Page 100 of Ice Cold Christmas
“And my disappearance? He said it was his fault. I was there. He said he didn’t pay.”
“He wasn’t talking about a ransom. I’d heard that same rant from him over and over in the last year.” The first time he’d heard it, Victor had thought the same damn thing she did…Holy shit, there was a ransom for my Melody? I’ll pay it. I’ll pay anything. But Victor had checked every phone, every text, every computer. There had been no ransom. There had only been Sebastian’s guilt. “He’s been sick. Very, very sick.” Victor thought guilt had been eating the man alive for a very long time. “He thought that he had to…” Hell, how to explain? “Sebastian thinks he has to pay with his life in order to atone for his sins.” For the men who died at the factory. For the wife who’d been taken away in the skiing accident.
For the daughter who’d vanished and never come home again.
Tears filled her eyes. “Victor…”
“I found out, once I started working at Mage and going through the files, that his brother was the one in charge back then. Jackson Mage. The older brother was the one who pulled all the strings at Mage Industries. Your father was second in command. It was Jackson who had ordered the tight production schedule at my dad’s factory. In order to meet that schedule, the managers cut corners. The equipment wasn’t inspected properly. The supervisors at the factory checked boxes just to keep things moving, but there was no inspection.”
“I’m so sorry.”
She’d done nothing wrong. She didn’t need to apologize to him. “Your uncle stepped down after the accident. The board voted your father into his position. That’s when safety guidelines were stepped up across all properties and ventures. When he realized what had happened at my dad’s factory, Sebastian sent money to all the families of the victims.”
“Money doesn’t bring people back.”
No, it sure as fuck didn’t. His mother had taken the money and used it on drugs. Almost a million dollars. He’d never seen a dime of it. It hadn’t helped him. It hadn’t helped her. An overdose had ended his mother’s life.
“How much was a life worth?” Melody asked.
He swallowed. “One hell of a lot less than you would think.”
“Victor…” She shook her head. A teardrop rolled down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“Your uncle died of a heart attack a few years later.” He’d never met Jackson Mage. Sebastian barely ever spoke of his brother. “Mage Industries has been different since then. Hell, your father was great when it came to safety. Like I said, he was fanatical about it. But he couldn’t anticipate product demand and development for shit.” Another exhale. “Things got worse with his...condition. I think it had been at play for longer than most people realized. When I took over, it wasn’t a peaceful transfer of power.” Nothing like they’d all pretended. “I fought tooth and nail for this company. It was going bankrupt. Either I took over, or it ended. By that point, I understood that there were thousands of employees counting on checks. They had families. My job was to take care of them. All of them. So I stepped up. I took the company from Sebastian.”
“You had what you wanted.”
“No. Yes. Dammit—I want you.” She needed to understand this. “I will never be like him.” So lost in business that the people close to him paid the price. So many pay the price. “I’m running the company my way. Safety will always be a priority. I will do the job. I will take care of my people.” He advanced toward her. “But I won’t forget my wife. I won’t push her to the side. I will cherish her. Every single day.” He stood right in front of her. He knew exactly the words he’d given her before. He would give them to her again. “You’re it, Melody. You’re what I want.” His end goal. “No more secrets. No lies. I want you with me, always. I love you.” He held his breath. He waited…
“He wanted me to think you were behind the attack.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“I remember…being in my car. A blue Benz. My Benz.” She bit her lower lip. Slowly let it go. “I was staring at the elevator and waiting for you.” Her hand rose and pointed to her temple. “Then he was just there. In the back seat behind me. A gun was pushing against my temple and he told me…he said you sent your regards.”
Something broke in him. “No.” A snarl. “I didn’t! I wouldn’t have! I would never have ever?—”
The door behind them creaked open. “Not now,” Victor snapped without looking back. He’d deal with Dario and Hunter and the detective and whoever the hell else later.
A gunshot blasted. He felt the impact in the next instant as a hammer seemed to pound into his back. Horror filled Melody’s eyes. Her mouth opened as she screamed.
Another gunshot thundered but Victor was already hurtling himself forward and onto her. He covered her body as they slammed into the floor.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Victor?” His weight crushed into her. The boom of the two gunshot blasts echoed in Melody’s ears. “Victor?” Her hands grabbed for his arms.
She felt something wet on her fingertips. Wet. Warm. Blood.
“Gun,” Victor whispered.
Yes, yes, she’d gotten that someone had a gun. Hard to miss that. The person had just shot Victor. The person had?—
“Take,” he rasped.
Her eyes widened. He covered her almost completely, and her hands slid down his body, moving as quickly as she could. Melody ignored the blood on her fingers as she shoved her hand under the edge of his coat. He’d never even taken off the coat when they came into Mage Industries, and she hadn’t realized that he was carrying a gun.
But she felt the holster near his left arm. Her fingers inched toward it.
