Vows Of Deception

Chapter Six

The hallway smelled like old carpet and desperation. Vanessa’s grip on my arm was iron-tight, her red nails digging in just enough to remind me she still had the gun pressed against my ribs under her coat. We moved fast down the back stairs of the dingy office building Michael had dragged us to for “safety.” Funny how safety kept getting smaller and smaller.

“You’re shaking,” Vanessa said, almost amused. “Relax, Sophia. Richard doesn’t bite. Much.”

I swallowed the fear crawling up my throat. “Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?”

She laughed, low and sharp. “Money. Power. The usual. Plus, I’ve always hated Michael. Watching him lose everything? That’s just a bonus.”

We stepped out into the alley behind the building. A black SUV waited, engine purring like it was hungry. The driver didn’t even look at us. Vanessa shoved me into the back seat and slid in after me. The doors locked with a heavy click.

As the car pulled away, I twisted to look out the rear window. The alley was empty. No Michael. No Adrian. Just the faint glow of the streetlight and my own reflection staring back at me—eyes wide, mascara already smudged from the tears I refused to let fall again.

He lied. The words kept looping in my head like a bad song. Everything— the way he looked at me, the way he touched me, the way he said my name like it was the only word he ever wanted to say—was built on a con. And I’d fallen for it. God, I was so stupid.

Vanessa checked her phone, thumbs flying. “He’s already waiting. Says he’s been patient long enough.”

“Patient?” I snapped. “My mother died when I was twelve. If she stole from him, why wait fourteen years?”

“Because your mother was clever. She didn’t just steal cash. She stole something worth more.” Vanessa’s smile was all teeth. “Documents. Proof of every dirty deal Richard ever made. Enough to bury him. She hid them with the money, and she made sure only you could find it.”

I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me. Again. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“Not yet,” she said. “But you will. Richard has ways of jogging the memory.”

The drive took twenty minutes. We pulled up to a sleek glass tower downtown, the kind that screamed old money and new crimes. Security let us through without a word. In the private elevator, Vanessa finally lowered the gun but kept it ready.

When the doors opened on the penthouse, Richard Cross was waiting.

He looked exactly like the kind of man who could erase a marriage with a phone call. Tall, silver-haired, tailored suit that probably cost more than my childhood home. His eyes were the same icy blue as Michael’s. Family resemblance, I guessed.

“Sophia,” he said, voice smooth as whiskey. “At last. You look just like her.”

I didn’t sit when he gestured to the leather couch. “My mother wasn’t a thief.”

Richard chuckled. “Oh, she was. But she was also my best asset… until she decided she wanted out. Took everything I couldn’t afford to lose. Then she got sick. Cancer, fast. Left you the key without ever telling you what it unlocked.”

He poured two glasses of something expensive and held one out. I didn’t take it.

“Where’s the money, Sophia? The accounts. The files. Tell me, and this ends cleanly. You walk away rich. Michael walks away… well, alive.”

Before I could answer, the elevator dinged again.

Michael stepped out, breathing hard, suit jacket gone, shirt untucked. Blood on his knuckles. Adrian was right behind him, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Vanessa raised the gun instantly. “How—”

“Building security works both ways when you have friends in low places,” Michael said. His eyes found mine, raw and desperate. “Sophia. I’m here. I’m not letting this happen.”

Richard sighed like a disappointed father. “Son. You were supposed to make this easy.”

“I was supposed to con her,” Michael shot back. “Not fall in love with her. Not marry her for real. Not realize she’s the only thing in my life that isn’t poison.” He took a step toward me. “I should’ve told you the second I knew I couldn’t go through with it. I was scared you’d run. I was right to be scared… but I was wrong to lie.”

Tears burned my eyes again. “You used me.”

“I did,” he said, voice cracking. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it right. If you’ll let me.”

Vanessa’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Touching. But Richard still wants his money.”

I looked at Michael—really looked. At the man who’d lied to me, yes. But also the man who’d just walked into a trap for me. The man whose eyes said he’d burn everything down before he let them hurt me.

I turned back to Richard. My voice came out steady, stronger than I felt.

“I don’t know where the money is. But I know my mother. She wouldn’t have left me with nothing but a curse. If she hid something, she hid it somewhere only I would understand. And if you want it… you’re going to have to let me figure it out. On my terms.”

Richard studied me for a long second. Then he smiled, slow and dangerous.

“Fine. Forty-eight hours. Michael stays here as collateral. You go find what your mother left you. And if you run…” He glanced at Vanessa. “Well. You already know how this family handles loose ends.”

Michael’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t argue. He just looked at me like I was the only light left in the room.

I walked over to him before I could stop myself. Pressed my forehead to his for one heartbeat.

“Don’t die,” I whispered.

His hand brushed mine. “Don’t disappear on me, wife.”

Then Vanessa was pulling me back toward the elevator.

Forty-eight hours.

I had forty-eight hours to unravel my dead mother’s secrets, find millions I didn’t even want, and decide if the man who broke my heart was worth saving.

And the worst part?

I already knew the answer.

This wasn’t over.

Not even close.