Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
FIONA
My feet ache from standing in heels all morning, and the minute I close the door to my office and settle in my chair, I kick them off under the desk, sliding my toes along the carpet with a sigh.
Court was brutal. Three motions back-to-back, a judge with no patience, and opposing counsel who thinks “respectfully” means “condescendingly.”
All I want is to go home. To Aleksei. To whatever sinful thing he’s planning to cook for dinner tonight. Because the man doesn’t just kill for a living. He makes a steak that should be illegal.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he looks good doing it too. Sleeves rolled to his elbows, veins flexing as he chops herbs like they’ve personally offended him. I swear that man does things to me that shouldn’t be allowed.
And usually, when the dishes are cleared, dessert follows in the form of his tongue between my thighs—and I sure as hell could use that right about now.
My core tightens at the memory of last night. The way he lifted me onto the counter and didn’t let me off until I was trembling more times than I could count.
When my phone buzzes, I already know it’s him before I swipe the screen.
Aleksei
Only a few more hours until you are mine, moya ptichka.
I’ve been thinking about stripping off that tight little skirt you had on this morning, dragging you into the shower, and pressing you up against the tile.
Mouth on your throat. Fingers inside your wet cunt until you’re begging for my cock to take that throb away.
My throat goes dry and I bite my lip, warmth suddenly racing through my body.
Another message flashes across the screen.
Aleksei
Maybe I won’t even let you undress. Maybe I’ll bend you over the sink and fuck you with your heels still on.
Heat rushes up my neck so fast it’s embarrassing. Jesus Christ. I can almost picture him smirking. He knows what he does to me when he talks like that.
Fiona
This is unfair.
Aleksei
Life is unfair, baby.
My hand snaps around the phone, and before I can stop myself, my mind flashes to last night. To the dirty things he was saying as he fucked me over the kitchen table, gripping my hair as he did.
“Hey,” Dana’s voice comes through, startling me.
The phone fumbles from my fingers, slipping onto the desk.
“Whoa.” She grins. “Someone looks like they just got caught doing something naughty.”
“Jesus, Dana. You scared the shit out of me.”
She laughs, shutting the door behind her. “Mm-hmm. I wonder why. Is it that secret guy you’ve been hiding from me?”
“There’s no secret guy.”
Just a husband…
“So, what’s up?” My back straightens as I regain my composure.
Dana lifts a white envelope from her folder. “The secretary handed me this on my way here. Said it was waiting for you at reception.”
I glance at it. “What is it?”
She shrugs. “No idea. Doesn’t say.”
She hands it across the desk, and the second I see it, my stomach caves in. Every muscle goes rigid as a sharp, cold panic cuts through the warmth Aleksei’s text left behind.
It’s plain and unmarked. Just like the others.
For a moment, the office disappears, and all I’m left with is the familiar dread curling low in my gut.
“Fiona? You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Her voice sounds far away, like it’s echoing down a tunnel.
I can’t tear my vision off the paper. The edges blur. The pulse in my neck throbs so hard it’s like the room is shrinking around me.
I was hoping the letters would stop. That whoever was sending them got bored. No such luck.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I force a smile and pick up the envelope, hoping I’m wrong and it isn’t from whoever has been sending these notes.
But I can’t open it now. Not in front of her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dana’s gaze thins as she pulls up a chair and slowly settles onto it.
“Yeah, sorry. Just a long day.” I force out a smile.
“Okay, if you’re sure…”
“Yeah. How’s your murder case going?” I’m hoping the change of topic distracts her from the letter on my desk. “Do you want to go over the argument?”
“No, I should be fine.”
“Okay, sure.”
She stays for a few minutes, rambling about her opening testimony and the witnesses she plans to call. I nod when I’m supposed to, but my mind’s a million miles away. All I can think about is the envelope burning a hole on my desk.
As soon as she leaves, I pull it out and open it, adrenaline pumping through my veins. When I read the words, my entire world spins.
Do you finally want to know the truth? It’s in your parents’ office.
Look in the safe.
My attention stays fixed on the words, my heart knocking against my rib cage like it’s trying to warn me of something I don’t quite understand.
Maybe it’s a joke. Another twisted game to mess with my head. That would make sense. But something settles in the pit of my stomach, and it won’t let go.
I should toss it in the shredder and pretend I never saw it. That would be the sane thing to do. But my fingers fold the paper before I can think twice, slipping it into the front pocket of my purse.
Grabbing my coat, I smooth my expression into something neutral and tell my assistant I need to step out for the rest of the day.
If the safe is empty, if whatever this thing is turns out to be nothing, then it all ends there. But if it’s not, if there’s actually something inside, something my parents have been hiding from me…
I can’t even let myself finish the thought. What could it possibly be?
God, this is insane.
I slide into the driver’s seat, my bodyguards settling into the SUV behind me. The letter sits buried in my bag, but it might as well be burning a hole through the fabric. I can’t stop thinking about it. What it means. What it could lead to.
I know I have to tell Aleksei. Not just because part of me is scared, but because I don’t want to face this alone anymore. He’ll help me figure it out and eliminate the threat if it comes to that.
A wry laugh slips out. Look at me, thinking like a goddamn Mob wife.
I don’t know if that should terrify me…or make me proud.
The wheels crunch to a stop in the narrow dirt lot, but I barely register the sound. My eyes lift to the vineyard ahead, and even though I’m technically the owner now, I still feel like a trespasser, knowing I’m about to get into my parents’ safe.
Do they even know he signed the majority share to me?
