Chapter 006

But Lyra was quite different. I could hardly believe they were sisters. In her, I saw innocence and her heart was warm.

"But.."

"I will be happy to get you a cake," I said fervently. "And a designer wedding gown and a ten-carat diamond ring." Reaching for her hand, I kissed it, then looked into her eyes. "Just tell me what you want, and it's yours."

I felt her hands tremble in my own before she yanked it away. "Just bring my sister home. Safely from your brother. The more time she spends with him, the more her life is in danger. We have never been apart for years and it's driving me crazy."

"You have my word. I will bring her back to you soon." I rose to my feet. "I must call my lawyer to discuss some important things. In the meantime, you should rest." I gestured to the bookshelves of first-edition books. "Read if you like. I have great books that may interest you. Your breakfast will be here at any moment. Excuse me."

"Thank you for saving my sister," she whispered. She took a deep breath. "And me."

Uneasiness went through me, but I shook it away. My gaze traced unwillingly over the patterns on her skin, along the curves of her full breasts beneath her T-shirt, and I gave a stiff nod. "We will both benefit from this arrangement. Both of us," I repeated, crushing my conscience like a newly sprouted weed.

I couldn't turn soft because of her. I had a lot of plans I hoped to accomplish and destroying Andrei was one of them.

"But I'll never forget what you did for me." She said softly, looking at me with gratitude. Her brown eyes glowed, and she was far more beautiful than I'd first realized. "I don't care what people say. You're a good man. You're not heartless or ruthless like they say."

My jaw tightened. Without a word, I turned away from her. Once I reached my home office, I phoned my lawyer to arrange the prenuptial agreement and discuss ways to break Lyra's trust as quickly as possible. If only she knew I was the last person who would save Illyra.

She was just a pawn in my game and I didn't care what happened to her sister at all. I just desired to punish the people that betrayed me and unfortunately, she was one of them.

The discussion took longer than expected. There were several things that needed to be fixed with little time available.

Unfortunately, I wasn't patient because I didn't trust my brother's heart. I knew how weak and vulnerable he was whenever he was with Illyra.

She was a dangerous woman and it would take little effort to bend Andrei to his knees again. I didn't know what she did to him but she was his poison.

Once he reconciled with Illyra, he would come looking for her sister. He wouldn't stop until he found her to make Illyra happy. And he would ruin my plans.

When I returned to the library an hour later, I found Lyra curled up fast asleep on the sofa with a cold, untouched breakfast tray on the table beside her.

Such a strange young girl. She nearly cried because of hunger, but she dozed off after being served breakfast. Who did that?

I looked down at her. She looked so young, sleeping. Had I ever been so young? She couldn't be more than twenty-one, eleven years younger than I was and more stupidly innocent than I had been at that age. In spite of myself, I felt an unwelcome desire to take care of her. To protect her.

And so I would. For as long as she was my prisoner-that was to say, my wife. I reached out a hand to wake her but stopped. I looked down at the gray shadows beneath her eyes. Our wedding could wait a few hours. She deserved a place to sleep, a safe harbor.

Carefully, I picked her up into my arms, cradling her against my chest. I carried her upstairs to the guest room. Without turning on the lights, I set her gently on the mattress. I stepped back, looking down at her in the shadowy room.

I heard her sweetly wistful voice. I do love a good wedding cake with buttercream frosting roses. It was weird that I wanted to get her everything she desired.

I had told her the truth. She would be my only wife. I never intended to have a real marriage or trust any human enough to give them the ability to stab me in the back. I had seen what had happened when my brother tried it.

This would be as close as I would ever get to holy matrimony. For the few brief weeks of marriage, Lyra would be the closest I'd have as a wife. To a family.

I took a deep breath. She'd make an exceptional wife for any man. She was an old-fashioned kind of woman, the kind they didn't make anymore. From my investigator's report, I knew she was ridiculously honest and kind.

I also hired a different investigator to monitor her in Seattle. He had dressed as a homeless street person, which should have rendered him invisible. But not to Lyra, though.

"She came right up to me to ask if I needed anything. Then she insisted on giving me her brown bag lunch." He had smiled. "Peanut butter and jelly."

What kind of girl did that? Who had a heart that was unguarded and soft? Unlike Andrei and Illyra unlike myself, Lyra deserved to be protected. She was an innocent and loyal girl who had done nothing to earn the well-deserved revenge I had planned for the other two.

Even though it would still hurt her, I felt a spasm beneath my solar plexus. Guilt, I realized in shock. I hadn't felt that emotion in a long time. I wouldn't let that stop me, though. But I would be as gentle as I could with her.

Turning away from her sleeping form, I went back downstairs to my home office. I phoned my head secretary, and ten minutes later, I was contacted by Honolulu's too wedding planner. Afterward, I tossed my phone onto my desk.

Swiveling in my chair, I looked out the window, overlooking the penthouse rooftop pool. Bright sunlight glimmered over the blue water, and I could see the city and distant ocean.

For ten years, I had been wearing Andrei down. I had been fighting his cartel tooth and claw with mine, getting his attention the only way I knew how-by, making him pay with tiny stings, death by a thousand cuts.

But getting Illyra Bennet to betray Andrei would be the deepest cut of all. The fatal one. Rising to my feet, I stood in front of the window, hands tucked behind my back as I gazed out toward the Pacific.

I'd give my lawyer a few weeks to transfer the possession of Lyra's land back to my control. By then, once the two little love birds were immersed in each other, I would blackmail Illyra into sabotaging my brother's cartel.

I narrowed my eyes. Illyra would crush Andrei's heart beneath her boot, and he would finally know what it felt like to have someone else change his life, against his will, when Illyra betrayed him.

She would have no choice when I ask her to do so. I had all the ammunition I needed to make Illyra Bennet do exactly as I wanted.

I had her sister.