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When I left my office, I found her in the living room, curled up on the couch, WWE wrestling on in the background as she tried to read a magazine. She looked so small and vulnerable. But I knew better. She wasn’t that same girl.
She was Diana. She was mine. And I needed to fucking act like it. “I think I need your help.”
She lifted her head and glanced at me. “You’re talking to me now?”
I clenched my jaw for a minute. I deserved that. “Sorry. I was just stunned for a moment. I’m getting over it. Just give me time.”
She gave me a brusque nod. “What do you need?”
I opened the laptop and sat next to her, her scent immediately wafting over to me, teasing me, making me forget why I’d come over again.Damn it.Focus. “Look, I’m going over that night. And these files. There’s nothing there about a diamond. Am I missing something?
She frowned. “I don’t know. The diamond is big enough to fit in the palm of my hand. I just remember it being pretty. It’s been a decade since I’ve seen it.”
“The only details I have on it were that it was passed down from women in your family for generations. It was a family heirloom. There’s been some chatter about it. As you said, Boris Klinkov wants it. And he’s making it clear to anyone who will listen. I think he’s obsessed with it.”
Diana muttered a curse. “Yeah… I saw that in your files. Boris has no legitimate claim to it without me. And for some reason he wants that legitimacy. I guess I thought you took it. I don’t remember registering it was gone until sometime after Papa’s funeral.”
Fuck. I took her hands. “Diana, I’m so sorry.” I shook my head. “I never meant for you to see that.”
She nodded. “I’m coming to terms with it after all this time. Since I’ve been here. Since I met you.”
“When did you find out? About your father?”
“The night I broke into your safe. I expected to find the diamond. Instead, I found the files on that organization you used to work for. ORUS. I found out what my father was. That you were sent to kill him.”
Shit. “Diana. I’m not sorry that I did my job. I am, however, sorry that it cost you someone you loved.”
She cast her glance down at her hands. “I loved him. But I’m not even quite certain that he loved me. Maybe in his own way. But hesoldme. Like I was nothing. To be truthful, I didn’t know him at all. Even when he was there, he was barely there. He spoiled me. Doted on me occasionally. But he never spent any time with me. I don’t have any memories of those fond times with him playing with me. My mother though, I have lots of memories of her. And I was relieved not to find her in your files.”
“As far as we could tell, she was legitimate. Just had the misfortune of marrying the wrong man.”
“I suppose that’s a comfort.”
“Please think. Is there anything else you remember?”
Her brow furrowed. “The diamond was there in his office the night before. I saw it in his safe as he retrieved his diamond cuff links. I remember how the moonlight made it sparkle. I asked Papa to tell me the story of how he and my mother met again. He was getting ready to go, and he didn’t have time for me.”
“I remember. The reason the boss opted for the hit on the night we did, was because the night before, your father had been at the Renfield Ball with your brothers.”
“It was at least there that night. I don’t remember much from the night…” Her voice trailed.
Fuck. I was a special kind of monster.
Had Orion known all along that I was working for the feds? If so, then why not kill me? Unless the hint of legitimacy was what helped him get what he needed. And maybe casting blame on me took care of two birds with one stone. An assassin made for the perfect fall guy.
“He probably sent someone else to grab the diamond the night of the ball and then sent me to do the dirty work.”
“I can’t believe that kind of man exists.”
“He’ll never hurt you again.”
She licked her lips. “So if you didn’t take the diamond, then what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to find your birthright, and I’m going to protect you from Interpol and from your brothers. They only way anyone is getting to you is over my dead body.”
* * *
Diana
