“The elders,” she rasped.
“Leave anything out, and I will override their ruling.Now, thank my mate, Lianna.If she hadn’t stopped me, you’d already be dead.”
She lifted her gaze to mine.Reality had killed whatever enmity she held for me and her hope for Konni.
“Thank you, Sophia,” she barely managed.
Instead of acknowledging it, I went to Konni, kissed his cheek, and went to check on Edi, who was doing crowd control at the entrance of the suite.If the entire office hadn’t known what Konni was before today, they probably did now, thanks to Lianna.
The “elder,” who showed up within ten minutes, took Lianna away after a brief, quiet conversation with Konni.
Konni’s mood didn’t improve with her removal.He stood in his office, facing the window and staring out at the city.I came up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“I don’t think you’re sad about how you treated her.And now we know who was behind my kidnapping,” I said.“So what’s still bothering you?”
“She knew, better than anyone, how important a mate is to our kind, and she still went after you.”
“Ah.This is lingering rage, then.I have a way to help with that.”I blatantly slid my hand down the front of his pants and listened to his deep, cleansing breath with a grin.“Feeling less ragey?”
“Not yet.Keep going.”
I chuckled, and he turned around to capture me in his arms.
“I love you, Sophia.Forever.Under any circumstances.Always.”
“You’re growing on me, too.Now, I’d like to talk about a lunch date with my friends.”
It took very little for him to agree to a lunch gathering in his office.While he called his family to let them know what happened, I ordered in for the entire floor to make up for the scare.
Konni’s cell phone rang,interrupting our midafternoon cuddle session.
“Ignore it,” he said.
“Can’t.I promised five minutes and delivered.”
He groaned as I got off his lap and handed him his phone.The playful pout on his face disappeared when he saw the number.He answered on speaker.
“Did she confess?”he asked.
“She did,” a man said.
The elder confirmed what I’d already guessed—Lianna’s actions began when she overheard Konni wanted to hire me.She’d started small with the file thefts.When that didn’t work, she’d given me tasks she thought I’d fail so she could fire me.And when that didn’t work, she’d gone a completely different route.
Konni pulled me back onto his lap as the man continued.
“After investigating Sophia’s background, she contacted the current Mrs.Elmantas.Rather than negotiating an investment contract with the Stonestocks to remove Sophia from Steele Corp as Lianna had hoped, Mrs.Elmantas advised discretion and suggested testing Ms.Elmantas’s unknown relationship with Drokonnen first.”
“The data leak,” I said.
“Yes,” the man said.“According to Lianna, it was Mrs.Elmantas’s suggestion.She had assured Lianna that sending it to Sophia’s father would force a termination without causing actual harm to Steele Corp., no matter what your connection.
“Did she blame everything on Charlotte Elmantas, then?”Konni asked, his voice tight.
“No.Lianna was solely responsible for the reporter ambush, repeatedly paying for media defamation, instigating Edward Glibs, and the incident at the golf course.She has no idea about the car accident or the house fire.If they weren’t accidental, she wasn’t involved.
“As for the kidnapping, after overhearing Ms.Elmantas’s plans for a dress fitting, she reached out to Charlotte Elmantas again, who suggested sending her to Hestian.”
Konni’s calm had evaporated at the mention of Edward Glibs.By the end, he radiated anger.If Lianna had been close, I think he would have finished strangling her.
