Page 278 of Sexting His Assistant

A horrible realization moves through me.

I have been fighting with Luka because I thought he did not trust me enough.

But that was never the full truth.

He trusted me more than I understood.

I look at Meredith. “You were jealous.”

Her face hardens. “I was realistic.”

“You decided I had to go.”

“Yes,” she says. There’s no hesitation there.

“You helped set up Misha,” I say.

“He set himself up by getting involved with Alina.”

“Because you and Oleg pushed her into Luka’s world.”

“She chose to betray us,” Meredith says.

“She was scared.”

“So was I,” Meredith snaps.

The warehouse goes quiet.

For the first time, Meredith looks close to losing control. “I spent years close enough to power to be used by it, never close enough to be protected by it,” she says. “Do you know what that is like?”

I stare at her. “That does not justify this.”

“No,” Meredith says. “But it explains why I stopped being loyal to people who were never loyal to me.”

Misha coughs. The sound drags my attention back to him instantly.

“Misha,” I say.

He blinks slowly. I can see him trying to focus on me.

“Don’t listen,” he rasps.

Meredith looks at him. “Still trying to protect her.”

“From idiots,” Misha breathes.

Kirill moves toward him again. “Say that again.”

Oleg says, “Enough.”

Kirill stops, breathing hard.

I look at Oleg. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Oleg glances at Meredith.

Meredith looks back at me. Her face is calm again. “Because you won’t be alive to tell anyone the truth,” she says.