Chapter 153

[ 1,027 words ]

Katia’s POV

He spent the next hour telling me about Meridian.

Not the version I already knew, not the dry facts of a government contract and a lost bid. His version. He told me about building Halo Systems from nothing over ten years, about the government AI contract that was going to change everything, and about spending eighteen months developing a system that he believed was the best in the field.

He told me about the evaluation committee and the result and the grinding unfairness of losing to a company that had appeared from nowhere with technology that he said, carefully watching my face, had not been developed entirely independently.

“What does that mean?” I said.

“It means someone helped them,” he said. “Someone with access to proprietary architecture that was not theirs to share.” He paused. “I cannot prove it. I have tried. The paper trail is clean. But I know what was in my system, and I know what appeared in Meridian’s algorithm, and the overlap is not a coincidence p>

I sat with that.

“You’re saying Meridian stole from you,” I said.

“I’m saying someone gave Meridian what they needed to win,” he said. “Whether the founders knew the origin of what they were given, I genuinely don’t know.” His thumb was still moving across my hand. “You acquired Meridian three years ago. You didn’t build what they had. You inherited it. I don’t hold that against you p>

“That’s generous,” I said.

“I’m a generous man.” He looked at me steadily. “What I want, Katia, what I have always wanted is acknowledgement. Not money. Not the contract. Just the acknowledgement that what was done to me was wrong.” He lifted my hand and held it for a moment before setting it down. “I think you’re someone who understands what it is to have something taken from you p>

I looked at him across the dinner table.

The wire was warm under my clothes. Sam was listening to every word.

“You should know,” I said carefully, “that I don’t make decisions about IG Technologies based on personal conversations over dinner p>

“Of course not,” he said. He smiled again, warmer this time, closer to real. “That’s not why I invited you to dinner p>

“Then why did you p>

He leaned back. Looked at me in a way that covered a lot of ground without saying anything he could be held to.

“Because I wanted to sit across from you,” he said simply. “The rest can wait.” He refilled my wine and continued. “I will tell you this again, I am a very generous man to those I care for,” he said, his hand sliding dangerously high on my thigh, his fingers dangerously close to my centre. “And I could care for you very, very well, Katia p>

“You’re very direct, Victor,” I said, tilting my head, playing the role of the intrigued conquest.

“Life is too short for subtext,” he said. He leaned in, his nose brushing mine. “When we’re done with the wine, come back to my place. I want to see if you make as much noise as I think you do p>

“Unfortunately, I am a married woman, Mr Hale,” I said.

“Well, I don’t see a ring on your finger.” He said, and I smiled at him.

“Lunch was great; please make sure not to fuck my pictures, Mr Hale,” I said.

“You’re too late; I’ve already fucked you like a million times.” He said, and I felt so sick to my stomach.

“It’s getting late. I need to get home. My son is probably worried I’m not yet home.” I say, kissing his hand as I take my leave.

Sam was waiting at the apartment, her face pale. The recording was still looping on her laptop.

“He said what about his cock?” she demanded the second I walked in.

I collapsed onto the sofa, ripping the tape and the wire off my chest with a hiss of pain. “He’s a predator, Sam. A very, very horny predator, for that matter p>

“He’s a pig,” she snapped. “But the Meridian stuff… if he’s telling the truth about the leak, that changes everything. It means your company is built on stolen property p>

I looked at the window, the city lights blurring. I could still feel the phantom pressure of his hand on my thigh. “I know. And he knows it too. He wasn’t just flirting; he was marking his territory. He thinks he owns the leverage, so he thinks he owns me p>

“Julian is going to lose his absolute mind when he hears this,” Sam said, looking at the screen. “The part where Victor kisses your cheek? Julian might actually kill him p>

I thought about Victor’s eyes—the way he looked at me like I was a prize he had already won. And then I thought about Julian.

“Why do you think he will kill him p>

“I’m not a kid, Katia. He’s married to your sister but wants you, not Delia,” Sam said.

“No,” I said quietly. “Julian won’t kill him. He’ll do something much worse. He’ll dismantle him. After all, I’m his sister-in-law p>

“Sister-in-law, my nyash p>

Translation: Nyash (Ass)

I almost laugh because Sam always uses my ’nyash’ word – not even sure where she got it, but it’s fun.

I went to bed, but I could still feel the warmth of the wire against my skin and the memory of Victor’s voice promising to ruin me in all the ways a woman shouldn’t want to be ruined.

I did not sleep at all, because I wanted Julian to be the one saying those words, the one ruining me. Fuck!

I am not supposed to want my sister’s husband, but I want him. I want him so bad that it hurts because Julian can’t manhandle me; all he fucking does is dry hump me, and I need his cock to fill me up and stretch me. Hell, I don’t care if he breaks my pussy while doing it.

It’s a shame I had to hear ruin from a madman like Victor when my mind, my soul only wants to hear it from Julian Windsor!

What the actual fuck, Katia!

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