Page 120 of Brutal Reign

Pavel chuckles, his arms still wrapped around me. “When’s nap time?” he whispers. “Because I need you out of this bikini.”

My core clenches at his words. “One hour,” I whisper back.

“Perfect.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “That gives me just enough time to properly interrogate my prisoner.”

I wake to a gentle touch on my shoulder. Pavel’s face comes into focus above me, and I automatically smile. It’s the perfect way to wake up. I must have dozed off beside Kin after reading him his bedtime stories.

But something’s off. There’s a weight behind Pavel’s expression that makes me uneasy.

“Can we talk?” he asks quietly, his words further putting me on edge.

I rise, smoothing Kin’s blanket, and follow him. Not to the kitchen, nor the living room. To his office. Where Syndicate business happens.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“Everything’s fine,” he assures me.

Hours ago, we were laughing in the pool, our bodies tangled together during Kin’s nap. Everything felt perfect and real and right.

I planned to confess everything tonight and lay my own vulnerable truth bare. But his closed-off expression tells me the time for my confession has passed. He has something to say, and I have a feeling it’s not what I want to hear.

He closes the office door behind us, and I perch on the edge of the leather chair across from his desk, my hands twisting in my lap.

“I need to tell you something,” he begins, lowering himself behind his desk. He drags both hands down his face, then leans forward with his elbows on his knees. The gesture is so unlike his usual controlled demeanor that my anxiety spikes higher.

“Just say it. Whatever it is, just tell me.”

Regret flickers across his features. “Dinara hacked into your encrypted messages. She found your communications with Chen Wei going back to when you were still with Simon.”

I stiffen. “What?”

Pavel’s expression doesn’t change, but his knuckles whiten on his desk. “After I brought you here, I needed to prove to my brothers you weren’t a threat to us. That meant digging into your past, your connections, and the people closest to you.” His voice drops lower. “That’s why I gave you the tablet, to see who you’d reach out to.”

I blink at him, the words sinking in like knives. I’d known they might be watching, but to hear him admit it outright makes me feel sick.

“You set me up,” I rasp.

“I did.” Pavel closes his eyes briefly, his jaw tight. When he looks at me again, guilt is written in the harsh lines around his mouth.

“Me? A threat to the Syndicate?” Hurt and betrayal swirl inside me like a storm.“Maybe you should have done your homework before forcing me to marry you and live here.”

“It’s complicated. You know that. I knew you hated Simon; I saw it with my own eyes. But I had to show the others, and for that I needed more to go on.” He runs his hands through his hair, frustration radiating from every line of his body. “The messages Dinara found between you and Chen made it clear you weren’t involved in triad business or with Simon willingly.”

I let out a bitter laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, congratulations on discovering what I could have told you from day one.”

Pavel winces but presses on. “You’re not a traitor, but something felt wrong about Chen. We looked into him, and we have reason to believe he’s working for Simon.”

My head jerks up. “What are you talking about? You think you can read a few messages and suddenly know everything? He’s spent the last few months trying to help me. He was the only one who had my back when everyone else abandoned me.”

He runs a hand over his face, a frown creasing his brow. “There’s no way Chen could have touched your trust fund. The bank requires your biometrics to release that money, which means he couldn’t have done it without you being present. That supposed in-person meeting is a set-up to capture you.”

I shake my head. “You have the wrong idea about Chen.”

Pavel releases a heavy breath. “I know it’s hard to accept, but there’s more. After you first reached out to Chen, he opened multiple offshore accounts under shell corporations. That’s the kind thinks people use when they need to hide massive payouts.”

“That’s not exactly a smoking gun. Offshore accounts and banking regulations don’t prove anything.” I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold everything together. “You don’t get it. Chen is like family to me. My father trusted him. I trust him!”

“I get it, I do, but it doesn’t change the situation. Did you ever read the trust fund terms? See any of the paperwork? Meet with the bank yourself?”