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“Where are you, dushka?” he asked softly as he rolled from her body onto his back and pulled her with him.
“In a place I shouldn’t be.”
“Here with me?”
“Partly, but as I am here with you, I’m not in a headspace you’d want me to be.”
He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. “Talk to me. What concerns you concerns me.”
“I don’t need your protection, Viktor. I’m quite good at standing up for myself.”
“No doubt. Your parents founded Ravenel Reliance after the Ravenel family kicked your father out and disowned him. They did moderately well and were known for honesty and integrity regionally. But from the time they died and you took over, you have guided and driven the company to become recognized worldwide as an authority on art, antiquities, artifacts, and gems. Not only do you provide keenly accurate valuations for insurance companies, investors, museums, and the like, but you have been involved in the recovery of lost or stolen articles, and your ability to locate things for people has become a thing of myth and legend.”
She was impressed and concerned at the same time. How did he seem to know so much about her? He seemed to see right through her.
“You forget Carriage House is loosely associated with Cerberus. They handle our background checks for all potential members.”
“I’m not a member and I’m not sure how I feel about you running a background check on me.”
“I have yet to request Cerberus compile a report on you. Given your association with Fitzwallace and your friendship with JJ, I don’t know that they’d take the job.”
“Then…”
“As I am sure you have figured out by now, your sisters are both members. So I know a great deal about you by association. You should also know that your reputation here in the city and around the world is top notch.”
“Why didn’t they tell me?”
“Because they feared you wouldn’t understand.”
“Even if I didn’t understand, I never would have judged them.”
“Had they thought about it, I’m sure they knew that, but your approval means a lot to them, especially Tegan. They were not yet at a point in the lifestyle that they were willing to risk either you or the club. Why do you despise Toney?”
“I never said I despised him…”
“No, you just watch him like one watches a poisonous viper as it slithers across the floor and were quick to jump to an erroneous assumption about the nature of my business relationship.”
“He is a snake, and he makes my stomach turn.” Viktor said nothing, content to wait for her to continue in her own time. “Mind you, I have nothing to base this on except my gut, but I’ve always suspected my parents’ accident wasn’t an accident.”
“And you think Toney was involved?”
She nodded. “And I have even less evidence connecting him to their deaths.”
“Do your sisters know?”
“About my suspicions? No, and I would appreciate you not telling them.”
“What you say to me stays with me. If they don’t know what you believe about your parents’ death, then why do they think you despise him?”
“He’s made no secret of the fact that he wants me. He’s gone out of his way to try and manufacture a relationship with me. He’s given us business, put in a good word for us, et cetera, but it’s all to try and get to me. I’ve never given him any cause to think I had any interest in him whatsoever. Good god, Viktor, he’s old enough to be my father. In fact, I think he’s older than my father.” She shivered. “He makes my skin crawl.”
“Has he tried anything inappropriate or threatening?”
“On more than one occasion. He tries to get me alone, tries to rub up against me. I can handle him, but it’s really creepy.”
“He will not bother you again.”
She sat up and looked down at him. “I’m not sure how to take that. Are you threatening him? And why doesn’t that repulse me in the way it should?”
