Bound to my Rival

Chapter Eight

I spent the following day doing exactly what Adrian expected me to do: staying at home and keeping out of anything concerning the pack.

When he called around midday, I told him I was sorting through invitations and household matters. He seemed satisfied with that answer. Before ending the call, he mentioned that he might be late again, and I told him I would probably be asleep by the time he returned.

The lie came easily now.

What Adrian didn’t know was that I had spent most of the afternoon thinking about one particular document.

The transfer bearing my forged signature.

I had hidden it inside an old book in the wardrobe, somewhere Adrian would never think to look. Once I was certain he was occupied with his evening meetings, I retrieved it and sat at the dressing table with the document spread in front of me.

My signature was almost perfect.

That was what disturbed me most.

Adrian had watched me sign documents for years. He knew exactly how I formed each letter, how quickly I signed my name and where I pressed harder against the paper. Whoever had copied it had studied my handwriting carefully.

I turned the document over again.

There was still no council seal.

If Adrian intended to use the transfer officially, someone would have to approve it later. That meant the forgery wasn’t the final step. It was preparation.

I carefully placed the document back into the book and changed for the evening.

I didn’t tell Adrian where I was going.

He still believed I had no reason to involve myself in pack affairs, and I intended to keep it that way.

My driver dropped me several streets away from the house, and I continued alone. Roman had arranged for us to meet at one of his private properties outside the main territory, an old hunting lodge that was rarely used.

There was no chance of running into council members or pack families there.

Roman was waiting inside when I arrived.

His eyes immediately went to the folder in my hands. “You found something.”

I placed the forged transfer on the table. “This.”

He studied it carefully before looking at the signature.

“This is convincing.”

“Convincing enough to fool someone who doesn’t know my handwriting.”

His expression hardened slightly. “But there is no council seal.”

“Exactly.”

Roman turned the document toward himself. “Then whoever prepared this was waiting for someone inside the council to make it legitimate.”

“So we find out who.”

He nodded and opened another folder.

“There are three council members connected to the investment company listed on this transfer. One of them has been receiving payments from an account Adrian controls.”

I looked down at the names.

My stomach tightened when I recognized one of them.

“Darius.”

Roman watched me carefully. “You know him?”

“My father trusted him.”

“That doesn’t mean Adrian hasn’t found a way to buy his loyalty.”

I looked back at the forged document.

It hurt more than I expected. My father had trusted these people with our family’s future, and after his death, I had trusted them for the same reason.

Roman seemed to notice my expression.

“You’re thinking about your father.”

I folded my hands together. “He warned me before he died.”

“About Adrian?”

“No. About trusting someone with my destiny.”

Roman was silent.

“I didn’t understand what he meant,” I continued. “I thought he was being protective. I thought if I loved someone and trusted them completely, that was what marriage was supposed to be.”

“You loved your husband.”

His voice was quieter than usual.

I looked at him.

There was no judgment in his expression.

That somehow made it harder to look away.

“I did,” I admitted. “I still don’t know how to separate the man I loved from the man I’m discovering.”

Roman didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pushed another document across the table.

“This is a property agreement connected to the same company.”

I read through it, then looked up.

“They’re trying to purchase land bordering my eastern territory.”

“Yes.”

“And if Adrian gets control of my territory through this transfer…”

“He could approve the sale himself.”

The pieces fell into place.

Adrian wasn’t simply trying to steal money. He was preparing to dismantle my family’s holdings and place them in the hands of people he could control.

I closed my eyes briefly before opening them again.

“I need the original records.”

“You’ll need access to the family archives.”

“I can get it.”

Roman studied me. “How?”

“Adrian still believes I don’t understand any of this.”

A faint smile touched his mouth.

“That may be his biggest mistake.”

I smiled despite myself.

The moment passed quickly, but something about it stayed with me.

We had been meeting in secret for days now, yet this felt different. There was less suspicion between us than there had been at the beginning. Roman no longer looked at me as though he expected me to break under the weight of what I had discovered.

He was beginning to trust my judgment.

And, despite everything I had learned about trusting people, I was beginning to trust his.

“We should keep meeting here,” I said.

“We will.”

“And nobody can know.”

“They won’t.”

I gathered the documents and stood. Roman walked with me toward the door, but before opening it, he stopped.

“Elara.”

I looked at him.

“Be careful when you return home. If Adrian realizes you’re changing, he’ll start looking for reasons.”

“I know.”

His eyes remained on mine for a moment.

“Bring me the original records when you have them.”

I smiled faintly. “That sounded more like an instruction than concern.”

“It was both.”

I laughed softly before I could stop myself.

His expression changed at the sound, almost imperceptibly.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then I stepped back.

“I should go.”

Roman opened the door.

I left the lodge without looking back.

By the time I returned home, the house was quiet. Adrian was already in bed when I entered the bedroom, his eyes opening when he heard me.

“You’re late.”

“I went to see an old friend,” I replied casually. “She needed someone to talk to.”

He accepted the explanation without question.

“Everything all right?”

“Yes.”

He reached for me when I got into bed, pulling me against him. I let him, keeping my body relaxed while my mind returned to the forged document hidden upstairs.

His lips brushed my forehead.

“I’ve missed you.”

The words would once have made my heart soften.

Now they reminded me how carefully I needed to play this.

I closed my eyes and allowed Adrian to believe I was falling asleep beside him.

Tomorrow, I would find the original records.

And if Adrian had forged my signature once, I intended to discover exactly how many times he had done it.