Page 34 of Merciless Vow
He’d used it. He’d taken my tactical brilliance, the one thing I had left of myself, and plugged it into his war machine to drain the Ironwood accounts dry. He was using my mind to fund his slaughter, and he hadn't even had the decency to tell me.
"That bastard."
A heavy, rhythmicthud-thud-thudechoed through the office door. It wasn't a secretary’s knock. It was the sound of a predator announcing his presence. The temperature in the room plummeted. Nell stiffened, her eyes darting to the door as the handle turned with a slow, agonizing deliberation.
Vidar stood in the doorway.
He looked every bit the apex predator in a glass-and-steel jungle. He didn't look angry; he looked disappointed, which was infinitely worse. His eyes swept over the room, landing on me, then shifting to the glowing monitor where the encryption code was still visible.
Vidar stepped into the room, his presence expanding to fill every corner of the cramped office. He didn't growl. He didn't snap. Instead, he smoothed the front of his jacket and turned a blinding, charismatic smile toward Nell.
"Petronella, isn't it?" he said, his voice dropping into a warm, melodic baritone. "I’ve heard so much about your brilliance. My apologies for the intrusion. My wife has a habit of forgetting that she’s no longer on the clock."
Nell ignored him and looked to me. "Wife?"
I swallowed and nodded. "It was a private ceremony. The big one will be in a few months."
Nell stood her ground, her face a mask of polite, icy professional skepticism. "She’s not on your clock either, Mr. Blackwood. She’s a friend. Friends don't usually require their husbands to track them down like runaway property."
Vidar let out a soft, charming chuckle, the sound vibrating in my very marrow. He walked over to me, sliding a possessive hand around my waist and pulling me flush against his side. "We’re still in the honeymoon phase. I suppose I’m just a bit overprotective. We’ll see you at the formal celebration in a few months, Ms. Odhiambo. I’ll make sure you’re at the head table."
Nell’s smile didn't reach her eyes. "That’s very kind. But just so we’re clear, Mr. Blackwood, I have very close friends in the NYPD. If Addie ever feels...overprotectedto the point of distress, those friends will be the first to know."
Vidar’s smile deepened, turning into something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He leaned in slightly,as if sharing a delightful secret. "That’s wonderful to hear. I love a woman who values security. Though between us? I don't just know people in the police department. I own the police department. It saves so much time on paperwork."
The air in the room curdled. Nell’s breath hitched, but Vidar was already moving, his hand firm on the small of my back as he guided me toward the door.
"Come along, darling," he murmured, pressing a tender kiss to my temple that felt like a brand. "We have a dinner reservation we really shouldn't miss."
He was the picture of a doting, attentive husband as we walked through the bullpen. He kept his arm around me, nodding to my former coworkers, playing the part of the powerful man hopelessly in love with his brilliant bride. The moment the elevator doors slid shut, sealing us in the silver box, the mask disintegrated.
"You have exactly one minute to tell me why I shouldn't dismantle that woman's life for interfering with what is mine."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
VIDAR
The elevator doors slid shut with a quiet, final click. I moved before the mechanism fully engaged. My hand closed around Addie’s arm. I backed her into the corner, caging her in. The mirrored walls caught us from every angle—her pinned, me not giving her an inch to escape again.
Her scent hit me hard in the confined space. Fire, sharpened by heat that was barely leashed. I dragged in a breath before I could stop myself.
Her nostrils flared. She noticed.
Good.
"You stole my idea, " Addie hissed, her voice low and furious.
"What? "
"The Ironwood offshore accounts, " she snapped, pushing against me. The movement only brought her closer; her pulse a visible beat at her throat. "You implemented the exact bypass Isuggested. You gutted them using my strategy and didn’t say a word. "
“I didn’t steal your idea. I executed it.” My eyes dropped back to her mouth before I forced them up again.
"Without giving me credit."
"Do you have any concept of the target on your back? The Ironwood remnants. Your father. You were walking the streets of Manhattan alone —anyone could've snatched you off the street."
"I was fine until you showed up, " she shot back, her breath brushing my jaw now, "and started pissing on the furniture. "
