Page 83 of Sinful Bride

I trust him—and I want him to see that he can trust me to make the right decisions, too.

“They fucked you over, Daphne.” He’s seething. It’s hot. “They fucked you over, sold you out, and didn’t give a damn about who did what to you. Why should I give a damn about their lives? Huh? Explain that to me!”

Thank God the gallery is closed. His furious voice booms through the main hall and reverberates through the open rafters.

Again—it’s hot.

Fuck. I might have issues.

“I will, my love. If you’ll give me just, like, maybe two seconds?”

Pasha sucks in another angry breath. But he holds it and waits for me to explain.

“Sofi gave the order to take care of them. I’m the one who told her not to. Because?—”

“Daphne, I love you, and I love your soft heart. This time, it’s too soft?—”

“Two seconds!”

Another breath. Another fuming pause.

But he stays quiet.

“Thank you.” I smile up at him. “I told her not to for many reasons. One, the feds are up your ass and are just waiting for a reason to pounce. I think my terrible former bosses suddenly going missing is what they call ‘probable cause’?”

He’s still glaring. But his jaw unclenches.

“Two, it’s messy. Feds or no feds, it’s just a messy, ugly way to take care of civilians whose ultimate crime is just being… well, fucking stupid.”

A teensy-tiny spark of humor glints in his eye.

“But ultimately, my love? My darling? My sexy, dangerous, hot-as-hell husband?” I entwine my arms around his neck and press myself into him. He’s not going to admit it out loud, but he’s enjoying this as much as I am. I can feel the evidence pressing into my stomach. “Death is too quick for them. It’s too… too easy. How can I make them suffer if they get a swift exit from the show?”

His brow pops up.

He was not expecting that.

Neither was I. At first. Initially, I balked at the idea of anyone being killed over my sake. Or at all.

But the more I thought about it—and I had a whole afternoon brooding in my new leather throne of an office chair over it—the more I felt this sense of… justice. Vengeance. Something darker bubbling up inside me that beamed at the prospect of truly making my enemies suffer their own consequences.

“So, I spoke with Aubrey, and we came up with a plan.”

“A plan.”

“Yes. A plan.” Deep breath. “I don’t want them dead, Pasha. I want them destroyed.”

His hands slip around my waist. There’s no hiding the low, sexy growl that just rumbled in his throat. “Go on.”

“First, they tapped into a private system they have no legal rights to. Sofiya is having her tech team sweep for evidence and gathering everything. Logs, timestamps, the works. That’s a lawsuit all on its own, pending criminal charges.”

He’s interested. Curious, even.

“Hazel is pulling together witness statements and testimonies, camera feeds, any and all records verifying their complicity in sexual harassment and assault against me. Conrad’s the one who did all of that, but he was aided and abetted by their feeding him the information to find me, so… that’s another criminal charge, if not hefty civil lawsuit.”

A smirk tugs at his lips. “You sound like there’s more.”

“Oh, there is. On top of their support of a sexual predator, they’re guilty of grossly inappropriate workplace conduct. Hazel’s already been in touch with the state workforce development office to verify the best next steps and proper channels. Timeclock theft, rights violations, harassment… I could keep going, but you get the idea. We also have testimony from a few artists who witnessed said conduct and they’re more than happy to cooperate.”

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