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A knock on the door kept her silent

He opened it to unifor table into an inti wine Soft rant flowers coe sauce and rich braised duck

Unsteady in her heels, Clairto frame her suspicion in a way that didn’t demean her any further than she already was

When they were alone, she cleared her throat “You said earlier—” Was it only a few hours ago they’d stood in her flat setting out ter! “You said that you’d been targeting the fir up to his heart attack Was that from the takeover?”

The implication behind her simple question crashed and reverberated in Aleksy’s head, as swift and unexpected as the knife that had cut the line into his face A dark maelstrom of emotion threatened, the kind he hadn’t allowed hi he felt or didn’t feel, but it shocked hi out of hie

“Are you accusinghim? Intentionally?” He was able to keep his tone impersonal, but she didn’t mistake the threat beneath She paled

“N-no” Her voice eak

“Because I’ve been targeted for takeovers many times It never raisesand rown hypertensive, but that’s because he didn’t take care of hiht, sedentary lifestyle would never catch up to him” His entire body ached with tension

“I know I told him—”

“I don’t want to hear what you told him,” he snapped with a slip of control that made her jump “I know et him I want his entire existence obliterated”

He was revealing more than he intended to, but it would put an end to any lared at the elegantly simple dress that showed her delicate curves to perfection, offended that Victor had paid for it, that anything about the man had ever come in contact with her

She sat pri her hands in her lap, her spine straight, her eyes downcast He didn’t apologize; he wanted the e driven hoain