Page 42 of Forbidden Deception

“She’s not just up for grabs, you fuckers. What if she has a boyfriend? A husband, even?” The thought of her being with Eiran or even having someone else burns something inside ofme for some reason. It makes me absolutely pissed to even think about it.

“Don’t bother Rafael too much. Maybe he is still trying to find the one for himself. It doesn’t mean he will fall for his assistant, the only one who’s made it this long.”

My head snaps up, and I narrow my eyes at Liya, who tries to hide her smirk.

“Can we not talk about her? This isn’t what I came here for.” I sigh. It’s a losing battle, and the brother who actually does support me isn’t even here. He’s in London for the time being, to help me with the case against Remo Cainn.

“How did it go with Archer Madden?”

A smile plays at my lips at the name. The brother of the pharmaceutical tycoon loves to play around and piss people off. He didn’t think before provoking me.

“It went down as it always does. He slipped up and admitted to adding harmful chemicals to the new headache medicine. Then I had him down on his knees. I even have the video with me.” I pull out my phone and show it to the table.

Mikko covers his daughter’s eyes, and I turn the volume off to avoid her hearing anything.

Eyes around the table intensely watch as I demand for him to sell his shares to Madden pharmaceutical to me to avoid the press getting hold of it, all while he begs at my feet, asking me not to post the video of him having sex with the woman I sent to him, then his pillow confession.

“I never promise that I delete the videos, just that I let go of them. For now…” I shrug, putting away my phone.

“You need to keep your security top-notch, son. You never know what kind of people are around you,” Dad says.

I shake my head. “No one can touch me, Dad, and you know it. I will be there with a gun to their forehead before they can even lay a finger on me.”

Eiran shakes his head. “Does that mean you have dirt on everyone who even slightly poses a threat to you? Will you always do this?” Eiran asks, watching me carefully.

Eiran, being the clean guy of the family at twenty-four, doesn’t want anything to do with this. He likes to live his life freely without worrying about enemies. He doesn’t know I take care of his protection down to the smallest detail.

“Only those stronger than me can bring me down, and I willneverlet anyone win.”

“You know, I kind of want Venezia to come over,” Liya says, bringing the conversation back to my assistant.

Why is everyone so fixated on her?

If she steps inside my personal circle, within my family, and they love her like I expect they will, it will be over for me.

They will realise just how much she is like me; how instead of being the polar opposite, she understands my needs and wants. It’s been months now. She sees my eating habits, my silent threats, and stands right beside me during my meetings.

Venezia is a force that drives me forward rather than pulling me back.

17

“Please…slow…down…” I am huffing, out of breath, and clearly not fit enough to walk these long plots of empty land.

It’s just grass and trees for miles and maybe some kind of view of the ocean of Santorini, but God is it hard to walk, even in normal shoes. And Rafael is walking like he isn’t breaking a sweat under the burning sun.

It didn’t take us long to get here. The flight was short in Rafael’s jet. It was a quiet journey with both of us working. We came right to our appointments as soon as we landed.

The landowner is a fun, vibrant guy, but Rafael doesn’t laugh at the random jokes he throws in the middle of the conversation. I cackle in the back while Rafael silently stares down Marc until he shuts up.

We walk back towards our rental car in the dark of the night on aching legs—well, aching legs on my part, that is. I know we both can’t wait to get to our hotel rooms.

“Stop walking so damn fast.” My stomach grumbles as soon as I reach Rafael. Pushing him aside, I flop into the car and take deep breaths.

I don’t complain when Rafael slides into the driver’s seat and starts the car. In fact, I keep everything in check for the rest of the car ride, trying not to sound so spoiled, ungrateful, or, by any means, incapable of doing my job.

He keeps looking at me every now and then. I bet he is wondering why I am so silent when I am often frustrated about something.

“What do you want to eat?” Rafael’s calm voice swims around us, and I can’t help my eyes when they don’t move away from Rafael.

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