Page 60 of Defiled Innocence

“Me? No.” She pauses, scrunching up her lips. “Well, I mean they don’t have it, but Sarah knows where I keep my passwords. You know, in case something ever happened.”

“Like what?” I question. “What would happen that she would need to use your passwords?”

“I don’t know, like I was away, and I needed her to get into something for me.” She’s pulling answers out of her ass.

“Like the banking software?”

She lifts a shoulder, frustrated. “I don’t know, Dmitri. Maybe?”

“We’ll talk more about your security system later, but the reason I ask, is if you have someone who can get into your passwords, there’s no reason to believe Lucas might not have had the same. Could his assistant have been able to get into his email?”

She thinks for a moment. “Probably, but Richard has been with Lucas forever. I can’t see him doing this either.”

“Well, what about employees? Friends.” One in particular comes to mind. “What about Christian?”

She pulls back, insulted. “No. Absolutely not, he wouldn’t do this.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe he needed the money, or he still does?” Which would explain why he risked his fucking life by suggesting she marry him instead of me.

“You just don’t like him.” She sinks into a chair.

“I don’t. The only reason he’s still walking around with all his fingers and toes is because of you.” I drop the papers onto the desk and lean back against it.

“Christian wouldn’t do something like this. He’s never even hinted at having money issues. If he had, Lucas would have given him money. There wouldn’t be any reason to steal it.” She leans back, resting her head on the back of the chair.

It’s difficult to share her faith in this man. Lucas kept him at arm’s length when it came to business matters. And other matters.

“The center is safe.” I fold my arms over my chest. “You’ll need to trust me, though.”

She looks up at me with her hazel eyes full of apprehension.

“You’re not going to threaten the accountant, are you?”

“No.”

“Because you can’t do that, Dmitri. You can’t just go around threatening to rip off people’s fingers because they don’t do what you want.”

“Actually, Amelia, I can. It works well.” I let a little smile slip through.

She’s sweet like this, thinking she can dictate how I get things done. It’s cute.

“I don’t want you to do anything to him. It’s not his fault and he’s just doing the job we pay him to do.”

“Exactly, you pay him. You tell him what to do and what not to do.” I push off the desk. “I will get to the bottom of this. All you have to do is focus on the center.”

“I can’t.” She shakes her head as she gets to her feet. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” I step in front of her when she turns toward the door. I could demand it, threaten to strip her bare and punish her if she gets in my way.

But this is different than her usual defiance. Something runs beneath it, not simply a stubborn nature.

“Because it’s my problem. Not yours.” Her shoulders drop again, but not because she’s softening to me. No, it’s the weight she’s put on herself that keeps her down.

Golden ticket.

Isn’t that what her father called her? She was her mother’s golden ticket.

And she is still trying to outrun his criticism.

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