《CAPTIVE SINS》全部章節：第 61 章 - 第 70 章

The study was quiet except for the sound of Dimitri's pen moving across paper and the occasional soft displacement of air as Xavier pulled books from the shelf, looked at their spines with the expression of someone who was not really reading titles but needed something to do with his hands.Dimitri worked through the files without looking up. Numbers. Names. The kind of administrative detail that needed to exist on paper rather than only in his head. He penned notes in the margins in the shorthand that only he could read and moved to the next page."I was genuinely shocked when you called and said you needed to talk," Xavier said from the direction of the bookshelf."Do not read too much into it," Dimitri said without raising his head."I am reading everything into it," Xavier said pleasantly. "A whole Dimitri Volkov called me back and said the words we need to talk. With his actual mouth. Into an actual phone." He replaced the book he was holding. "That deserves to be commemorated so

She had felt it before Chloe even appeared.The feeling had started somewhere between her second sip of soft drink and the moment the bartender moved on to the next guest. A prickling at the back of her neck. The specific uncomfortable awareness of eyes that were not just glancing but holding. She had turned and looked at the direction it seemed to come from and found nothing except the usual organized chaos of the evening. People moving between tables. Staff weaving through with trays. Clusters of suited men laughing at something someone had said. The band playing underneath all of it.Nothing.Nobody was looking at her.She had turned back to her drink and told herself she was being paranoid. That evening and the crowd and the unfamiliarity of being in a large public space after weeks in a penthouse had made her sensitive to things that were not there.And then the voice came from directly behind her."Hello, Nat."She turned slowly.Chloe stood there in a deep red dress that stoppe

The private room was small and deliberately unremarkable.No windows. No decoration. Just four walls and a low ceiling and a collection of monitors that covered every surface available, each screen showing a different angle of the building, inside and outside, the feeds running in real time and in stored playback simultaneously. The man standing in the middle of it all was average height, average build, the kind of person whose entire professional value was that nobody remembered him after leaving the room. He bowed when Dimitri and Xavier walked in and wasted no time."There are people who came into the party tonight whose faces were not registered in the system," he said. He stepped aside and turned the desktop screen toward Dimitri.Dimitri leaned forward and scrolled.The screen showed a series of entry captures. Most of them clean, green checkmarks beside each face, names and clearance levels attached. But scattered through the results were different entries. Faces with a blank w

Natasha opened her eyes slowly.She lay still for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, the morning light coming through the curtains in thin warm lines. She reached out beside her without thinking and found the other side of the bed empty, the sheets cool, which meant he had been up for a while.She sat up and rubbed her forehead as a light headache pushed through. She yawned and looked around the room, wondering if he had already left for work, when her phone pinged on the bedside table.She picked it up.YOU AWAKE SLEEPYHEAD??She looked at the message and a smile arrived on her face before she had any say in the matter. Then another message came in immediately after.Instructed the maids to prepare a hot breakfast for you. Special one.She stared at the screen. The blush came without warning the way it always did with him, quick and unmanageable. She was still looking at the message when the elevator dinged down the hall and she heard footsteps moving toward the door.A knock.They a

"My cotton business," Xavier said. "The one you already know about. The one you investigated."Dimitri shifted in his seat. "I did not investigate anything.""Someone is lying," Xavier said pleasantly. "But that is okay. You do not have to admit that you were looking for me. I already know.""Oh come on," Dimitri said.He signaled to his driver and the engine came to life, pulling out into the Lindel morning. He looked out the window and said nothing for a moment because there was nothing to say that would not give Xavier more ammunition than he already had."Anyway," Xavier continued, the teasing dropping slightly into something more straightforward. "I need to go and attend to some things there. I will be back by the day after tomorrow. Two days maximum.""Alright then." Dimitri paused. "You booked a flight?""Of course I booked a flight. What do you think I was going to do, walk?""I was asking," Dimitri said."Yes I booked a flight. Early morning. Already sorted."Dimitri nodded e