Chapter 6
And for perhaps the first time in her life, Wren was being looked at by a powerful man who actually saw her.
---
Elise returned at nine the next morning.
She wore black.
Nikolai almost admired the theatrical choice.
A grieving fiancée prepared for the funeral of a fortune.
She entered the study and found him behind his desk.
“You look terrible.”
“I didn’t sleep.”
She approached and touched his shoulder.
Nikolai resisted the urge to move away.
“I spoke with my father,” she said. “There may be a way to protect some assets.”
“Really?”
“If certain holdings were temporarily transferred.”
“To whom?”
Elise hesitated exactly half a second.
“Me.”
There it was.
Nikolai leaned back.
“You want me to transfer assets to you?”
“Only temporarily.”
“Which assets?”
“The Harbor East property. The Antwerp accounts. Possibly the Geneva reserve.”
Interesting.
Those were precisely the assets Victor had mentioned.
Nikolai looked exhausted because he had deliberately made himself look exhausted.
His shirt was wrinkled.
His tie missing.
A glass of untouched whiskey sat beside his hand.
Elise mistook appearance for weakness.
That was her third mistake.
“I’ll need authorization codes,” she said gently.
“Of course.”
“And signatures.”
“Of course.”
Relief flashed in her eyes.
Nikolai opened his drawer.
He removed a folder.
Elise sat forward.
He placed it in front of her.
She opened it.
Her face changed.
Inside were printed copies of every message from the black phone.
Victor.
Vesper Holdings.
The trust.
The vault photographs.
The inheritance conversation.
Everything.
Elise stopped breathing.
Nikolai watched the color disappear from her face.
“You dropped something last night.”
Her eyes rose.
“Nik—”
“Don’t.”
One word.
Soft.
Final.
She looked toward the door.
Anton was already standing there.
Behind him were two attorneys.
And Victor.
Elise stared at him.
Victor stared back.
“What is he doing here?”
Nikolai folded his hands.
“Victor arrived twenty minutes ago. He has already discovered something interesting.”
Victor’s face was gray.
Nikolai pushed another document across the desk.
“The account you told Victor was being used to secure your future together?”
Elise said nothing.
“It belongs entirely to you.”
Victor turned toward her.
“You said we were partners.”
Elise’s mask finally cracked.
“Oh, spare me.”
“You were stealing from me?”
“You were stealing from him!”
“And you were stealing from both of us!”
Nikolai leaned back.
There was something strangely satisfying about watching two traitors discover loyalty mattered after all.