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“You’re doing a terrible job of it, then.”

“I know. I was a coward.”

I look up at him, taken aback by his response.

“I screwed up, Alma. I’m sorry.”

The look we exchange lasts an eternity. Our breathing gradually calms, and when words fail us, our eyes speak instead. Then our lips draw closer, brush against each other, seek each other, and finally unite. His mouth is warm and soft. His hands roam over my body. Mine tug at his hair. As I kiss him, I try to forget, but a wave of anger washes over me again, and I push him away. Vadim tries to stop me, but I wrench myself away from him.

“Don’t do this,” he murmurs. “Please…”

With his kiss still lingering on my lips, I glare at him. “Kate humiliated me right in front of you, and you didn’t do a thing. You didn’t even bat an eye!”

He sighs. “I didn’t know what to think anymore.”

“I never would have doubted you like that! Even back then, even when the whole world was accusing you—”

“Do you have to bring up the past, Lancaster? Dig up old wounds?”

Our gazes collide and fight a silent battle. Then, his expression softens.

“I regret not standing up for you and Lily, but if you had talked to me sooner, this would already be behind us.”

“You didn’t give me a good reason to hear you out!”

My cell phone rings, and I go to answer it, but Vadim takes my arm.

“You’ve been punishing yourself for nothing, Alma. I could have told you the very next day that your sister was innocent and that we’d found the real culprit.”

I open my eyes wide and let the call go to voicemail.

“Who?!”

“A new employee who’d just started in distribution, some guy named Johan. He came from Skylight Pictures.”

“Why would he choose Lily?”

“Because, as the newest arrival in the department, she was an easy target. He used her computer so she’d take the fall for everything.”

“And it worked.”

“When you took off after Kate lost it, I was caught off guard. But I knew that, to get you back, I had to catch the culprit.”

“Get me back?”

“Your office is waiting for you, Alma. Your coworkers, too. They think you took a few days off for… How do you say it in French? Family obligations?”

“Are you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” That damn smirk returns.

“Kate said it was her or me.”

“If she’s not happy, she can leave,” Vadim answers, stepping closer again.

We resume our little dance. I step back as he moves forward, our eyes challenging each other.

“And what about us?”