Love Thy Enemy (Red Stone Security #13)(12)

The remaining man looked just as uneasy.

“Leave us,” Viktor said to his brother—whose name she still didn’t know—and the remaining man.

Once they were gone, he motioned that she could sit across the booth from where he’d been sitting.

She swallowed hard, wondering why she’d thought it was a good idea to just show up here. Viktor was huge and had a ruthless reputation. Clearly she needed to get her head on straight. She paused, unsure if she should sit or not.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he snapped.

She jumped at the harsh tone.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. Please sit.”

Pushing out a breath, she did—because she wanted answers. “Why the heck did you send over that contract to me this morning?” The question came out as a half shout, making her cringe at herself. “Sorry, I’m just… Well, why did you?”

He was sitting ramrod straight, looking uncomfortable as he watched her. As if he didn’t want her here any more than she wanted to be here. “It has come to my attention that my family owes you a debt.”

She clenched her jaw tightly. A debt? A house wouldn’t come close to making up for what she’d lost. “So you’re just offering to give me my childhood home?” A place that held a lot of good memories. It was like he was dangling the best carrot ever in front of her but there was no way she could take it.

He nodded once.

“In exchange for what?”

He blinked. “Nothing. It’s a gift.”

“You can’t offer a gift like that and think I’m going to believe you want nothing in return!”

He shifted against his seat, looking uncomfortable. Something told her he wasn’t often uncomfortable. “I don’t want anything. It’s yours. I didn’t get much from my father when he died, but your parents’ house was part of my trust. I didn’t…know what he’d done until yesterday.”

Even if he sounded sincere she still didn’t know if she believed him. And she regretted coming here. She should have just ignored the contract, ignored everything. Especially since it seemed clear that he must know about her parents, about her mother. It made her feel vulnerable in a way she hadn’t in a long time. “I don’t want it.”

“It’s yours. My father hurt a lot of people.” There was a strained note in his voice, but she didn’t know him well enough to be sure. “I know the house doesn’t make up for anything, but I can’t keep it. Not now. It’s been on a rental program for years since it’s on the beach. It has high ratings and does well in the summers so if you do the same thing with it you’ll make a nice yearly income from it. I can recommend a property management company to run it if you’d like.”

No. This was not happening. The world didn’t work this way.

Unable to find her voice she abruptly stood. She didn’t want the house, didn’t want anything from him and it pissed her off that he thought giving her the property would somehow make up for what his father had done.

And yet, part of her felt conflicted. He was supposed to be a monster just like his father, and now she didn’t know what to think. She turned, ready to run out of there, when his hand lightly clasped her wrist.

She turned back to him but wouldn’t meet his gaze. Instead she stared at his broad, muscled chest. Now she was glad he was taller than her so she didn’t have to look into his eyes. And she hated that she noticed how attractive he was.

“Please take it,” he murmured. “Sell it, do whatever you want. But take it.” There was a sort of desperation in his voice, as if he meant every word.

He just wanted her to take it so his conscience could be eased. And that wasn’t going to happen. “That house…is the last place I remember being happy with my parents.” Her voice broke on the last word and to her horror she started crying.

No! This was even worse than crying at work. Breaking down in front of the man she’d thought was a monster for so long, a man who was supposedly giving her such a huge gift with no expectations—she tried to rein in her tears, but when he made a distressed sound and awkwardly patted her on the back in a half-hug she couldn’t stop herself no matter how hard she tried.

Almost against her will she found herself leaning into the very man she’d always thought of as her enemy.





Chapter 5





Viktor had never felt more at a loss in his life. He had no experience with crying women. He didn’t know if she wanted any comfort and he didn’t want to risk her shoving him away if he pulled her into his arms. Even if the thought of holding her close was something he’d been fantasizing about. No matter how stupid. So he awkwardly patted her back. If she was his he’d do more than this—he’d pull her into his arms, wipe away her tears and bring her pleasure, make her forget why she was in pain.

“Do you want to sit?” he murmured. Maybe he never should have sent that contract over. Maybe he should have contacted her first. But he hadn’t thought she would want to see him or talk to him. Not after their last meeting. He’d just wanted to make things as right as he could. Upsetting her was the last thing he wanted to do, but clearly he’d made a mistake.

She nodded and swiped away her tears before collapsing on the edge of the booth seat.