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.He doesn’t deserve someone like her,” Mark forced between clinched teeth his tone acid.“Scaring her didn’t work.”“What do you mean?”“I paid a few of the men to harass her a little so she’d come to me, and she did.It worked.She confided in me.”“So why isn’t she on our side?”“She likes Heinemann’s.I talked her out of going back to America, but she’s faithful to her contract and her clients.”“She already turned down GCT once, why would she accept your offer?”“I’m fattening up the sign on package.And more important to Bethany…I’ve never cheated on her.”They were using Mikhail’s infidelity against them to break her.Bethany put her face in her hands.All this because of her high dividends? No way.“Mikhail’s going to do whatever he can to keep her and her numbers here.I can’t fight that, but he can’t fight the past.When we found her in that cabinet, she turned to me, not Mikhail.They may flirt around one another, but Ms.Cansler trusts me.”Mikhail’s fists were so tight the knuckles paled against his skin.“Then capitalize on that relationship.You’re missing a big opportunity to get her to leave Heinemann’s.”“I have one more opportunity then I think she’ll be more than willing to join me.”The man with the tight voice added, “Let’s get outta here, I need my allergy pill.Who can work in this much dust?” Their steps trailed scratching over the floorboards.Bethany pushed Mikhail away, getting to her feet.Searching the dark for her jacket large hands closed around her waist.A hard jaw found her cheek and a thick solid chest pressed along the plane of her back.This was a conspiracy, tearing at her common sense.People were lying to her about who they are and what they wanted.Creating situations to shake her view of Mikhail and it worked.This was her fault for not talking to Mikhail sooner, resolving their issues and making the relationship they had stronger.She leaned back, taking a minute to calm down.Her heart sank from those words.Did the cunning ever stop?Mikhail shook his head, then brought his face down to whisper in her ear.“Stay with me on this.Don’t let ’em shake your confidence.I’ve wanted you to succeed here in Austria from the start.It’s why I selected your profile.And if you believe I’ve slept with half the women in the office, I’ll drive you to the airport tonight.”“I wouldn’t be here, if I felt that way, Khail.You know that,” she reassured him.It helped to hear her conviction.She did want him.Never stopped wanting him and probably never would.“I’m angry that I missed his fangs, going to him like a coward, when you’re who I want and are a part of who I am.They can say what they want, but I’m still right here in your arms.”“Thank you, baby for trusting me.And I’m not letting you go.” Mikhail clicked the switch on the lamp, shining light on her face.“But from here on out it’s going to get harder, and we have to be there for each other.”“I’m here,” she said.He held her tighter.She sank against his chest.“How can I be such a menace to them when the office is full of talented investors? And how dare he use me like that, sending those men to harass me.”“Don’t you see, you’re the face of the modern woman, and I’m the man who brought you to Heinemann’s? The media attention will be worth more in the coming months than the few dollars I’ll earn off the dividends.He wants you.”“You’ve said all along you believed in my skills.” She stopped trying to get free of his hold on her as he raised a hand to press his palm to her cheek.“Not only do we have some crazy going around, we have to fight corporate and the media.”“We fight this together, Cansler.”“I’m sure as heck not fighting this alone.” Bethany held his hand to her lips when she spoke.“Not while I have you in my life.”Chapter 17BethanyNow that she knew why he ran from a real relationship, it was time she brought him into her nightmare.“You trusted me enough to share your pain.It’s time I fully shared why knives have such a paralyzing hold over me.” She blew out a breath, pulling his arms tighter to her body.“I was seventeen and Robert, my brother, was twelve…” The picture began to materialize before her making her words heavy in her mouth and on her heart.“I won’t judge you, Bethany,” he offered rocking slowly from side to side.She shuddered.“I killed my baby brother…”Each word sucked a little oxygen from her lungs, squeezing her body into a mangled twist of nerves.Bethany fought the visions as they crowded into her mind, lining up waiting to spill out on the floor in bright red haunting memories.She swallowed.He hadn’t left her.The rock solid plane of his chest was still at her back.Could he make it through the entire memory? Forcing herself not to look back at the man who doesn’t have a clue what vault of horror he unchained, Bethany opened her mouth and let the story unfold.“I didn’t mean to do it, Khail.He wasn’t supposed to be back there…I didn’t know.” Her arms wrapped tight around her body as if to keep her heart from slipping down to her stomach, where acids would make it appear as horrible as she felt.Tears poured down her face [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]