I was now CEO of Archer Group, and Ivan was nothing. After I finished with him, he wouldn’t have anything, either.
“Congratulations. That’s amazing.” Ava looked genuinely happy for me, but she also sounded confused and a little hurt, probably because I hadn’t mentioned something so huge to her. Then again, the changeover hadn’t been official until yesterday afternoon. No doubt the board notified Ivan, and he’d driven here first thing in the morning, intent on reaming me out.
He didn’t take his eyes off me as he said, “You and Ava should visit one day. I’m an old man who doesn’t have many friends, and I don’t like to leave the house much.” He chuckled. “I’m a bit paranoid about security, you see. I have cameras all over my home—my office, the kitchen…the library. I rarely go through all the tapes, but—” He sipped his tea. “What’s a man with too much free time to do?”
I read between the lines in an instant.
Fuck. How had I missed the cameras in the library? I’d jammed the ones in his bedroom and office and adjusted them afterward so they didn’t show any suspicious missing time periods, but my uncle had never had cameras in the other rooms before. He must’ve checked the feeds to see what I’d been up to after he received word of the coup.
He’d grown more paranoid—and I’d grown more lax.
I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Ivan and I stared at each other. The jig was up. He knew I’d seen the letters between him and my mother—the ones where he’d professed his love and begged her to leave my father, the ones where she’d rebuffed him until he grew more and more aggressive and she had to threaten him with a restraining order…the ones where he promised she would regret spurning him.
Once I had that piece of information, the rest of the puzzle fell into place—why my father and Ivan fell out, how the burglars knew so much about our family, why my uncle sometimes got a weird look on his face when we talked about my parents.. I’d known all along how narcissistic my uncle could be, and my mother’s rejection must’ve hit hard—hard enough that he’d plot his own brother’s death.
That didn’t explain why he chose Michael Chen as the scapegoat, but I’d figure it out. I wouldn’t stop until I’d peeled back every layer of Ivan’s deception and strangled him with them.
I now understood how Ava felt. I’d been lied to most of my life too, only my reaction was far less benign than hers.
“Um, sure.” Ava glanced at me. “We’ll visit someday.”
Yes. Over my dead body. Or, to be more accurate, my uncle’s dead body.
“Excellent.” Ivan set his empty mug on the table. “Well, I think I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll leave you kids alone. Alex, I’m sure we’ll talk soon.”
“I’m sure we will,” I drawled.
After he left, Ava and I sat in silence, eyeing each other warily. I wanted to pull her to me, kiss her and reassure her, but everything had gotten so fucking complicated. Not to mention, she still didn’t know the truth about me and what I did.
She won’t find out. The only other person who knew was my uncle, and he would be out of the picture soon.
A better person would tell her the truth, but I’d rather be the villain with her by my side than the hero who risked losing her because of a misguided sense of morality.
What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
“Your uncle is not what I expected,” she finally said. “He’s very…slick.”
That pulled a small smile out of me. She didn’t like him, either. Atta girl.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your promotion?” she asked. “That’s huge news! We should’ve celebrated or something.”
“It wasn’t official until yesterday. Thought I’d announce it as a Christmas surprise.” That was partly true.
Ava sighed, her expression growing sad. “I miss you, Alex.”
God, this girl. She had no clue what she did to me. “I miss you too, Sunshine.” I opened my arms, and she climbed into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. I breathed in her scent, my heart aching. I wanted to keep her here, safe and cherished, forever. Fuck the rest of the world. It could burn for all I cared.
“I don’t want to fight, but…” Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. “You have been acting strange lately. If something is wrong, you know you can tell me and we’ll figure it out together, right?”
“I know.” How was she so amazing? Anyone who’d gone through what she had would’ve locked themselves away from the rest of the world by now, but not Ava. She was always thinking of others.
I didn’t deserve her.
“Is it because I told you I—” She paused, pink blossoming on her cheeks. “I loved you?”
“Of course not.” I tightened my hold and kissed her. “You know I’d do anything for you.”
“Okay, because you started acting weird right after…”
“It’s work,” I lied. “I’ve been stressed about the CEO transition.” Also partly true.
It was a testament to Ava’s trust that she took my words at face value. “You’ll be a great CEO.” She brushed her lips over a sensitive spot on my neck, and my cock jumped with interest. I hadn’t touched her in a week, and I was dying to tie her down and have my way with her. “Now, how about we alleviate that stress…”
I responded with a wicked grin. “I like the way you think.”
But as I carried her upstairs and fucked her in every position until she couldn’t scream anymore, the sense of impending doom hovering over me remained.
35
Alex
My world crashed down two weeks after my uncle’s visit.
I was driving to work when I received a call from Ivan “requesting” I visit him ASAP. He’d been suspiciously quiet since he was dethroned as CEO, but I knew why. I also knew why he’d asked for a visit—I’d been expecting it.
I called my assistant and told her to cancel the rest of my meetings for the day and made it to Philadelphia in two hours flat.
I slowed my steps as I walked up the stairs to my uncle’s office, sure he had cameras monitoring my every move since I pulled up to the estate’s gates.
I found him sitting behind his desk, watching his beloved Russian drama on the TV.
“Hello, uncle.” I leaned against the wall and stuffed my hands in my pockets, the picture of casual indifference.
Ivan’s eye twitched. “So you finally made it, you little shit.”
I suppressed a smile. My uncle rarely cursed; he must have been out of his mind with anger. I could see why; he looked horrible. I spotted a bald spot in his hair, as well as scaly red patches and a few nasty-looking pustular eruptions on his skin. His face looked haggard, his complexion wan.
For someone as vain as my uncle, the deterioration of his looks must be a living nightmare.
“I’ll always make time to visit my favorite uncle.” My only uncle, though not for much longer. “You don’t look so well. Stressed over losing your job?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You’re handing the CEO position back to me.”
I almost laughed out loud. “Why would I do that?”
“Because.” Ivan leaned back and laced his hands over his stomach. “I have something you want, and I have a feeling you’ll do anything to get it back—including resigning from Archer Group, reinstating me as CEO, and wiring me fifty million dollars. For the emotional distress,” he explained.
His mental facilities must be deteriorating faster than his physical appearance if he thought I would do any of those things.
“Sure you do,” I said indulgently. “Let’s see what this magical ‘something’ is first.”
“Did I say ‘something’?” Ivan’s eyes glowed with malice. “I meant ‘someone.’ Bring them in.” He barked the last statement in Russian.
There was a scuffle outside the door, and my blood ran cold when a massive man in camo pants and dog tags entered, dragging two bound and gagged girls behind him.
Ava and Bridget.
They stared at me, fear stamped on every inch of their faces.
It took every ounce of willpower not to display a visible reaction.