Page 75 of The Puppetmaster

And do I even have to worry about any of this?

Now that I know the truth about him, will he even let me… live?

Chapter 46

Raad

I don’t know why I just did that. Why did I lock her away like that? What has gotten into me?

Shehas gotten into me, that’s what.

Alena’s pain, the reproach, the disappointment, the unbelievable guilt that’s now layered on top of what she’s already suffered for years—it was impossible for me to bear. I needed her to calm down. I needed her to be in a secure place where I knew she could neither run away from me nor hurt herself.

I needed for her to stop crying and screaming at me like that.

I needed a moment to think.

And a moment to cool my temple. Damn, that girl knows how to throw a good punch. I knew that about her, but I never expected to be on the receiving end of one of her vicious fists. Her strike caught me by surprise, which is the only reason why she could land it so well in the first place. It really hit home, and if I don’t want to risk getting a black eye, I should probably put some ice on it.

I head down to the kitchen and fetch an ice pack from the freezer to hold against my throbbing temple. She didn’t cut the skin open as was done to her back then, but I can still feel the impact of her punch. I pace up and down the kitchen, my pulse racing just as fast as my thoughts are.

I need to do something. I need to fuckingdosomething.

Throwing the ice pack into the sink, I head back to my office, a drip of cold water running down the side of my face.

I hate it when things don’t go as planned, and Alena breaking into my office and going through my stuff was definitely not part of the plan. I didn’t want her to find out like this—and I didn’t want her to come to the conclusion she came to.

The same conclusion they all made. I can’t even blame them, because I know who I am and what I did in the past, and I had to play dirty to get ahead in this coup as well.

I was forced to.

I step into my office, pausing in the door as my eyes fall on the mess Alena left behind. A quick look over to the window tells me how she got in here in the first place. The door was locked, but for some reason, the window wasn’t.

Is that why she wanted to come in here a couple of days ago? Did she plan all of this? Did she unlock the window while I was busy with the safe underneath the desk?

That’s probably how it happened and I can’t help but be impressed, despite her betrayal. I wish she could have trusted me enough to just ask and wait until I was ready to tell her what she wanted to know. But I understand that’s a lot to ask of someone in her position faced with someone like me.

Should I have told her from the start? Would she have played along?

I go down on my knees and reach for the tablet that fell to the floor when I dragged her out of the room. And just as I suspected, she found exactly what I didn’t want her to see. The browser is still open, showing at least ten open tabs with articles and news about my deal—all of which depict me and my company in the worst light imaginable.

What if she doesn't believe me? What if I tell her everything and she won't accept the truth after reading this?

I let out a deep sigh, shaking my head as I get back up on my feet and put the tablet back on the table. My body appears to move on its own when I start cleaning the room with stoic motions, seemingly calm and collected, just as I always am. My hands aren’t trembling, my stance is strong, and my shoulders are pulled back—but my heart is racing and my mind is heavy with dread.

Cleaning up the mess in this room is the easy part. I can gather the papers into a neat stack and put them away; I can close the browser tabs and pull the window down as if nothing ever happened.

But it doesn’t change the fact that she’s up there, terrified and shocked out of her mind, restrained with the same strings that were supposed to give her pleasure and freedom, with nowhere to run.

She hates me. She may never trust me again, no matter what I tell her.

That’s why I can’t just tell her. I need toshowher. She needs proof that this isn’t what it looks like. She needs to know all of it, including her involvement in this whole thing. Alena was always meant to be the only puppet in the know after all of this was over. I always planned to share my secret with her because I know it would take a burden off of her that would change her life.

The truth.

I can’t just walk up there and talk to her. Right now, she probably wouldn’t even listen to me. But I need her to listen. I need her to know.

This needs to be prepared, and to do that I’ll need time. Just a little time.

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