Doesn’t matter. Right now, all I care about is whether there’s any truth to the note.
As I climb out, I silently hope there’s nothing to find. I’m seconds from reaching the door when it swings open, and I jolt back at the sight of one of the employees emerging with a clipboard tucked to her chest.
“Ms. Clark, how are you? Your parents are out walking the rows. Should I get them?”
“No,” I answer too fast. “I just…need to grab something really quick. You don’t have to bother them.”
“Okay.” She starts down the steps. “It’s nice to see you. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
The second she’s out of sight, I rush down the corridor and into the office, shutting the door behind me. My focus goes straight to the framed grape artwork on the wall. I lift it down carefully and set it aside, revealing the safe hidden behind it.
My fingers hover over the keypad for a heartbeat before I finally enter the code. My birthday. They have never used anything else.
A soft beep sounds, followed by the quiet click of the lock releasing.
My pulse spikes.
I pull the door open and start working fast, wanting to be done before my parents come in and wonder what I’m doing here.
Inside, the safe is packed tight. Manila envelopes. Thick file folders. Curled receipts. Stacks of documents that look like they have been building up for years.
Shit. There is a lot to go through.
I start pulling everything out, spreading the contents on the desk. Sifting through the documents in the folders reveals nothing but old contracts with various vendors. Once I start with the envelopes, it starts being much of the same.
Until I get to the second to last one.
At first, it seems like a simple contract, the one Aleksei signed with my parents.
Except this is different than the one I read after I agreed to marry him. This one was signed days before Aleksei presented me with the proposal.
What the hell…
My eyes scan the text, my heart rate escalating. Because in this contract…
Oh God, no. They wouldn’t do this.
But no matter how many times I read it, the proof is there: they sold me to him.
I reread the paragraph so many times, my eyes bleed. This deal was made without me, and my signature was forged. The only person capable of doing that is my own mother.
A lump forms in my throat. This can’t be real.
They did this. They all planned this, and Aleksei never said a thing. Even after things with us started to become good.
They sold me like property, and he went along with it.
Even if he’s given me the vineyard now, even if he says he loves me, he kept this from me. How the fuck is that love?
The room tilts, the paper crumpling in my grip. I want to scream. Throw something. Break every bottle in this fucking building.
The door handle suddenly starts to turn, and when my parents step in, chatting with one another, they freeze the moment they see my expression.
But once they notice the opened safe, the contract in my hand, the silence crashes down like thunder. They know exactly what I found.
And now, so do I.
“Tesoro,” Mom says gently, taking a few steps toward me. “What are you doing in here? Did you need something?”
A sting burns the backs of my eyes, blurring my vision as my fingers curl tighter around the contract.
“Don’t,” I snap, my tone so harsh, her eyes widen. “Don’t stand there and lie to me. You both have done enough of that.”
Her features sink, mirrored in the guilt tightening Dad’s face.
I rise to my feet, the paper trembling in my grip. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
Her brows knit. “Tell you what?”
That only enrages me further, a bitter laugh scraping from my throat. “You’re seriously going to pretend you have no idea what I’m talking about?”
My father runs a hand down his face, while my mother says nothing.
“You sold me to him!” The words fall like stones. “You gave me away like I meant nothing. To a man who kills for a living! A man I tried to put behind bars! Did you even consider what he could do to me?”
Dad closes his eyes and lowers himself slowly onto the desk chair behind him, as if the weight of everything has finally knocked him down. Mom starts to cry, wiping away her tears.
“Is that how much I meant to you?” I glance between the two of them, heart splintering with every word.
“What’s worse is I was willing to do it.
For you. I married him because I loved you both that much.
But you never gave me the chance. You just…
did it. You were going to let him force me if I said no. ”
“We had no choice,” she whimpers. “We did something terrible trying to save the vineyard. It cost us everything.”
My head jerks back. “What did you do?”
When my father speaks, his voice is low and frayed. “We took a loan, stellina. For four hundred thousand. From a man we never should’ve gone to.”
“A loan shark,” my mom whispers, as though this asshole will just magically appear.
“He threatened us. Said he would kill us. And you.” She swallows hard, taking a seat beside my dad.
“Then Aleksei came. He offered to pay off the debt. Help the vineyard. Said he could protect us. All he asked for was—”
“Me,” I cut in, my stomach turning. “All he asked for was me. My life. My future.”
“It wasn’t easy,” my mother cries, reaching for my hand, and I’m too numb to push her away. “We said no at first, I swear. But then Aleksei threatened us too, and we felt we had no choice.”
“I’m sorry,” Dad says softly. “Ogni giorno, mi maledico per averti tradita in quel modo.” Every day, I curse myself for betraying you like that.
“You should’ve come to me. I would’ve helped you. But this?” I shove the contract forward. “This wasn’t the way. I’m a human being.”
“Please,” my mother chokes out. “Forgive us. We did wrong. We know.”
I shake my head. “I…I just need space right now, okay? Can you guys give me that? Because it’s too hard to process it all right now.”
“Of course.” My father nods solemnly, while my mother silently cries.
I hate seeing them this way, and I feel guiltier for walking toward the door, but where do I matter in all this? Where does my hurt come into play?
Before I can stop myself, I rush out and get into the car, barely registering the slam of the door behind me. My fingers tremble as they grip the wheel, fury and heartbreak tangling in my chest like barbed wire.
I know exactly where I’m going next: to him.
To Aleksei.
He’s going to look me in the eye and tell me why he stood there and pretended I had a choice when every move had already been made for me.