Page 205 of This Bitter Sweet Temptation
As I step off Guchkov and throw my hands in the air, sinking to my burning knees, I smile.
“How did you know?”Cleo asks in the weak evening sunlight.
We’re sitting on the steps outside the police station. It’s been a long damn day of questions, statements, and dealing with the cops’ suspicions until they were satisfied we weren’t involved in trafficking black market artifacts ourselves.
Well, they finally knowI’minnocent. Cleo, they never suspected.
Not when she went through so much to find the egg a permanent home, like Talbot and Fairfax confirmed.
“How did I know what?” I ask.
She nudges my shoulder. “Back there. You could’ve gotten people killed. But you never hesitated.”
“That was always a risk. No better options, so I had to take the ones I had. Sometimes, that’s how it goes,” I admit, tilting back to face the sky.
Anything feels easier than looking at her, knowing I destroyed her inheritance.
The last thing Leonidas left her, and it’s gone.
I don’t understand why she sounds softer now. She has every reason to hate me forever.
“Well, it paid off, hero man.” Her knee nudges mine. “We’re insanely lucky.”
We’re not, but I bite my tongue.
Instead, I sigh and glance over at her.
Two big brilliant violet-blue eyes meet mine.
No anger there. Not yet. Surprising.
She deserves the truth, though, so I’d better cough up everything.
“I looked into Black Talon before. The boot print they left in the mud at your grandfather’s place from the break-in was a good match,” I say quietly. “I knew Guchkov’s son, Sergi, was along for the ride. He’d have his most trusted people in place for a heist this big on US soil. I figured he’d be managing one of the hostage sites.”
“So you gambled on that?”
“Once the egg was destroyed, there was nothing worth risking his son for. Nothing worth risking his own life. He knew the cops were coming and the FBI would be on their heels. It was in his best interests to get everyone out ASAP.”
“God, I can’t believe it worked,” she whispers, shivering.
I slide her a long glance, hating the pensive look on her face. As if she did anything wrong.
“It makes me sick to the stomach, what I did.”
“What? Save people, you mean?”
“I fucked over your inheritance—and I take full responsibility, Clee. Shit, if it takes me the rest of my life, I’ll make it up to you.” I clear my throat, easing the lump of guilt there. “I’m so sorry. If there was any other way, I wouldn’t have touched it.”
All day, I’ve been playing it back in my head, the whole ugly scene from different angles. Trying to see if there was any alternative.
“Holden, no. It’s okay,” she whispers, putting a hand on my arm.
I shake my head. “It’s not, woman. It never should’ve come to this. If I’d just seen it coming sooner—”
“But youdid,” she insists, this time taking my hand so I’m looking at her. Her eyes are wet, and that hollows me out more. “I was the one who didn’t let you stop this. If I’d listened and done things differently—”
“It’s not your fault, Clee. Who the fuck knows. They might’ve harmed people if it had gone down differently.”
