Page 10 of Conquer

That she’d reached out to him only increased her in my esteem. I’d planted fake records because something had told me Sam wouldn’t be satisfied with surface information.

I had reached out to Ed, made sure he would confirm my story and add enough background to make it believable.

To make her trust me.

I hated the fact that I had to rely on deception to get her to trust me and felt acutely ashamed at manipulating her that way.

I knew I had no cause to and knew that this was just business, or rather, it should have been.

The way I felt about her was so much more than business, a fact that I accepted but one I still didn’t understand.

I was a realistic person, only believing in things that I could see, and I didn’t believe in things that I couldn’t.

So, I could understand what had happened between Maxim and Senna. I’d watched their love grow for years.

The same with Sergei and Daniela. They’d been pushed into circumstances beyond their control and found their way to each other.

It had only taken a single glance for me to lose my heart.

And all she’d ever know of me was a lie.

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