” Their teams never went into a job without planning for every contingency.

“How much time?”

“A couple of weeks, give or take.”

She wanted Jean Luc gone. Knowing he’d gone to her brother after she’d rebuffed him was unnerving at best. Viktor had warned her that gaining the Frenchman’s interest was dangerous, but she’d already felt that. She wished she knew what the man and her brother had spoken about other than him wanting to marry her.

She sure as hell would not be marrying him or anyone else. She didn’t want to think about Viktor, but that was where her traitorous mind went.

Forde rocked back in his office chair. “Why the frown?”

“Do you think you’ll ever get married? Will you eventually have to with all your titles?”

He assessed her very seriously. “My brother had to take that bullet. As soon as he provides an heir and a spare of his own, I’ll be off the hook. My mother will try like bloody hell to marry me off, but it’s not quite as much pressure. Are you thinking about marrying your Russian? Or is this about your family?”

She didn’t answer the first. “I’ve spent weeks mingling and dating the candidates on my mother’s list, only to see they don’t care who they marry. It’s a business transaction. They’d take any princess as long as she was connected to a wealthy country.”

“And Viktor?”

“I couldn’t marry Viktor even if he wanted more and asked. He’s the one person I can’t hide things from. He’s too good at reading me, which makes him dangerous. I believe in the things we do. I’m finally able to support myself. He wouldn’t stand for a wife who kept secrets from him, and I could never share what we do. It’s not about me.”

“I see.” It seemed Forde was taking a turn at reading her.

If Forde wanted to say more, he didn’t get the chance, because Jen rushed through the door.

“We have a problem.” The urgency in her guard’s tone set Sophia on high alert.

“What is it?” she and Forde asked in unison.

“Antony is rushing around the house. Your brother is apparently sending the plane for you.”

Sophia’s eyes shot to the phone at her side. It was the cell with the forwarded information from her private phone. GPS tracking forced her to leave her phone in her room. There’d been no calls, but a glance showed that a single text had just popped up.

“You are to return home immediately. The plane arrives in two hours.”

Her heart raced as she jumped from the chair. Her guards had known she was leaving before she had? Hell, the plane had left Porenza before she’d gotten the damned message. She would have liked to believe someone had died, but she wouldn’t have been railroaded if there had been an emergency at the palace.

If ever there was a last straw, this was the one.

“What the hell is happening?” Forde demanded.

“I don’t know. My brother texted me my summons.” Thinking about it only made her more livid by the second. Ordering her home hadn’t even warranted a phone call or an explanation for her early return? She was supposed to be in London for two more days!

Jesus, she wasn’t even a person to the family who shared her blood. She never had been; she’d known that.

She was already hitting the call button as she forced a breath out to calm her voice and mind. She had a part to play.

Her brother bit out, “Sophia?”

Playing dumb was her best option. “What’s happened? Is everything okay?”

“We will discuss it when you arrive.” Her brother’s icy tone crackled with suppressed fury. “You have proven you can’t be trusted on your own.”

The sudden silence of the disconnected call made her blood chill. Her hand shook as she dropped the phone on the table. Forde and Jen were staring at her as she finally forced out, “I have two hours, and I’m going to need help.”