Either way, we have a traitor in our inner circle. Someone who’s been stealing from us while sitting at our dinner table, attending family meetings, pretending loyalty while planning betrayal.
I gather the forged documents into a neat stack. “What do we do?”
“We set a trap and see who takes the bait.”
“What kind of trap?”
Alaric’s expression is grim. “Leave that to me.”
35
ALARIC
“We’ll handle this tomorrow,”I tell her, my hands settling on her shoulders as she gathers the forged documents. “Set the trap, catch whoever’s responsible.”
“But we need to?—”
“Tomorrow, Kasimira. You’ve done enough detective work for one night.”
She’s still wearing the black dress from the family meeting, the fabric wrinkled now from hours of hunching over paperwork. The diamonds around her neck catch the lamplight, reminding me of the performance she put on earlier for fifteen dangerous men.
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” she admits. “Someone’s been stealing my identity for years, and we just let them sit at our dinner table.”
“Which is why we’re going to catch them. But not tonight.”
I turn her chair around so she’s facing me, and she must see something in my eyes that has nothing to do with forged signatures or family betrayals.
“What?” she asks.
“Watching you command that room full of killers and criminals tonight was the most erotic thing I’ve ever witnessed.”
The shift in conversation catches her off guard. “We just discovered we have a traitor in the family.”
“And you handled fifteen skeptical crime bosses like you were born to it. Made them respect you, listen to you, value your opinion.” I frame her face with my hands. “Do you have any idea how magnificent you were tonight?”
“I was competent. There’s a difference.”
“You were magnificent. Every man in that room walked in thinking you were a pretty accessory, and you made them see you as an equal.”
My hands slide down her arms, and I feel her shiver under my touch. The pregnancy has made her skin more sensitive, more responsive to every caress.
“Alaric…”
“What?”
“We really need to fix the issue of the forged documents.”
“Later. Right now, I need to show you how much today meant to me.”
I pull her to her feet. The dress has a zipper at the back, and I slide it down slowly, watching her reflection in the mirror as more skin is revealed.
“The way you handled Tony’s questions about money laundering,” I say, pressing kisses along her neck. “The way you made Lorenzo laugh with that story about German precision.”
“They were testing me.”
“And you passed. Spectacularly.”
The dress pools at her feet, leaving her in black lace that makes my mouth water. Pregnancy has made her breasts fuller, her curves more pronounced. She’s never been more beautiful.
