“You deserved it after signing those papers.” He stared into my eyes for a few moments. “I get why you didn’t ask yourself if the message could have been spoofed, Vienna. I’m not a good man. I’ve never tried to be one. I manipulate people often. But you’re the one person I’d never betray. If something happens that makes you question that, talk to me. Give me a chance to explain. Let me have the benefit of the doubt. Don’t declare you’re done and try to walk out on me.”
“If I’d known you wanted this relationship to be real, I wouldn’t have been so quick to believe you sent the message—I don’t think you’d be disloyal to someone you made a true commitment to. But I didn’t think I really meant anything to you.”
“Well, you were wrong. Now that you know that, take a mental step back if you see or hear something that puts me in a bad light. Question it. Ask yourself if it really makes sense. Talk to me about it.”
“I will. Promise.”
He gave my nape a little squeeze. “Good girl. Now give me that mouth again.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Is there a way to find out who sent that message?” I asked as we lay in bed facing each other. We’d gravitated to my room—well, I supposed it was our room now—after we left his office. Once he’d given a very disgruntled Blue a little attention, Dane had joined me in the shower before then slipping into bed with me.
He pursed his lips. “I would imagine that your carrier can tell you the origin carrier of the text message, but if the sender used a VPN or some random computer in a public place, your carrier might not be able to determine their ID. I’ll do what I can to find out who sent you the message.” He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. “My money’s on Heather.”
I felt my brows dip. I’d personally been leaning toward Travis and Hope, since they’d been so uncharacteristically quiet lately. “Why her?”
“Because I still believe she sent you the flash drive. The pictures were mentioned in the text message. I didn’t tell anyone about them. Did you?”
I shook my head. “No.” I had to keep so many secrets about my marriage that it hadn’t even occurred to me to confide in anyone about this.
“Then whoever sent the flash drive must have also sent the spoofed text.”
“Heather was seriously pissed last night. She’d have wanted to get even, and she’d have been raring to do so. Especially since she’d soon lose her blackmail money.”
Dane nodded. “Then again, Owen was just as furious. It’s possible he’s behind this.”
I frowned. “He was angry at first, sure, but he looked resigned when he left. I think he’ll back down now and let this whole thing go.”
“Hmm.”
“You don’t think so?”
“If someone told me I couldn’t have you, I wouldn’t resign myself to that.”
“Because you’re like a dog with a bone. I suppose it’s possible that he did the spoofing thing out of spite. I mean, his ego would have been smarting after some of the things you said—especially your claim that you’d have lured me from him, like he didn’t have what it took to keep me.”
Dane shrugged, skimming his fingers down my arm to curl them around my hand. “It was only the truth.”
I snorted. “Um, no, it wasn’t. You would not have bothered to lure me from him.”
“Oh, I absolutely would have.” He brought my hand to his mouth and nipped the tip of my finger. “Make no mistake about that.”
“Bullshit. We’re only together now because you dragged me into a fake marriage. If I’d already been married to someone else, you couldn’t have used me as your fake wife, so we would never have gotten to this point. Things would have remained purely professional between us.”
He lightly tapped my nose. “Wrong. I’d have made a move on you eventually whether you were single or not. If you’d been married, I’d have probably already done it by now. Because I would have hated the thought of you belonging to someone else.”
“And you’re so certain I’d have succumbed to your advances?”
“Yes.”
“Arrogant bastard.”
He raked his teeth over my palm. “You wouldn’t have been unfaithful to him—you’re too loyal for that. But you’d have left him and come to me. I would’ve made sure of it. I’ve told you many times before, I always get what I want. I wanted to make my business globally successful. I did. I wanted to purchase a house like this. I did. I wanted to make you my wife. I did.”
“To get your hands on your trust fund,” I pointed out, my stomach clenching when he sucked my finger into his mouth. “You fully intended to divorce me at a later date.”