Page 51 of Vienna Bliss

Under it was a single loose pearl.

He picked up all the bits of scarf, a second pearl, and then straightened.

His heart was hammering in his chest and he felt vaguely ill because he knew where those pearls had come from.

As soon as he was upright he saw it—her pearl collar on the counter, kitchen scissors beside it. One strand was broken, the bits of thread where the two pearls he held should have been exposed.

Alexander set everything down and turned to the hall.

Emotions hammered him with each step he took. Worry, because he knew something had happened that had made her cut the choker. Confusion, because he couldn’t understand why she’d both cut the necklace and then taken it off.

And maybe a bit of resentment. He was tired. It had been a long, frustrating day, and he would much prefer to spend some time pleasuring her, then himself, rather than dealing with whatever the latest crisis was.

Alena was in bed, asleep. It was late, but not so late that he’d expected she would have been in bed.

Lying on her stomach, he couldn’t see her face—her head was turned away from the door, but her hair looked a bit damp as if she’d gotten into bed directly from the shower. She had both the sheet and duvet over her, with just the top of what looked to be a gray t-shirt peeking out above it.

Alexander went to the wardrobe, taking the time to change from his suit into a pair of navy lounge pants. She hadn’t moved, so she was deeply asleep. He could slide into bed beside her, but though he was tired, he wasn’t sleepy, and seeing her in his bed was making him far less tired than he’d been a minute ago.

They’d have sex—something simple, maybe even vanilla—and then get dinner. Order in from one of his favorite restaurants rather than wake up Chef. Then maybe a simple scene before bed.

A nice, normal night.

Alexander planted one fist on the bed by her waist and ran the other hand up the back of her leg, from knee to ass, then gave her ass a friendly squeeze.

He wasn’t prepared for her reaction.

Alena jerked, shrieked “fuck!”, and scrambled across the bed away from him. She didn’t get far, the covers tangling around her legs.

“Wha…” Alexander backed up, hands raised. Had he woken her up out of a nightmare?

Alena was kneeling on the bed, her back still to him, the sheets tangled around her legs. As he watched, she hugged herself, her head falling forward.

Something was very wrong.

Alexander circled around to the other side of the bed and crouched so he could see her face through the tangled curtain of her hair. He wanted to touch her, hold her, but he had a terrible feeling he knew who the monster in her nightmares was…

Him.

Bile rose in his throat and he wanted to rage and break things, but that would make him feel better…maybe. It wouldn’t help her.

There were a thousand things he wanted to say. Some he’d said before—I’m sorry. And some he’d never spoken aloud—I love you.

He took a few deep breaths, made sure the words were ready and clear before he spoke. “You’re safe.”

He rose and backed away before turning and heading for the door. He’d sleep in the guest room and in the morning he was going to put a stop to all this. The damned “gala” was in less than forty-eight hours but Alena was having nightmares. She was the one sitting in on meetings, dropping hints to Absolon. She was the one he’d played with and fucked to put on a show for the man.

Alexander would just fire him. He’d find a reason, one that had nothing to do with the man’s misuse of his company’s resources. Interpol could continue their investigation and then Alena…

Alena wouldn’t be on a plane forty-eight hours from now.

Rolf had insisted that they make everything as believable as possible. That meant there would be a party. Guests—even if most of them were Interpol—would arrive. They would enjoy the decor, food, and wine, and at the end of the evening, Alena would be seen leaving with Rolf. She would get on a plane to Paris.

And she would stay gone. Stay out of his life to sell the lie that he wanted her gone.

“I need to tell you something.”

Alena’s words stopped him. Alexander put his hand on the doorframe and looked back over his shoulder at her.