Page 137 of Beautiful Deception

“Do you want me to help?” she asks.

“I want… Viktor. I want Viktor.”

Her smile is warm. “I’ll go get him.”

Viktor shows up a moment later. “You needed help?”

The moment I see him, I break down into tears. Viktor doesn’t hesitate to wrap me into his arms.

“I’ve got you,” he says roughly into my hair. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

“How can you forgive me when you couldn’t before?”

“I realized I was an idiot. You saved Julia’s life when you didn’t have to. That told me everything. That the kind, sweet woman I know is who you really are. And when I saw you… on that floor… hurt.” He sucks in a breath. “I knew I had made a terrible mistake. I will make it up to you every day, if you’ll have me.”

“Just hold me,” I say against his chest. “Just make me feel safe.”

“I promise.”

I just hope he can keep it this time.

Viktor

I have to prove to Inessa that she can trust me again. I know one way I can do that.

Her father.

I hate him for what he tried to do to me but I hate him more for what he did to Inessa. Julia told me he tied her up and stole all of her money from her. If I had my way, I’d kill him just for that alone. Knowing Inessa and her dad have a complicated relationship makes it clear to me that she didn’t marry me to steal from me. She married me because she loves me. Because she was searching for a safe place she could call home since her dad wasn’t able to give that to her.

But despite all of this, I also know Inessa cares for her dad and she probably always will.

Which is why I cannot just kill him.

So instead, I track down Gleb Petrov and find him holed up in some dirty motel room.

“Where’s the money?” I bark at him the moment I kick down his door. He springs into action but I knock him onto the bed before he can do anything.

“What money?”

“The money you stole from Inessa. Where is it?”

He hesitates and that tells me everything I need to know.

“You gambled it all away, didn’t you?”

“I needed that money!” he objects.

“So where is it now?”

“Gone,” he grumbles.

“I thought so. Which is why I’m going to pay off all of your debts. You must have a lot of it, I presume. How much?”

Gleb scratches the back of his greasy head, sending flakes falling to the mattress. When was the last time he even took a shower? He’s a fucking mess.

But if I could bring my parents back from the dead, I would. So I understand what kind of hold parents can have on children. Inessa cares for her dad no matter how I feel about him.

“Two million dollars.”

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