تسجيل الدخولNathan POVThe Casino de Monte-Carlo glittered at 3 AM. I stood outside staring at my phone.Isabella's message: I'm at the penthouse suite, come alone. There's something about that payment you need to know. Something Vanessa and Emily got wrong.What payment?The one Vanessa claimed to prove Isabella was hired to seduce me.The one that supposedly came from Catherine.I should've ignored it.I was still trying to spiral my thoughts around the development that was unfolding but if Vanessa was wrong, if there was an explanation I need to know.I entered the casino. Rode the elevator to the penthouse.Isabella answered immediately. "Nathan. Thank God you came.""I'm not staying long.""I know." She stepped aside. "But you need to see this before you make any decisions about us.""There is no us"Just look." She handed me a tablet. "This is my company's financial records. The paymentVanessa showed Emily, it exists. Seven million dollars wired to my business account six months ago.""So
Emily POV"Where are you going?"Nathan blocked the bedroom door as I threw clothes into a suitcase."Monaco.""Emily""Move.""We need to talk "I spun around. "You had eight months to talk. You chose Isabella's hotel room instead.""That's not fair.""Fair?"I laughed. "You held her until morning and I'm being unfair?""Nothing happened""Stop saying that!" I zipped the suitcase violently. "You went back Nathan, after leaving.After you supposedly chose me. You went back to her.""She was crying""And I'm supposed to believe you just held her? For eight hours? In her bed?Silence."That's what I thought." I grabbed my bag."Move or I'll have security move you."Nathan stepped aside. His hand caught my wrist as I passed. "Emily, pleaseI yanked free. "Don't touch me."Marcus waited downstairs. One look at my face and he took the suitcase without speaking."The twins?" I asked."They're asleep. Emily, are you sure"I'm sure." My voice cracked. "I can't look at him right now, Dad. I just
Emily POVThe elevator doors closed.Nathan stood beside me in silence.Twenty floors down.Neither of us spoke.The tension between us felt alive.The champagne buzz from the gala was gone. All I could hear was the sound of my own breathing and the memory of Isabella saying:*I think I'm in love with your husband.*Nathan shoved his hands into his pockets.“Emily”“Don’t,” I said immediately.His jaw tightened.The elevator dinged open into the private underground garage.Marcus was already waiting beside the car.One look at our faces and his expression changed.“What happened?”“Nothing,” Nathan said too fast.I looked at him.“That’s interesting,” I said coldly. “Because apparently something happened in Singapore.”Marcus looked between us carefully. “Okay. I’m guessing this is not the place for this conversation.”“No,” I said. “It really is.”Nathan exhaled sharply. “Emily.”“You let me stand beside that woman for months.”Marcus frowned slowly. “What woman?”“Isabella Sinclair.
Emily POVI walked toward Isabella with my face completely approachable."Isabella," I said. "Can I steal you for a moment? There's a view from the east terrace I wantto show you. The circuit is still lit."She smiled. "I'd love that."We walked out together.The terrace was empty. I stood at the railing.Isabella stood beside me.We looked at the city for a moment."It's beautiful," she said."Yes,"I said.Then I turned to her."Tell me about the Raffles Hotel." I said.A smile stayed on her face for exactly two seconds after I said it.Then it changed into something more honest. kind of recognition."Blake," she said."Blake," I confirmed.She looked at the city. "What do you want to know?""Everything you think I don't already know," I said.She was quiet for a moment and Isabella Sinclair did the thing I had not prepared for.She told me the truth.She told me about the preliminary meetings. The way she had positioned herself asNathan's business contact. The dinner was all her
Blake POVI saw her the moment she stepped out of the elevator.Twenty years of managing people who didn't want to be managed had given me a particular skill reading situations even before the Sinclair's entrance at ten forty-seven PM on the night of a race we had just won was not for a business arrangement .A business entrance is a handshake and a Gerald.This was a Vera Wang gown, a personal assistant carrying nothing but a clutch bag, and awoman who had redirected a private flight from Hong Kong because she saw a race result.I crossed the room to intercept before she reached Nathan but I didn't make it in time.She'd already asked for him at the front desk and she already knew what floor we were on. She had come through the entrance like someone who had an agenda in mind rather than a room to enter.I watched her cross to Emily instead and that surprised me.Emily first, then Nathan.I stood at the edge of the room and did what I had been doing for eight months, which was manag
Emily POVI knew before I saw her.Not because Nathan had told me anything or Marcus had said more than he did.But because I had spent seven years in a marriage to a man who thought I couldn't read aroom and I had learned to read every room I walked into before I cleared the doorway.The Sinclair delegation was six people. Four of them were business while the other assistants flanked a senior partnership director named Gerald who Blake had worked with before. I met Gerald in London three months ago. He was sixty, efficient and completely without pretension.The other two were Isabella Sinclair and a woman I didn't recognise who appeared to be apersonal assistant rather than a business one.Isabella was thirty-three. I knew her profile the way I knew every major player in any industry similar to ours. Sinclair Industries had been a potential partner for eight months. I read her business record, she had a Stanford MBA and her lifestyle brand was genuinelyimpressive, profitable and
Nahan POV "Michael, it's over. The Russian military will arrive soon. You're surrounded. Surrender." Jason urged Michael to surrender before he was taken down but multiple shots"I'm dead either way. Russia will execute me for this assault. America will prosecute me forRichard's murder. But if I
Emily POVAfter my extraction from Russia, I sat in Marcus's penthouse watching my fivechildren play while trying to process everything that had happened.Michael was in a Russian hospital under heavy guard, expected to survive and face trial. Dr.Yuri was in American protective custody, cooperati
Emily POV Blake arranged the transfer through Lothan Industries emergency funds. One billion incryptocurrency, routing through blockchain networks designed to obscure origin anddestination.Within hours, the money vanished into some anonymous accounts.But Blake's team caught something, a three-
Blake POVFifty-five hours remaining.I watched through surveillance feeds as the St. Petersburg warehouse exploded in a fireballvisible from three miles away. The blast was massive professional demolition, not justimprovised explosives.Michael had been planning to kill everyone we sent."Jason'







