Chapter Twelve
Igor
Audrey’s gaze shifts from my face to the open folder on my desk. Her breath hitches, and the way the color drains from her face tells me she knows exactly what’s inside.
When her eyes meet mine again, they’re wide with horror. It’s the first time she’s looked at me with so much fear in her eyes.
Her reaction is all the evidence I need to know everything in this folder is true.
“Um…” Her fingers tighten around her purse and her voice trembles when she says, “Hi.”
I’m mad as fuck. Not just at the information in the folder, but the fact that she defied my orders and came here without any security. Dimitri called twenty minutes ago to tell me she snuck out right after he went to get extra security to drive her down here.
I ordered him to follow her, but my wife somehow drove faster than the men who I pay to trade their lives for hers if need be. They’ll answer for their carelessness later, but for now, there’s something way more important for me to handle.
“Sit.”
Her teeth clamp down on her bottom lip, but she does as I say and lowers herself onto the chair cross from mine. I can tell from the way she flinches each time our eyes meet that she’d rather be anywhere else but here.
I signal Sergei to give us privacy.
When he shuts the door behind him, I push the folder to the woman who managed to completely fool me into believing she wasn’t an enemy.
“Do you recognize any of this?”
She glances down at the folder, but doesn’t react to it.
Her silence makes me even more angry. Angrier than I’d been when I saw those text messages between her and whoever put her up to this bullshit.
Angrier than I’d been when I saw the plan my darling wife carefully orchestrated on how to win my trust and get me to fall in love with her before she delivered the final blow to shatter my world and everything I’ve built.
And like a fool, I started to trust her. I thought there was nothing I couldn’t give up for her, and all of it was a fucking lie.
“Open the damn folder.” My voice is gruff, strained with all the fury I’m holding in.
Her hand slowly comes up to the table and she runs her finger over the folder. “Igor, I—”
“Open the fucking folder,” I growl.
She flinches, her eyes tearing up. But stubborn as always, she still refuses to do as I say and only stares at me with those sad puppy eyes that almost make me want to forgive her for this betrayal.
“Fine, I’ll do it for you.”
I flip the folder open and start to slide the documents toward her, one after the other, starting with one where her phone pinged near the docks the same night confidential shipment details were leaked.
Then a photo from the club’s security footage showing her entering restricted corridors before our internal data was compromised, and another photo that shows her lingering in the same area ten minutes later.
“Can you explain that?”
She opens her mouth to speak, but inhales deeply instead. “Igor, it’s not what you think. I promise.”
I snort, my chest tightening as a new, hotter wave of anger surges inside me. I never knew she was such a good liar.
Pushing the other documents aside, I slide out a file with her call logs over the past two weeks, highlighting repeated contact between her and the encrypted number that I believe is the mastermind behind this.
And then more security footage from the mansion, showing her lingering in front of my office for a couple minutes, then hurriedly walking back to our bedroom when she heard someone approaching.
Even I don’t want to believe everything in front of me, but the evidence that she’s working with or for one of my enemies is irrefutable.
“You said it’s not what I think, right?” I lean back in my leather chair, drumming my fingers on the desk. It’s a subtle habit I developed over the years to help me keep my anger in check, but it’s barely working this time. “Explain.”
Tears roll down her cheeks, but she quickly wipes them away.
I don’t know if she’s truly heartbroken about this or if it’s just another one of her acts to fool me.
Truth be told, I doubt I know anything about who this woman truly is. Every damn time I think I know her, she surprises me.
“Who sent these?” she asks when she finally speaks.
I scoff in disbelief. “Is that important right now?”
She sniffles and raises her head, blinking back her tears. She might’ve had a moment of weakness when she first walked into my office, but I can tell she’s determined not to show any more weakness in front of me.
My fists clench, my chest tightening.
This is the problem.
I hate her audacity. I hate the way she stands tall and refuses to break or be vulnerable no matter what. And for some reason, I recognize that her strength is the biggest reason I’m attracted to her.
It’s too complicated.
She’s nothing like the other women I’ve been with. She’s mouthy, proud, and has the attitude and courage to back it up.
Most men in my world prefer their women docile. I thought I did too, until I met Audrey.
“I won’t say a word until I know who sent these to you.” She pauses and holds my stare. “How do you know for sure that this isn’t a setup?”
My brow arches. I don’t know whether to be stunned or impressed by her. “Is it?”
She glances away and exhales loudly, clamping her hands together on the table. She remains in that position for a moment longer than my patience can tolerate.
If it were someone else, they’d be on their knees by now, bloody and begging for mercy. But no matter how deeply the betrayal runs, I don’t think I can bring myself to touch even a strand of hair on her body.
Just watching her cry earlier made me want to toss the folder in the trash and call it a day. But I can’t dismiss this because my life, the lives of my men, everything I’ve built, and even her life, depend on finding out who’s behind this.
She’s still silent, stubbornly refusing to answer my questions, and that makes me even angrier.
Her silence and body language say it all. It’s true. Or at least there’s some truth to it.
I can’t tell how much of it is true and how much isn’t, especially when she’s refusing to give me an explanation.
My mind drifts back to the attack. Now it makes sense why they shot at her, too. Whoever did this may have been afraid she’d spill the truth. They saw her as a threat and tried to take her out.
My mind fogs. All of this is too complicated to piece together at once. For all I know, she could’ve been just a pawn in someone else’s game. She might’ve been threatened into doing this.
Pushing up from my chair, I step around the desk, doing my best to keep the rage gathering inside me under control. Scaring her even more won’t get me the answers I’m looking for, but it’s impossible for me to dismiss all the emotions I’m feeling.
It’s a raging blend of anger, betrayal, and the need to shed blood.
I understand wanting to burn down my empire over what happened a year ago. I understand if her pride is still wounded and she’s mad at me, but I didn’t deceive her back then. I made it clear from the jump that love and all of the Disney bullshit wasn’t my thing.
Love means vulnerability, and vulnerability means death in my world. Still, I’d been honest about not being able to give her anything more than good sex, some attention, and money.
So if she wanted to destroy my empire, why the hell did she choose to play with my emotions and make a fool out of me first?
My chest constricts, my heart twisting like I’ve been stabbed.
I stop right in front of her, then press my finger under chin, forcing her to look at me.
“If your goal was to burn my life down,” I bark, fury cracking through my restraint, “then explain why you let me fall for you again.”