I go around and open her door. She takes the hand I offer to help her out of the car but doesn’t ask more questions as I lead her to the entrance.
She looks around when we get out on the top floor. “I’ve never been here before.”
The comment is more made to herself than to me.
My tone is clipped. “You have.”
She glances at me quickly.
The day I brought her here to sign over her shares so I could ruin her brother once and for all is burned into my memory, but I don’t explain.
I open the door of the boardroom and step aside for her to enter. She stills when her gaze falls on my lawyer.
He gets up and holds out a hand. I shake it but seat Tatiana before he has a chance to touch her. I don’t want to have to chop off his fingers. He’s good at what he does, and I need him with both hands intact.
When I’ve taken a seat next to Tatiana, he pushes the contract over the table. “I’ve prepared everything as you requested.”
I take a pen from my pocket and put it on the stack of papers that lies in front of her. A strong sense of déjà vu overwhelms me. It reminds me a lot of the day when she sat in that exact chair, and I gave her a pen and ordered her to sign on the dotted line.
She shoots me a questioning look.
I motion at the contract. “Sign.”
“You’ll want to initial every page,” the lawyer chirps.
“Dante?” She picks up the first page and scans over the text. “What is this?”
The more she reads, the bigger her eyes grow.
Finally, she drops the paper and turns to me with those wide, mesmerizing green eyes. “You’re giving me the company?”
“It belonged to your family. It should be yours.”
“But…” She licks her lips in a nervous gesture. “What about Leander?”
“Leander gambled away his part. He doesn’t have a claim on the business any longer. He destroyed what was left of the company, and I saved it. Now it’s yours.”
“I…” She swallows visibly. “My father never involved me. I wouldn’t even know how to run it.”
I fold my hands on the table. “You don’t have to. The team I hand-selected will do that. I’ll continue to oversee the management just as I’m doing now. But the profits are yours. It will be paid into a bank account I’ve opened for you.”
The lawyer cuts me a look. He thinks I’m making a mistake. Knowing my history with my wife, he advised against my decision.
I don’t give a fuck. It doesn’t matter if she has access to her own money, a lot of money. I won’t let her run away from me again. She understands that. She may not remember our past, but I made damn sure she understands how our future is going to play out. Besides, I gave Tatiana her own money before, and she didn’t run. She was taken from me.
True, when I mentioned my plans to Reino and Ulysses, they’d both looked at me as if I were nuts. They too think it’s a foolish move, that too much money could tempt her into buying her freedom with a new identity before disappearing again.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure about my motivations myself. Maybe it’s the guilt of hiding the past, that part she can’t remember. Maybe I’m trying to make up for the scars on her back that can never be fixed. Whatever the case, my mind is made up, and I never go back on a decision.
Tatiana glances at the lawyer before locking her gaze on mine again. “Why?”
“Because you deserve it. It’s your birthright. It’s always been yours.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I lean over and, unable to resist, kiss her. “Happy birthday, darling.”
She gives a start. “When is it?”
