Page 157 of Heart of Frost and Scars

If she wakes and finds herself in my arms, she’ll blame me for touching her, for breaking the boundaries of our relationship.

Holding my breath, I carefully extricate myself from beneath her featherlight frame. She stirs but doesn’t wake, her body curling into the space I vacate. I watch her for a moment longer, committing the sight of her to memory, then slip quietly from the room.

I dress quickly, my mind racing with the tasks of the day as I make my way to my office, where I feel most in control. Papers and reports from my consulting firm clutter the desk, including a proposal I’ve been sitting on for Leo. All of that will wait.

The first call is to my legal team, inquiring about Leo and Kody. As anticipated, the attorneys secured a deal for them, resulting in the charges being dropped. The victim, who will recover without permanent injury, decided against pursuing legal action after being threatened for assaulting Frankie.

Leo and Kody will be released this morning and can return to the island using Frankie’s cruiser.

I recline in the desk chair, a sigh escaping me as I imagine her joy at seeing them.

As long as I live here, I won’t have sex with them.

Her promise makes me that much happier to bring them home.

Turning my attention to her stalker, I call Wilson next. I insist that he handles the investigation personally, without the involvement of Sirena or anyone else from his firm.

He’s meticulous and trustworthy, a bulldog in his profession. And, unlike Sirena, he’s never tried to fuck me.

At first, he’s reluctant to take the case. The old bastard wants to retire and has started stepping away from day-to-day tasks. Same as me. But everyone has a price, and I eventually find his.

No one would turn down the money I’m offering.

Over a very lengthy phone call, I tell him everything—the details surrounding her abduction, Denver’s crimes, his death, a list of his known victims, including Wolfson, my father’s known enemies, the flight logs, and everyone on my household payroll and security team.

I answer every question he asks and leave no skeletons buried.

My father kept an accounting ledger throughout his life to keep track of his extensive criminal transactions. It includes bribes paid to law enforcement and politicians. Salaries paid to hitmen, enforcers, and accountants. And hush money paid to the families of Denver’s victims.

The entries were meticulously maintained, some of them in a coded format. I’ve tried to make sense of it, but the ledger is thick, and I’m not a forensics expert.

I want to create a list of suspects from this ledger, but it will take too long to sort through decades of entries.

Wilson assures me that he has a team that can scrub it. So I remove it from the safe behind the painting in my office and ship it off to him.

He also wants Frankie to compile a list of every colleague, friend, ex-boyfriend, and acquaintance she’s made through the years.

Everyone is a suspect.

By the time we hang up, he knows every dirty secret in my family.

It’s unnerving to trust someone with so much incriminating information, but I’ll tell him anything he wants to know if it will keep her safe.

The morning passes in a flurry of calls and emails, each a step toward restoring order and protecting my family. As I work, my thoughts drift back to her, to the warmth of her body against mine, to the hope that still burns in my chest.

When the legal team calls back, confirming that Leo and Kody have been released, I rise to my feet, stretching, muscles loosening with relief. Then I slip out of the office to deliver the news.

She’s still asleep when I return to the bedroom, her form a gentle rise beneath the covers. I stand in the doorway, watching her, my chest heavy with emotion.

I long to reach out, to hold her close and tell her that everything will be all right, that we’ll find our way back to each other. But I know that will take time.

And more groveling on my part.

As I turn away, her husky voice tiptoes over my shoulder. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” I shift back, eager to rest my eyes on her again.

“Any news on Leo and Kody?”

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