Yet I also knew that allowing Tori to participate in my plans to bring down my father and the shady side of KZM would mean putting her in harm’s way. I couldn’t allow that. Worse, I was well aware that if we weren’t careful, my father would do to Tori what he’d done to Anja. He’d make her disappear. And I couldn’t bear the thought. Not after all we had been through.
Everything about this situation seemed impossible. It didn’t help that whenever I thought of her, my head immediately filled with images of all the filthy things I had done to her. The things I still wanted to do to her. I couldn’t concentrate.
I wished I could take her on another honeymoon. A real one, where we did nothing but stay in bed and explore each other bodies. Each other’s fantasies.
She was so hot. So responsive. Tori might not be a virgin anymore, but she still approached every sexual experience like a beginner. Everything we did, everything I taught her, was exciting and new to her. I’d never been so turned on by a woman before. And without any secrets between us, our newfound intimacy had heightened everything. We’d practically set the sheets on fire this past weekend, stopping only long enough to eat and talk.
And every time we had talked, Tori had done her best to convince me that she needed to be a part of my plan to see justice served, and to dismantle the sex trafficking aspect of KZM.
She had found numerous ways to be very, very persuasive with her argument.
My mind was replaying some of the more intense persuasive moments when the door to my office slammed open and my father stormed in, in a furious rage. His face was red, his normally impeccable tie askew, and he was clutching a fistful of papers in his hand.
“What the fuck?” he yelled. “Is this?”
I stood from my chair, lifting my hands to appease him. I had no idea what I was in for, but it was far from the first time I’d been subjected to my father’s rages—he was volatile and unpredictable. He’d been this way my entire life. Given my familiarity with his temper, I forced my face into a conciliatory, neutral expression. It never served me to stoop to his level or to show any sign of emotion—especially weakness or fear. My father was like a bomb, but you never knew what would set him off. It was best to say as little as possible when he was like this.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“Thisis the problem.” Konstantin slammed the crumpled fistful of papers down on my desk. “What do you know about this?”
As I leaned down to smooth out the pages, I saw that they were photographs. They were so grainy that I could barely make out the details, but I recognized the general features of the faces I was looking at. It was Tori. And that fucking asshole Gavin. Her classmate.
I slid the pictures around on my desk, fanning them out, keeping my expression passive.
“To be honest, I can hardly tell what I’m looking at,” I said.
“Then look harder.”
My father’s face grew redder, and he pushed one of the photos toward me, rotating it so I could get a better look. It was Tori and Gavin sitting side by side, almost on the same chair.
For a moment, I thought they were the same pictures Dmitri had sent from the pizza parlor—the ones that had shown Gavin leaning forward to kiss my wife—but upon closer inspection, it was clear that these were completely different. Tori and Gavin were in a library. The reason they were so close was because they were huddled around a textbook. Studying.
I stared at the photos, playing innocent, but inside I was fuming. Was my father spying on Tori as well, or had Dmitri double crossed me? Either way, he was going to need to be replaced. Even if he wasn’t sending pictures to my father, he was clearly a shit bodyguard if he hadn’t noticed other people hanging around and taking pictures of my wife.
“Do you know about this?” my father roared, stabbing the page with his finger.
Tugging it out from under his finger, I made a show of examining the photo again.
“I’m not sure what there is to know.” I sat back down in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest, looking him in the eye. “She goes to school. She’s in a study group. This is a picture of her studying, in that group. Is there something significant about that?”
My father looked like he wanted to punch something. Like he wanted to punch me.
“My son is an idiot,” he sneered. He picked up the photo again and held it in front of my nose. “You know who this is? This is Gavin fucking Chase.”
“Okay?” I kept my expression blank, not indicating that I already knew Gavin’s name.
“His brother works for the DOD!” my father exploded. “As an agent against trafficking. And he’s hanging around your wife!”
He was pointing at me now, and I had to shake my head. Inside, I was in shock.
“So what do you think this means?” I asked carefully.
“Itmeans,” he said, pacing the office now, “that this little shit is trying to infiltrate our operations through Tori. Or at minimum, he’s trying to get information out of her.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” I said.
“This isn’t a coincidence, Stefan,” he shot back. “Get your head out of your ass.”
