Dante
“We found all of them.”
I stilled. “Are you sure?”
I’d almost let Christian’s call roll to voicemail. I wanted to enjoy my last night in Paris with Vivian, but my curiosity had gotten the better of me. He wouldn’t call unless he had a major update.
I was right.
“Yes. We have eyes on all eight locations,” Christian said. “Just say the word, and you’ll be free of the Laus forever.”
My hand closed tight around my phone. I waited for the relief to rush in. The joy, the triumph, the fucking vindication now that I could take down Francis the way I’d dreamed of for months.
Nothing came.
Instead, my stomach hollowed like Christian’s words had sucked all the air out of it.
I glanced through the doorway at Vivian. I stood outside the restaurant’s entrance, far enough she couldn’t hear what I was saying but close enough to glimpse her soft, content smile as she gazed out at the city.
A burn radiated in my chest. She looked so fucking happy. Even with the last-minute trip and the upcoming Legacy Ball, she’d come alive in Paris in a way that made me want to stay here with her forever.
No blackmail, no Francis, no society bullshit. Just us.
Because this was, most likely, our last trip together.
“Dante?” Christian prompted.
I tore my eyes away from Vivian. “I heard you.” The onset of a migraine crawled behind my temples. “What about the business side?”
“Also ready to go.”
“Good.” The sentiment scraped past my tight throat. “And our other project? With the startup?”
I was stalling. I should’ve given Christian the go-ahead the second he confirmed we found all of Francis’s backups, but something prevented the words from reaching my tongue.
“Heath’s company has run into some trouble.” Satisfaction filled Christian’s drawl. “The software has been plagued with issues lately. Employees are nervous. Investors are spooked. IPO looks dead in the water. It’s deeply unfortunate.”
“Very.”
I recognized the hypocrisy, considering what Christian and I had planned would push her away forever, but I didn’t give a fuck. I’d never been logical when it came to her. She was my one spark of selfishness in a lifetime of reason.
“Honestly, it was so easy it was almost boring.” Christian yawned. “Now that that’s out of the way, what do you want me to do about Francis?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know how to.
I heard the heaviness of his pause over the line. “Let me remind you this is what you’ve been working toward for eight months,” he said. “The man blackmailed you and threatened your brother’s life.”
“I’m well aware,” I snapped.
I pushed a hand through my hair, trying to think through the pressure squeezing my skull.
The hypothetical sequence of events following my go-ahead played before my mind’s eye like a movie on fast forward.
Christian destroys the evidence and torpedoes Lau Jewels. Vivian hears the news about her family’s livelihood going up in flames. I tell her the truth about the blackmail. She leaves…
The pressure spread to my chest.
Fuck. If I had a heart attack in the middle of the Eiffel Tower while on a call with Christian, I’d never hear the end of it.
“Your call, Russo.” His voice turned impatient. “What’s our next move?”
He didn’t say it, but I heard the warning in his voice. He knew exactly why I was hesitating, and he was less than impressed.
I closed my eyes. My migraine pounded with increasing ferocity.
I’m not my family.
The man blackmailed you and threatened your brother’s life.
Say the word, and you’ll be free of the Laus forever.
I had to get rid of the blackmail. No matter my feelings for Vivian, it was my brother’s life on the line, and I couldn’t risk those photos leaking. Romano would skin him alive if he found out Luca had touched any woman in his family, much less his beloved niece.
If I destroyed the blackmail, there was nothing keeping me from taking vengeance on Francis. I could let bygones be bygones, but he didn’t deserve it.
“Next time you see your brother, you should tell him to be more careful.” Francis had the smile of a snake who’d just come across trapped prey. “I would hate for these photos to get into Romano’s hands.”
I didn’t touch the folder on my desk. I’d seen enough. I didn’t need to go through every fucking picture.
“Anyway, I’m sure you’re busy, so I won’t take up any more of your time.” Francis stood and smoothed a hand over his tie. “Think about what I said. A marriage with my daughter would be quite beneficial, especially for the…longevity of your family.” His smile widened, revealing sharp incisors. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
The memory dredged up every emotion from that meeting and poured them into the pit of my stomach.
The shock. The disbelief. The fucking rage at both my brother and the bastard who’d had the balls to show up uninvited to my office and blackmail me.
No, Francis Lau didn’t deserve any mercy from me.
I turned my back to the dining room. Cold finality settled in my chest as I made my decision.
“Take him down.”
After I hung up, I returned to dinner and tried my best to act normal. Vivian didn’t say anything at the restaurant, but when we returned to our hotel, she cast a concerned look at me.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “You’ve been quiet since the call.”
“Everything’s fine.” I shrugged off my jacket and avoided her eyes. “Just annoyed it interrupted our dinner.”
“It was still a good dinner.” She sighed and sat on the bed with a dreamy smile. “I’ll dream of that dessert for the rest of my life.”
“The dessert and not me? I’m offended.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Not everything revolves around you, Dante.”
“It should.” I smiled at the way her nose scrunched even as my heart twisted.
On the surface, our banter was playful as always. But a clock ticked beneath the lightheartedness, audible only to me as it counted down our moments together.
I should tell her the truth. If not now, then when we landed in New York. She’d find out sooner or later, and I wanted her to hear it from me.
But the thought of telling her about the blackmail and shattering the last idealistic notions she had of her father, of confessing to what I’d authorized Christian to do…it tore at me like a knife in the chest.
These were our last moments together, and I was selfish enough to hoard them to myself.
Vivian let out a breathless laugh when I pushed her onto her back and straddled her, my movements gentle enough she landed with a soft thud rather than something more jarring.
She stared up at me, her earlier mock annoyance melting into a smile that made my heart ache.
“Last night in France.” I lowered my head so my lips grazed hers with each word. “I wonder how we should spend it…”
“Well, I’d originally planned to take a long bath, read, maybe put on that face mask you said makes me look like Jason from Friday the 13th…” Vivian mused, her eyes glinting with laughter and banked heat. “But perhaps you have a better idea.”