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If I had known he was going to go after you even after knowing what I had done to Antonio, I’d have killed him even before he could think about harming you.”
There was a storm brewing in his gray orbs that indicated someone’s demise.
Arthur’s demise.
“You were nowhere near my plan to catch him red-handed.
But still, to be sure you were miles away from him while I executed my plan, I kept the guards outside.
But you still left, and I had no fucking idea of what danger you were in.
If it wasn’t for Duncan…”
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
I ran my hand over his chest.
“I’m sorry.
I didn’t know what was running in your head.
I didn’t know about your plan.
All I knew was I needed to stop you from signing the contract.
I knew Arthur was going to do something.”
“You shouldn’t have gone after him to that floor.
Especially when you had no one there to protect you.
What were you thinking?”
Duncan must’ve told him what happened out there.
The edge of his voice told me he wanted to snap or yell, but he suppressed his anger not to raise his voice on me.
“I wasn’t thinking,” I admitted.
“I know it was stupid of me.
But I wanted to know who his partner in crime was.
If you had told me earlier about your plan, then I wouldn’t have done that.
But like always, you didn’t feel the need to tell me anything.”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I didn’t know you were aware of his double crossing.
I didn’t want to stress you out.
I’m sorry.
But why didn’t you tell me you had doubts about him?
When did you find out?”
I shrugged.
“Well, I didn’t like him from the beginning.
There was always something in his eyes whenever he looked at me.
A negativity.
And then I saw him with Sierra.”
He cocked his head at the side.
“Who?”
“One of you employees.
She was Liza’s close friend.”
Then I explained everything to him, from seeing Sierra with Arthur in the hotel garden, to him threatening me.
Well, except the fact that I took Warner’s help.
I didn’t want to ruin his mood more than it already was.
He stiffened.
Those gray eyes flashed as his nostrils flared.
“He threatened you?”
His voice came out low, danger laced with each word.
Grabbing my shoulders, he asked, “Did he hurt you?
Did he try to do anything?”
I shook my head.
“He didn’t hurt me.
He just tried to scare me by using your past.
And thinking he might have something against you for real, I kept quiet.
That’s why I wanted to know everything so desperately to find out if he really had anything against you.
But when you finally disclosed your past to me, I knew that even though he knew something related to that night, he didn’t have any evidence.
And when I decided to tell you everything in the morning, you weren’t there.
You already left for the meeting.”
His jaw clenched.
“You should’ve told me earlier, Rosebud.”
I placed my head on his chest.
“I was scared to ruin what we had by telling you something against your uncle, who was so close to you without any strong proof.
I didn’t want to create more rifts between us.
I thought you wouldn’t believe me.”
He kissed my head.
“There’s no one in the world I trust more than you.
You’re my world, Rosebud.
Why would you think I wouldn’t believe you?”
“I thought you trusted him blindly.
And when I finally decided to tell you after Liza’s confirmation, his threat stopped me.
I just wanted to be sure if he really had something against you before telling you everything.
Because I feared that if I would tell you about him, you being you wouldn’t be able to control your rage and confront him about it.
And that would lead him to use your past against you.
I know it’s stupid.
But I didn’t want to take any chance.”
“I’d have killed him for threatening you like that,” he hissed, his tone was deep.
“That’s why I didn’t tell you.
I wanted to sort everything out before taking any steps.
If you had told me everything, then all this wouldn’t happen in the first place.”
I glanced up at him.
“Why did you stop the cops from arresting them, anyway?”
“Because I wanted to punish them by myself.
I wanted to make them believe they were winning and then watch their own fall with their own eyes, especially when they were on the verge of winning.”
Venom dripped from his voice.
“Nothing hurts more when you lose after having all the confidence that you were going to win.”
He played with my hair as I listened to him silently.
“After getting out of the jail, Antonio thought nothing would happen to him again.
But he was wrong.
I couldn’t let him live peacefully when he tried to hurt my Rosebud.
So, I destroyed him to pieces this time.
This time, no one in the world can save him from his doom.
And today was Arthur’s turn.
I knew he was going to do something after the final signing.
And I was just waiting for him to take the step so I could grab him by his neck and catch him red-handed, ruining him with his own strategy.”
“You said you knew he was going to meet Ivanov.
How?
And when did Antonio try to hurt me?”
SEVENTY-THREE: A JEALOUS MAN
H is pupils darkened in rage.
“You remember the accident when we were returning from the house I bought for us?
The first time I took you there?”
My eyes widened.
“H-he was behind it?”
He nodded, a muscle of his jaw ticked.
“It was him.
Even though I was his target, he shouldn’t have involved you in this.”
I let out a breath.
So that was the reason behind his intense hatred towards Antonio.
That’s why he was so mad at Tess’s wedding when Antonio came to meet me.
“When Arthur brought up the Russian’s offer to me, his desperation for me to sign it and let him become the head of this project had me suspicious.
So, I had his phone tapped.
To know what was brewing in his shrewd head.
And I was right.
I found out about his intention for the project while he discussed it with Ivanov on the phone.
But as cunning as he was, he never unfolded his whole plan to him.
Until this morning, when everything in his path was clear for him to go ahead.”
But he did tell Ivanov about killing him.
Ivanov knew it except being aware of how Arthur was going to pull it off.
“You knew he was going to kill you after the signing?
I thought you told me you weren’t aware of it.”
“I knew, but I didn’t know how he was going to do it.
What his exact plan was.
But I found out about his stupid master plan when he was with Ivanov this morning.
We were listening to everything he was saying from the conference room.”
“We?”
I raised my brow.
“Me, Duncan and Mr.Balakin.”
“Duncan and Mr.Balakin?”
I was shocked.
They knew everything?
That explained why Duncan was there.
He gave a nod.
“It was Duncan who I asked to tap Arthur’s phone.
Besides being a successful businessman, that bastard is also an expert with computers, hacking and all.
He also did something to Arthur’s phone for us to hear every conversation when his phone was with him, even when he wasn’t on a phone call.
As he is a partner in some of my companies, when I told him about Arthur, he was more than willing to throw that leech out of the business.”
Though he showed that he didn’t really like Duncan, I knew they were good friends.
“When Arthur was planning to get rid of me, Ivanov also wanted Balakin out of his way to have their company all to himself.
When I made him listen to Arthur and Ivanov’s conversation, he agreed to help us.
I knew the contract would be beneficial for both of us, so I wanted the contract, but without Arthur’s plan in it.
And Mr.Balakin wanted the same.
So, he agreed to sign the contract as per their plan.
Not for their benefit, but for our gain.
And it would also let Arthur believe he was winning.
So he would play his next move and face defeat.”
Suddenly his demeanor changed, those strong shoulders of his tensed.
“When I left in my car with Mr.Balakin as per their plan and Duncan stayed back to keep an eye on them until they left the hotel, I found out you were there.”
His breathing came out deep as he tightened his hold on me.
His eyes watched me as if he feared I’d disappear at any moment.
“Duncan sent a recording of Arthur’s phone call to Mr.Balakin’s phone where he was talking to you and then giving orders to his dog to…kill you.”
I ran my fingers through his hair to calm him down, pressing my forehead against his.
“You don’t know how I felt at that moment, Rosebud.”
He gulped, staring into my eyes.
The redness in his eyes and the moisture in there made my heart clench.
“I felt my heart stop beating the moment I heard him giving orders to kill you.
I…”
I squeezed his hand.