"Your sister," I ask, not even realizing he had one. "What did he do to her?"
"He tried to marry Katerina off to an up-and-coming Russian politician from an old mob family like ours. So I did the next logical thing and convinced Scottie Easton to marry her. My father didn’t like it, and I wanted to make sure that he remembered how little he could control us anymore."
Mob family… so the rumors about Luka are true.
"And when you found out the clearance wasn’t real?"
"My lawyer advised silence." His voice sharpens just slightly. "VELVT is protected under an NDA contract that they made mesign. If I go public accusing them of lying, it becomes a legal war. Defamation, breach of contract… a multi-million-dollar chaos."
"So instead, you take the heat."
"Yes."
The fire popped behind us.
I prop myself up on one elbow against the bed, my other hand against his chest.
"Luka… this could clear you. Or at the very least, it could transfer the heat from you to VELVT."
"You can’t use that information.," he says, finally looking over at me.
The firmness in his voice cut through the softness between us.
"Shouldn’t we at least discuss this as an option?" I try to reason. "That email clears you."
"It escalates everything."
"It proves they lied," I argue.
"It starts a war."
He studies my face carefully.
"Swear to me," he says, eyes locking onto mine now, fully present. "You will not use that email as leverage."
My throat tightens when I realize how serious he is. How important this moment is to him, even though he’s throwing away the best chance we have at both of us winning.
"If I can’t use it, then why tell me at all. Why not keep it a secret?"
"I am telling you this because I’m trying something new," he says. "And I don’t know how to do that halfway."
"Trying what?"
"Trust…"
It’s one word–five letters, and yet somehow, the word feels heavier than anything else he’s said all night.
"You don’t trust easily," I say softly.
"No, but I want to believe that I can trust you."
The vulnerability in that statement is barely there, but it’s there and I know what it cost him to say it.
I swallow.
"I won’t use the email," I say. "We’ll find another way."
His hand comes up to cradle the back of my neck.
