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“No. He sold the drugs to the wrong kind of buyer. That man in the white suit. He was no executive from a pharmaceutical company. He was a man just like me.”
I pull away and roll onto my back, staring up at the ceiling, and Killian turns on his side and watches me with a dark stormy gaze.
“The house you rescued me from. Is it yours?”
“Yes.”
“So, you sell women for money.”
For some reason, there is no emotion in my voice. I just want the facts so I know what I’m dealing with and Killian says softly.
“I won’t lie to you, Purity. I have two sides to my personality. The genuine businessman who works legitimately and rescues companies or puts them out of their misery. The one who donates millions to charity and employs thousands of people. Then there is my family’s business. The one my grandfather founded. The drugs, prostitution and gambling are a business too. They employ many people and exploit many others. Once again, I give people jobs. I give them options and they only need to fear me if they betray me. It’s as simple as that.”
“Betray you.” I turn to face him, once again drowning in those mysterious eyes.
“What happens if they betray you, Killian?”
I watch as his eyes darken and the rage burns brightly inside them and he says casually, “I dispose of them.”
“As in…”
“Remove them from life or from the situation. Take Gabriella, for instance.”
“Miss. Sinclair?”
He nods. “She went against me. Betrayed me and took me for a fool.”
“What will happen to her?”
“It already has. She lost her job, her position in my business, and her options. She didn’t hang around and found alternative employment and that is what told me everything I needed to know.”
“How?” I am fascinated by his world. It’s something I have never even considered before, and how can I judge unless I know all the facts?
“She hooked up with my father, which some may say was punishment in itself, but I’m aware their connection goes back further than that.”
He stares at me with a hard expression, and I can tell his next question is important.
“The day you first met her. Think about the man in the white suit. Did you see him tonight?”
I’m surprised at his question and yet something is niggling at the back of my mind, and I think back on the people at the gala.
Then I cast my mind back to that day many years ago and concentrate on the man I snatched a fleeting glimpse of.
It’s as if I am seeing the scene with fresh eyes as the back story connects and as the man walks away from my house, I realize immediately who he was.
“Your father!” I sit up and say with a rush. “Oh my God, Killian. Miss. Sinclair was there with your father. Did you know? Was it planned?”
He sits beside me and locks his fingers with mine and says with a dead voice, “No, Purity. It was most definitely not planned. He is a traitor. It’s why he wasn’t at our island wedding. My grandfather told him never to return because in one sentence he sealed his fate and revealed where his loyalties lay. I wasn’t aware at the time what my grandparents knew, but when we were there, my grandfather showed me a photograph. It was taken the day they came to your home. You were there talking to Gabriella when he emerged from the house. The man in the white suit was Benito Vieri, and he was negotiating his own deal with your father and cutting his family out.”
“But he didn’t do a deal. I told you what I heard.”
“Yes. He is the monkey, not the organ grinder. So, all that remains is to find the man calling the shots and there are two people who can help with that.”
He turns and stares at me long and hard and says darkly, “My father and Gabriella. It’s why I’m preoccupied. Why I am closed off because I need to be. Living in my world is a dangerous place to be and I don’t want you caught up in it. I want you to see the good side of me. The successful businessman who runs Gold Hawk Enterprises and helps charities with the profits. You are the good in me, Purity, and I want it to stay that way. I want you to stay because I never really expected you to become as important to me as you are.”
I have no words. There is no comeback to that. It’s as if he is laying his heart open for me to do with what I want. I am powerless against his honesty because he has neutralized every doubt in my mind and so I consider him with a blank expression and say with a small sigh.
“I’m not leaving you, Killian, but I don’t want you to lie to me—ever. Even if I won’t like what I hear, I want to know. I will be your wife as arranged in the contract that we signed. I will even try to love you, as agreed. But I will not tolerate secrets in our marriage. I am not that impressionable girl who left Heaven. I deserve your respect, as you will deserve mine.”
