Deeper (The Deep Duet 2)
Every single thing he’d been told checked out. Except for the fact that Diana, well Larissa in this case, was not supposed to be at home. Had Orion known? Had he hoped Rafe would take care of her? Or maybe he didn’t care one way or the other.
Rafe had gone in through the service entrance when one of the service trucks was leaving. He’d disarmed the security cameras and followed the schematics straight to the office. The old man, as usual, had dinner in the dining room and eventually retired to his office for a drink to start his business calls with his interests in the Far East.
Except that night had been different. That night, Rafe had been waiting for him. And unfortunately, so had Diana.
Rafe scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to get the image of her dark eyes staring up at him out of his head. His mind played tricks on him, intertwining his images of her.
Her dark eyes staring at him full of fear, full of terror, then morphing into the woman who challenged him. To the woman who chased him down a dark alley, hoping to help him. They’re the same woman. You need to be able to merge them in your head.
He loved the woman. He’d spent too much time worrying about the girl. He just needed to get his brain around the fact that the woman he loved had been that girl. How could she be with him? Knowing what he had done to her father?
Unfortunately for Rafe, as much as he wanted seclusion, the files offered no reprieve. He would need to talk to her.
When he left his office, he found her in the living room, curled up on the couch, WWE wrestling on in the background as she tried to read a magazine. She looked so small and vulnerable. But he knew better. She wasn’t that same girl.
She was Diana. She was his. And he needed to fucking act like it. “I think I need your help.”
She lifted her head and glanced at him. “You’re talking to me now?”
He clenched his jaw for a minute. He deserved that. “Sorry. I was just stunned for a moment. I’m getting over it. Just give me time.”
She gave him a brusque nod. “What do you need?”
He opened the laptop and sat next to her, her scent immediately wafting over to him, teasing him, making him forget why he’d come over again. Damn it. Focus. “Look, I’m going over that night. And these files. There’s nothing there about a diamond. Am I missing something?
She frowned. “I don’t know. The diamond is big enough to fit in the palm of my hand. I just remember it being pretty. It’s been a decade since I’ve seen it.”
“The only details I have on it were that it was passed down from women in your family for generations. It was a family heirloom. There’s been some chatter about it. As you said, Boris Klinkov wants it. And he’s making it clear to anyone who will listen. I think he’s obsessed with it.”
Diana muttered a curse. “Yeah… I saw that in your files. Boris has no legitimate claim to it without me. And for some reason he wants that legitimacy. I guess I thought you took it. I don’t remember registering it was gone until sometime after Papa’s funeral.”
Fuck. He took her hands. “Diana, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head. “I never meant for you to see that.”
She nodded. “I’m coming to terms with it after all this time. Since I’ve been here. Since I met you.”
“When did you find out? About your father?”
“The night I broke into your safe. I expected to find the diamond. Instead, I found the files on that organization you used to work for. ORUS. I found out what my father was. That you were sent to kill him.”
Shit. “Diana. I’m not sorry that I did my job. I am, however, sorry that it cost you someone you loved.”
She cast her glance down at her hands. “I loved him. But I’m not even quite certain that he loved me. Maybe in his own way. But he sold me. Like I was nothing. To be truthful, I didn’t know him at all. Even when he was there, he was barely there. He spoiled me. Doted on me occasionally. But he never spent any time with me. I don’t have any memories of those fond times with him playing with me. My mother though, I have lots of memories of her. And I was relieved not to find her in your files.”
“As far as we could tell, she was legitimate. Just had the misfortune of marrying the wrong man.”
“I suppose that’s a comfort.”
“Please think. Is there anything else you remember?”
Her brow furrowed. “The
diamond was there in his office the night before. I saw it in his safe as he retrieved his diamond cuff links. I remember how the moonlight made it sparkle. I asked Papa to tell me the story of how he and my mother met again. He was getting ready to go, and he didn’t have time for me.”
“I remember. The reason we opted for the hit on the night we did, was because the night before, your father had been at the Renfield Ball with your brothers.”
“It was at least there that night. I don’t remember much from the night…” Her voice trailed.
Fuck. He was a special kind of monster.