Page 98 of Lord of Vice

I wanted to smile but there was a hint of jealousy in my system, a moment that was a tough pill to swallow. I really had fallen for the man and his powerful ways, his need for control. Maybe the scared little girl inside had fallen into a trap of allowing his dominating powers to feel comforting, as if he could keep me safe.

Right.

I doubted that was possible. There were far too many demons, including the gorgeous man with the perfect body.

My skin tingled at the thought, but I did what I could to shove it aside.

“Whoa.” A picture caught my eye, and it was from a few months before. I did what I could to zoom in, trying to figure where I’d seen the woman before.

After a few seconds, I shifted to another group of pictures taken less than three weeks after. There she was again. The only woman who’d been in more than one photograph. At least on the bottom of the one it appeared her name had been used.

I struggled to make it large enough to see. Veronica Diamond? Who the hell had a name like that? Well, okay, so my last name was Valentine. Where the hell had I seen her? Wait a minute. She had been at the Morellis’ club arm and arm with some guy but that wasn’t why seeing her photograph bothered me. I was certain of it.

After closing my eyes for a few minutes, it came to me where I’d seen her.

“Shit.”

“Are you okay?”

I jumped from hearing Vissarian’s voice. “I’m not sure. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. What’s wrong?” He walked closer, a frown on his face.

“Do you recognize this woman?” I turned the phone around, holding my breath.

“Yeah, I know her. That’s Veronica.”

He did know her. A series of red flags raised in my mind. “Was she special to Kraven?”

“Ah, no,” he said, half laughing. “In my opinion she was a gold digger and I told him that more than once. Honestly, there’s been one woman other than you he’s shown any interest in.”

“The girl he brought here. Katarina.” Why did it bother me so much that I’d seen Veronica in Margaritaville? Maybe because of the way he was looking at her.

“He told you about her,” Vissarian huffed.

I nodded.

“Katarina’s death nearly destroyed him after our parents died.”

“She was killed by someone in Moscow.” I could tell he continued to be surprised his brother had opened up.

“Yes, she was killed by one of our father’s enemies, or so he told me. It’s one of the reasons I have no desire to embrace my Russian heritage. Now, you have me curious. Why did you ask about Veronica?”

No wonder the man was haunted. “She was at the restaurant the other day where we were having lunch. I could swear she followed us there. It might sound crazy, but I don’t think she was there to spread happiness, if you know what I mean.”

“Did you tell Kraven this?” He narrowed his eyes, more than a hint of concern crossing his face.

“No, but something happened today and he was acting odd so I was trying to figure out what it could be.”

“Tell me what you saw, Penny. All of it. And what Kraven said.”

“That someone betrayed him, but I sensed he wasn’t certain who or exactly how. The woman was in the restaurant watching us intently. And I honestly know she was at the park as well. Wewent to one of the dog parks with Remington. She just appeared from the shadows. He didn’t see her. I’m certain of that.”

Vissarian took a deep breath. “That’s not good. Just hold on. Let me make a call.” He grabbed his phone from his jeans pocket. I could see the iPhone screen lit up.

I was sick inside, my legs wobbly when I stood.

It took less than five seconds before he spun around to me. “Fuck. Try to make a call from your phone.”