So, before Tom could finish his sentence, Victor attacked. He lunged for the other man and this time, his fist flew. He drove his fist straight into Tom’s jaw, a hard right hook that had—once upon a darker time—been his specialty. He wasn’t particularly surprised to see that punch take Tom down. No way was the fancy suit meant to withstand hits like that.
While Tom lay on the floor, dazed, Victor grabbed the guy’s shirt front and stood over him. “Watch the fuck what you say,” he snarled.
“H-he doesn’t want you to know…” Tom gasped out the words.
“Victor! Stop!” Zoe shouted. “Let him go!”
He heard the thunder of rushing footsteps and knew that Tom’s guards were coming. Cursing, he let the bastard go and jumped to his feet. In the same move, Victor grabbed the listening device, one of his cuff links, and he crushed the damn thing in his fingertips. He couldn’t let the other agents and cops hear—
“Elizabeth…is your…s-sister…and he knew.”
Victor’s gaze flew to Zoe’s face. He saw her confusion, her shock, her denial, her…
Betrayal. Her eyes widened as she stared back at Victor. “He’s lying.” Her voice was almost ghostly.
The two guards were there. Big and Brawny—Samuel—made the mistake of swinging at Victor. He ducked the punch. Then Victor delivered one of his own—a hard hit to the guy’s mid-section. The breath blew out of the fellow in a whoosh as the guard doubled-over.
The other guard—Kevin—had made the mistake of grabbing Zoe. She slammed her foot down on his shoe and drove back with her elbow. He swore and jerked her harder.
Big fucking mistake.
“Duck, Zoe,” Victor ordered.
Her head dipped down and he used his right hook once more. This guy fell even faster than Tom. Only he nearly took Zoe down with him. Victor grabbed her, held tight. Her body pressed flush to his. And she stared up at him once more with—
Betrayal.
“We’re getting the hell out of here,” Victor snapped. He’d fix this. He had to fix this.
“Is it true?”
He locked his fingers around her wrist and pulled her toward the elevator. “We have to go.” Because the whole plan—it had been blown to hell. He needed to regroup. He needed to figure out why Luther would have told that information to Tom. Luther had been hell-bent on keeping the news of Elizabeth’s paternity a secret.
Because if the truth got out, she’d have a two million dollar price tag on her head, too.
Not what he wanted to happen for his sister-in-law.
And that was why he’d smashed the listening device. No way could he allow that information to get out.
“Zoe!”
Fuck. Victor looked back. Tom was on his feet. His jaw was already bruising.
“Zoe! He’s using you! Listen to me—listen! He realizes your father is close to getting out of prison, and he wants to stop that. He’s under orders…do anything necessary to gain your trust. Anything. And this Michelle person…how do you know she isn’t working with the FBI? That her supposed disappearance isn’t all a scam?”
Victor jabbed the button for the elevator, but nothing happened. Hell. He needed the keycard. His hands closed around Zoe’s shoulders. “Stay here.”
“Is it true? Is she my sister?”
Yes. I am so fucking sorry, but…yes. “We’ll talk later.” When they were out of there. When she was safe.
She shook her head. “Why would you keep this from me?”
He spun away.
Tom had his sick smirk on his face. “Now she knows the truth about you.”
Victor marched toward the guard who was still hunched over on the floor. “Keycard,” he barked. “Keycard or I kick your ass right now.”
The guy handed him a keycard.
But Tom stepped closer. That smirk stretched. “I have all of this on video.” He pointed to the ceiling. To the small camera there. “You’ll be arrested for assault.”
Sonofabitch.
“I’ll share the video and Elizabeth Ward…she’ll become a target.”
Victor stilled. Tom’s voice had been so low that Victor knew Zoe hadn’t overheard the dark threat.
“You’ll be arrested, your precious career will go down the drain, and Elizabeth Ward will be dead. All of that will happen.” Tom rubbed his bruised jaw. “Or you can make a deal with me. Right here. Right now.” Again, his voice was too low for anyone else to hear.
But Victor risked a quick glance at Zoe. She stood in front of the elevator, her eyes wide, and her expression stark.
“You like deals, don’t you?” Tom asked him.
He didn’t make deals with the devil, not anymore. “What do you want?”
“Oh, I think that’s pretty obvious.” Tom’s gaze slid over his shoulder. To the elevator. To Zoe.
“No,” Victor growled as rage twisted in his gut.
“Yes.” Tom nodded. “I want you to walk away from Zoe. She is not meant for you. You really think Luther would ever let you stay with his daughter? An FBI agent?” He laughed again, and the sound was mocking. “He’d kill you first.”
Victor recognized the threat for exactly what it was—and he didn’t give a shit. “I walk away, and she’s dead. The price on her head—”
“I’ll keep her safe.”
“Vic
tor!” Zoe called.
“You have until the elevator reaches the ground floor to make your decision,” Tom told him, voice so soft and smug. “Because if you haven’t chosen—and made the right choice by the time you reach the lobby—then your FBI and cop friends will be swarming…and they’ll be coming to arrest you. One click on my computer, and the video of your assault on me—and Elizabeth’s parentage news—will go far and wide. To the cops. To the FBI. To the Press. To all of Luther’s enemies…”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. This bastard was smarter than Victor had suspected. “What the hell…if I’m already going down…” Victor began. But he didn’t finish that sentence. Not yet. Instead, he swung his fist. And this time, hell, yes, he broke Tom’s nose. Bones crunched and Tom howled in pain and fury. “Then I might as well enjoy myself a little more.” He glared at the bastard—a bastard now clutching his broken nose. “That was for breaking her heart.”
He whirled away and stalked toward the elevator. Toward Zoe. She watched him, her beautiful green eyes locked on his with every step that he took.
And as she stared at him, Victor saw the fear in her gaze. He’d never wanted her to look at him that way. Never wanted her doubt and her anger and her pain.
He stopped in front of her.
“Victor?”
There were a million things he needed to say to her. A million. But he had no idea where to begin. He lifted his hand and swiped that keycard so he could get in the elevator. So they could get in. He pushed her inside and turned to look back at Tom. Blood dripped down the guy’s face and stained his suit. Tom glared at Victor with absolute hatred in his eyes.
The doors slowly slid closed.
Chapter Fourteen
The bastard had broken his nose. Tom swiped at the blood that kept gushing out and glared at the elevator. Victor Monroe was a pain in his ass. He was also a problem that would be eliminated.
One way or the other.
Tom swung around and stomped back to his office. He yelled at the guards. Those two had sure been freaking useless. If they failed him again, it would be the last mistake they made.
Tom headed toward his desk. He typed in the security code that unlocked the top drawer of his desk, and when he opened the drawer there, his laptop waited. He pulled it out, booted it up, and, a few keystrokes later, he connected with the building’s security feed.