Page 16 of Protecting His Queen

“What exactly did you do to her?”

After downing the rest of his vodka in one shot, he told his friend about the video, about her finding out. His response was to raise an eyebrow and smirk. He knew what Viktor was silently asking.

“No, you can’t see it. No one is seeing it. Ever.”

He had it encrypted so deeply no one would ever be able to gain access, other than him. And if he did manage to get her back, he’d delete it along with the photos she didn’t know about. He was only keeping them for now because he had a horrible feeling they might be the only things he would have left to remember her by soon.

“She said not to call her. Stop being a coward and go get her. She’s always wandering off someplace alone to take photos. Get Yury—or whoever happens to be on guard duty—to tell you next time she does, and go get her while she’s alone and make it up to her. I have to admit, she might still tell you to fuck off. Taking a video like that without the girl’s consent is fucking asking for trouble. Even you should know better than to pull a stunt like that.”

Daniil shrugged. He was used to ruling his world and doing what he wanted when he wanted. Before Julietta, he hadn’t cared what a woman thought. Nor had he ever wanted to video one so he could watch it later, on repeat. He growled. Julietta was screwing with his head in a big way.

“You really like this girl, huh? You thinking of settling down? Having a family with her? Assuming you can get her to forgive your stupid arse.”

He paused and looked over at Viktor. “Yeah, I think I am. Julietta’s special. She makes me feel different. Better.” He scrubbed his palms over his face. “I know I shouldn’t take her. She’ll always be a target. A weakness others will try to use against me and the company.”

Viktor shrugged. “We’ll handle any threats. This life? It’s lonely as fuck, and I can see the appeal of settling down. Coming home to a house with warmth and life in it, a wife waiting for your return? That sounds like a slice of heaven to me. Money’s nice and all, but it won’t keep you warm at night.”

He scoffed. “Well, it does when you use it to pay the power bill.”

Viktor rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know. You sound like you’ve been thinking about it too. You got a girl stashed away somewhere?”

Viktor stood and stretched out his neck. “Nah, I’m single like I’ve always been. You and your girl just got me thinking, that’s all. I’m going to head out. But you need to try to stop scaring the natives, yeah?”

Daniil shook his head. “Fine, I’ll rein it in. Thanks, man.”

With a nod, Viktor was gone, and once more Daniil found himself alone. He’d never minded before. In fact, he’d always preferred his own company. But since meeting his Julietta, he often found himself wishing she were with him. He thought over what Viktor had said, and he had to agree, coming home to a loving wife welcoming him would be a nice thing to have.

He’d really fucked up with Julietta, and he couldn’t just go grab her off the street. She’d go crazy on him. No, he needed to ease the way a little. She’d liked the flowers he’d sent her. He’d send some more today, then maybe some jewellery or perfume tomorrow. See if he could soften her up a little over the course of the work week, and then on Saturday, when she was out searching for the perfect photo, he’d go to her. Force her to listen to him.

Even if he had to spend the entire weekend grovelling, he would win back his lady.

CHAPTER NINE

It had been a long week, but finally it was Saturday, and Juli was free to drive up the coast to take some photos. Since leaving Rodger, she actually got to drive her little red Suzuki Vitara a lot more often. It was getting old but still ran well. She experienced the most wonderful sense of freedom when the roof was off, and the wind blew through her hair. No matter how crappy she felt, going for a drive always improved her mood. Even when there was a noisy as hell big, black Harley following her.

She cranked up her stereo in an attempt to block out the sound of the bike roaring behind her. Despite the fact she’d refused all contact with Daniil, he still insisted on her having a bodyguard each day. It was beginning to drive her nuts. Every morning, she’d tell whichever bloke he’d sent that he didn’t need to stay. She was certain they had better things to do with their day. But without fail, they would simply shake their heads and stick to her like glue. Yury had tried to plead Daniil’s case for him that first morning after their disastrous phone call, but she didn’t want to hear it. She was done with that man. Just thinking about the fact he’d videoed her masturbating so he could watch it again and again made her blood boil. How dare he! She wasn’t some bloody porn star.

Wasn’t her fault the damn man made her ache just thinking about him. Even now, after what he’d done, her body lit up like a firecracker whenever she thought about him. Which was often, especially now she had a room full of flowers and various other gifts. He’d been sending her stuff every day all week, each item arriving with a simple note saying he was sorry and asking for forgiveness. She wanted to stay mad at him, to hold on to her fury like a security blanket, but he was beginning to get to her with all the little gifts he’d sent, and the fact he still wanted her protected.

Sighing, she pulled off the road onto a little dirt track she knew ran to a small parking area. From there it was only a short walk to a section of clifftop that would give her excellent views of the ocean. She’d caught some great photos of dolphins here before. As she rolled to a stop, she idly wondered if Viktor would be pissed at having to take his bike on a dirt road. Then she shrugged off the thought. It wasn’t like she’d made him follow her out here. She grabbed her camera bag and hopped out of her car, pocketing the keys. Seeing that Viktor was on his phone, she didn’t say anything to him before she headed toward the clifftop. When she got there, she stood with her eyes closed for a minute, just taking the fresh, salty air deep within her lungs. She allowed the tension of the week to ease from her muscles before she opened her eyes, and looked around.

“Oh, awesome!”

A kilometre or so up the coast there was a section of rock that jutted out from the cliff into the ocean, and since she’d been here last, some of it had eroded away. Now, there was a beautiful archway. Dropping down to her knees, she quickly got her camera out and fitted the right lens to catch her find. When she looked back up, she got an idea for a great shot. Lying down on her stomach, she moved over to the edge of the cliff to line up the shot. At this angle, she could see breaking waves through the archway. She made a mental note to come back at dawn one day soon, to get this shot with the sunrise colours reflecting off the water. The result would be outstanding.

She was so engrossed in getting the perfect angle, she didn’t hear anything warn her before a large hand roughly grabbed her ankle and ripped her backward. A cry left her as her bare belly scraped over rocks and she lost her grip on her camera for a moment. Seeing her most prized possession land heavily on the rough ground before she could snatch it back up into her grip, had her fury spiking.

“What the fuck?”

As she cursed, she kicked out with her free leg, happy when her foot made contact hard enough to dislodge their grip. Scrambling to her feet, she turned to face her attacker, her heart jumping when she saw who it was. She’d been hoping it was just Viktor, who’d maybe panicked at seeing her so close to the cliff.

But it wasn’t Viktor. Far from it.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Rodger?”

He rubbed his forearm where she’d kicked him, as he smirked at her.

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