Page 39 of His Grip

"Viktor," her pitch faltered, unsure.

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he lifted the notebook, holding it out to her. Sofia stilled herself, her hands trembling as she reached for it. The color drained from her face as she took in the words on the page.

“Explain this,” Viktor’s words were low but cutting.

Sofia’s eyes met his, guilt flashing in them, but there was something else—a hesitation. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out at first. Finally, she whispered, “I… I didn’t mean for you to find that.”

“You’ve been keeping secrets from me,” Viktor growled, his patience fraying with every passing second. “You’ve been watching, studying me like a… like a target.”

Sofia flinched, her head hanging in the direction of the floor. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to gather the courage to face him.

“I thought I needed to understand you,” she said softly. “I thought I needed to know what you were hiding. Why you kept things from me.”

A muscle worked in Viktor’s jaw as his mind processed her words. He had never expected this. She had never seemed like a threat, but now, the realization burned in him. She had been playing a dangerous game. She hadn’t trusted him from the start, had kept her own counsel.

“I trusted you,” Viktor spat, cutting through the silence. “I brought you into this world, Sofia. I showed you everything. And this is how you repay me?”

Her eyes glistened, but she stood firm, refusing to back down. “I didn’t want to betray you. I just… I had to know. About you, about everything.”

The room felt too small, the space thick with unspoken words. Viktor’s hands clenched at his sides, and for a moment, he wanted to yell at her, to tear into her. But he held back. He couldn’t let this unravel him. Not yet.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. The silence between them was deafening, and Viktor couldn’t tell if Sofia was ashamed or if she was only trying to explain herself in a way that made sense to her.

"Do you really think I’d hurt you?"

“You’ve already hurt me, Sofia,” he answered, full of quiet anger.

Sofia’s shoulders sagged. She looked away, pain stretching across her face. “I’m sorry. I should have trusted you. I just… I didn’t know how else to protect myself.”

Viktor took a slow, deliberate step closer to her. The weight of their shared history, of everything that had brought them here, hung between them. He reached out, his hand brushing against her cheek, his thumb sweeping over the softness of her skin. It wasn’t the touch of a man filled with anger. It was the touch of someone still caught between the desire to punish and the need to protect.

“You’ve made me doubt you, Sofia,” Viktor said quietly, the words laced with both anger and something deeper, something harder to admit. “And I don’t know if I can trust you again.”

She closed her eyes, her lips trembling as she fought to maintain her composure. “I understand,” she whispered. “I deserve that. But I promise you, I didn’t mean to betray you. I thought I was doing what was best.”

Viktor didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he moved away, his hand falling to his side. He didn’t know what to do with this feeling. Trust had always been a fragile thing for him, and now it felt shattered beyond repair. But Sofia was still standing before him, her eyes pleading for something he couldn’t give. Not yet.

“Maybe we need time,” he muttered. “Maybe we need space to figure out where we stand.”

Sofia nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Viktor. I swear.”

Viktor turned away from her, the anger inside him still simmering, but there was something else too—something he couldn’t quite name. He needed to think. To process. But aboveall, he needed to make sure that both Sofia and Andrei knew who truly controlled this empire.

Viktor stood motionless by the window, staring out at the sprawling city below. He felt the weight of everything—Sofia's betrayal, Andrei's deception—pressing on him, and it was suffocating. His mind ran in circles, analyzing, calculating, and yet, no clear answers emerged. What was he supposed to do with this? What was the right move?

Sofia had stayed silent for a long while, but he could feel her eyes on him, that familiar sizzling between them. She had made her choice, and now he had to decide what came next.

He finally turned back to her, hard and calculating. “I’m done with secrets, Sofia. I’m done with not knowing where we stand.” He was cold and distant. He wanted to punish her for her deception, to make her feel the weight of her choices. But there was something else underneath his anger. Something he wasn’t ready to confront.

Sofia walked forward steadily, though he could see the hurt in her eyes. “I’m not asking for forgiveness, Viktor. But I am asking for a chance to explain. If you’d listen.”

He wanted to scoff at that. After everything, she wanted a chance to explain. But he held himself back, his jaw clenched tight. “You’re asking for a chance to explain? After everything? After you’ve been keeping tabs on me, spying on me like some kind of enemy?” His tone dropped into a low growl. “Do you really think I’m that foolish?”

Sofia’s face flushed, but she didn’t back down. “I didn’t want to spy on you. I didn’t want to betray you, but I needed to know. I had to know who you were, what you were hiding. You’ve alwayskept me at a distance, Viktor. You’ve always treated me like I’m just another piece in your game.” She quivered at the end, though she quickly masked it with defiance.

“Is that what you think of me?” Viktor sauntered closer, towering over her. “That I’m playing you?” He could feel the heat radiating off of her, the pulse of her heartbeat as it matched his own. The urge to push her, to break through that wall she’d built between them, was overwhelming. But instead, he held back, staring down at her with intensity. “You think this all this is some kind of scheme? This life? My empire?”

Sofia took a breath, her eyes unwavering. “I don’t know what this is anymore, Viktor. I don’t. I’ve been trying to understand it. Trying to understand you. But every time I think I get close, you pull away. You won’t let me in.”

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