Chapter 7
Just not until they needed it from each other.
Elise turned to Nikolai.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don’t. Victor came to me first.”
“And you could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You photographed my safe.”
“I needed leverage.”
“You discussed my death.”
“I never meant—”
“You discussed how long you would need to remain a convincing widow.”
Silence.
Elise’s eyes filled with tears.
This time Nikolai knew exactly what they meant.
Fear.
Not love.
“Nikolai, please.”
He looked at the woman he had intended to marry.
Then at the diamond on her hand.
“You were right about one thing.”
She waited.
“I did lose something last night.”
Hope appeared in her expression.
Then he finished.
“You.”
Elise’s face collapsed.
Nikolai nodded toward the ring.
“Leave it.”
Her fingers closed around it.
“Nikolai—”
“Leave. It.”
Slowly, Elise removed the diamond.
She placed it on the desk.
The sound it made was surprisingly small.
Anton escorted her out.
Victor followed separately.
Nikolai’s lawyers would handle everything else.
The financial evidence had already been preserved.
The authorities would receive what was relevant.
Contracts would be terminated.
Accounts locked.
Access revoked.
By noon, Elise Ashcroft would discover that the most frightening thing about betraying Nikolai Cross was not violence.
It was losing every door his name had once opened for her.
---
Three days later, Wren entered the study carrying coffee.
Nikolai was reading beside the window.
She placed the cup on his desk.
“You’re staring again.”
He looked up.
“At what?”
“At me.”
“I’m thinking.”
“That usually causes trouble.”
He almost smiled.
“You’re quitting.”
Wren stopped.
“How do you know?”
“You printed a resignation letter downstairs.”
She stared at him.
“Do you monitor the printer?”
“I monitor everything.”
“That’s deeply unhealthy.”
“Probably.”
She placed the envelope on his desk.
“I don’t want money.”
“I didn’t offer any.”
“You were going to.”
Nikolai looked offended.
Wren raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” he said. “I was.”
“I don’t want a reward for doing the right thing.”
“You saved me millions.”
“I found a phone.”
“You uncovered a conspiracy.”
“I read messages.”
“You stood beside me when you thought I was bankrupt.”
Wren became quiet.
Nikolai noticed.
There was something he had not been able to forget.
While Elise had asked about venues, diamonds, property, and transfers, Wren had never once asked whether her salary would still be paid.
She had simply kept working.