Chapter Four

Nina grabbed a broken table leg from the floor, wasn't exactly a weapon but better than nothing, and slowly approached the door.

"Who is it?" He voice came out steadier than she felt.

"Victor Hale." The voice was deep, controlled and completely unfamiliar. "I'm here about Thomas Ashton and the rather unfortunate situation you've found yourself in."

Nina's grip tightened on the table leg. "I don't know anyone named Victor Hale."

"But I know you, Ms. Grant. And I know what you found in those financial records." A pause. "I also know that the people who killed Thomas are coming for you next. So you can either open this door and let me help you, or you can wait for them to finish the job. Your choice."

The words hit like ice water. Killed Thomas. So it wasn't an accident but murder.

"How do I know you're not one of them?" Nina pressed her back against the wall, still gripping her makeshift weapon.

"If I wanted you dead, Ms. Grant, you already would be. I'm here because Thomas was my friend. And because you have something I need." Another pause. "We have sixty seconds before building security notices me on their cameras. I'd prefer to have this conversation inside."

Nina's hand hovered over the deadbolt. Every instinct screamed danger. But he knew about Thomas. Knew about the files. And he was right, if he'd wanted her dead, breaking into a wrecked apartment wouldn't be complicated.

She opened the door.

The man standing in her hallway looked like he'd stepped out of a corporate warfare documentary. Tall, with dark hair silvered at the temples. His suit probably cost more than her entire wardrobe. Everything about him screamed power, control, and absolutely zero tolerance for weakness.

He looked at her destroyed apartment without an ounce of surprise, then those eyes settled on her.

"Victor Hale." He didn't offer his hand. "We need to talk."

"About what? How you know where I live? How you know about the files?" Nina kept the table leg raised between them.

His mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "You can put down the furniture, Ms. Ms. Grant. If I were here to hurt you, that wouldn't stop me."

Nina lowered the wood, slightly.

Victor stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He moved through her apartment like he owned it, examining everything.

"They're escalating," he said, more to himself than to her. "That's unfortunate."

"Unfortunate?" Nina's voice cracked. "My apartment is destroyed! Someone's been threatening me! And you're calling it unfortunate?"

"I'm calling it predictable." He turned to face her fully, and the intensity of his gaze made her take a step back. "Thomas Ashton discovered that someone's been systematically looting Hale Corporation for the past two years. He started asking questions. He started investigating. Three weeks later, his brakes failed." Victor's expression didn't change. "There are no coincidences in my world, Ms. Grant."

The floor seemed to tilt beneath her feet. "You're saying Thomas was murdered."

"I'm saying Thomas was eliminated because he got too close to the truth. And now you have." Victor pulled out his phone, showing her a photo. "Recognize this man?"

Nina looked at the screen. A man in his forties, handsome in a polished way.

"That's David Hale." Victor's voice was arctic. "He's also my half-brother. And he's the one orchestrating the hostile takeover of both Hale Corporation. Your godfather figured it out too late. But he had one final move."

"The shares," Nina whispered.

"Thirty percent voting rights that David was counting on getting. Instead, Thomas gave them to you, someone completely outside the family drama, someone David couldn't control or manipulate." Victor's eyes glittered with something that might have been approval. "It was brilliant. And it made you the most important piece on the board."

"I don't want to be a piece on anyone's board!" Nina's hands shook. "I just want my life back!"

"Your life ended the moment you opened those files." Victor's bluntness was brutal. "David knows you found the evidence. He knows you're a threat. And he will eliminate that threat. It's not personal. It's just business."

"Just business," Nina repeated numbly. "Thomas is dead. My apartment is destroyed. Someone's threatening my family. And you're calling it business?"

"I'm calling it reality." Victor crossed his arms, somehow making even that gesture look intimidating. "You have three options. One: go to the police with your evidence. They'll open an investigation that takes months while David's people make you disappear. Two: sell your shares to David and run. He'll still probably kill you to tie up loose ends. Three..." He paused, those cold eyes boring into her. "You make a deal with me."

"What kind of deal?"

"The kind that keeps you and your family alive. The kind that gives me the voting rights I need to stop David's takeover. The kind that's mutually beneficial." He pulled a thick folder from his jacket. "A contract marriage."

Nina laughed. Actually laughed. "You're insane."

"I'm being practical." He set the folder on her ruined coffee table. "You marry me. I get voting control of your shares. You get my protection, my resources, and enough money to disappear if everything goes sideways. We maintain the facade for twelve months while I destroy David's operation and secure my company. After that, we divorce quietly, you keep your shares and the settlement, and we never see each other again."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"More ridiculous than being murdered for shares in a company you didn't know existed three days ago?" Victor's expression didn't change. "I'm offering you survival, Ms. Grant. I'd suggest you take it seriously."

Nina stared at him. At the folder. At the casual way he'd just proposed marriage like it was a merger agreement.

"Why should I trust you? I don't know you. You could be working with David. This could all be..."

"If I were working with David, you'd already be dead," Victor interrupted coldly. "I don't have time for elaborate deceptions. I need those shares to stop a hostile takeover that will destroy everything Thomas built. You need protection from people who've already killed once and won't hesitate to do it again. We both benefit from this arrangement. Trust doesn't factor into it."

"Everything factors into trust!"

"Not in my world." He checked his watch. "You have forty-eight hours to decide. Read the contract. Consider your options. But understand this..." His eyes locked onto hers with terrifying intensity. "David's people are watching. They know you're vulnerable, isolated, scared. They're waiting for you to run so they can eliminate you quietly. Or waiting for you to do nothing so they can make it look like an accident. The clock is ticking, Ms. Grant. And you're running out of time."

Nina's mouth went dry. "What happens in forty-eight hours?"

"David makes his move at the board meeting. If you're not there with me, he wins. And everyone who stands in his way, including you, including your mother, including your sister, becomes a liability he can't afford to leave breathing." Victor moved toward the door, then paused. "One more thing. Don't try to contact anyone about this. No lawyers, no police, no friends. David has people everywhere. The moment you make a call, you're dead."

"So I'm supposed to just trust you? Marry a complete stranger?"

"You're supposed to make the smart choice." He opened the door. "Forty-eight hours, Ms. Grant. Choose wisely."

Then he was gone, leaving Nina standing in her destroyed apartment, staring at a contract that proposed marriage to a man who looked at her like she was a business asset.

She picked up the folder with shaking hands. The contract was easily a hundred pages. Thick with legal jargon, clauses about public appearances, social obligations, maintaining the facade of a real marriage.

Nina sank onto her destroyed couch, the contract heavy in her hands.

Forty-eight hours to decide if she'd marry a stranger.

Forty-eight hours to decide if she'd trade her freedom for survival.

Forty-eight hours before David Hale made his move and everyone she loved became a target.