Page 56 of Claimed By the Enemy

“Yeah. Maybe.”

One thought keeps circling through my mind as Dom helps me back to the main room.

When was my last period?

And why can’t I remember it?

Chapter Fourteen

Dom

Aweek of working together has changed everything between us.

When I’m not at the office, Sophie and I work together in the study, going through documents and mapping connections between our families. She spends her days researching while I handle business, then we compare notes in the evenings over dinner. By weekend, we spread everything across the dining room table, trying to piece together decades of lies.

It’s the new norm in our world now.

Which is why finding Sophie standing in the living room with murder in her eyes when I get home from the office feels like stepping into an alternate reality.

“We need to talk,” she says without preamble.

I set down my briefcase, noting the manila envelope clutched in her white-knuckled grip. “About what?”

“About this.” She tosses the envelope at my feet. Photographs spill across the marble floor.

I bend to pick them up, and my blood runs cold. They are photos of her Uncle and Aunt in locations I don’t recognize, taken with a telephoto lens.

“Where did you get these?”

“They were slipped under the front door this morning. No note, no explanation. Just pictures of my family under surveillance.” Sophie’s voice is deadly calm, which means she’s angrier than I’ve ever seen her.

I study the photographs more carefully.

“Sophie, I didn’t-”

“Don’t.” She holds up a hand. “Don’t lie to me. Not after everything we’ve been through this week.”

“I’m not lying. I have no idea where these came from.”

“Right. Because it’s just a coincidence that my uncle and aunt suddenly disappeared after I started working with you, and now someone’s sending me surveillance photos.”

“They’ve disappeared?”

“Yes! I can’t reach them.”

“Look, this is definitely not a coincidence. But it’s also not me. Think about this logically. Why would I have your family followed?”

“To use them against me. To make sure I stay in line.”

“Stay in line?” I drop the photographs, genuinely stunned. “Sophie, we’ve been working together. As partners. Why would I need to threaten your family when you’re already helping me?”

“Maybe because you don’t trust me. Maybe because you think I’m still planning to betray you.”

“Do you want to betray me?”

Sophie’s anger falters for just a moment, and I see something vulnerable flicker across her features.

“That’s not the point.”