“Which you did,” Vladimir murmured, giving her a wicked grin. She blushed.
“That’s neither here nor there,” she said primly.
But Josie’s soft brown eyes didn’t look away from Kasimir’s face. “That’s why you took me from Honolulu to Morocco?” The color had drained out of her rosy cheeks, leaving her skin white as Russian snow. “You weren’t keeping me safe—you were keeping me hostage? To blackmail my sister?”
Kasimir’s heart twisted in his chest. “Josie.” He swallowed. “If you’ll just let me explain….”
And again, she waited, still with a terrible, desperate hope in her eyes. As if there could be any way Kasimir could explain his actions that didn’t make him a selfish monster. He took a deep breath. “I did do a terrible thing. But an hour ago, I called and told them the deal was off. I told Vladimir he could keep his company. All I wanted was you.” Urgently, he grabbed her hands in his own and looked down at her. “Doesn’t that mean something?” he said softly. “I called off the blackmail. For you.”
For a moment, Josie’s eyes glowed. For that split second, he thought it was all going to be all right.
Then her expression crumpled. “But you were going to separate me from my sister forever, rather than confess how you tried to blackmail her. You were going to force me to give her up, her friendship, her love, for the rest of my life, rather than tell me how you threatened her—with my safety!”
“I was afraid.” Words caught in his throat. He felt her hands starting to slip away and he tried to grab them, hold on to them. “I was afraid you wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t take the risk you wouldn’t forgive me….”
She pulled her hands away. “If even an hour ago, you’d confessed everything, I think even then I could have forgiven you,” she whispered. “But not for th-this.” Her teeth chattered. “You d-demanded that I make that horrible choice. When it was never necessary. Even knowing what it would cost me!”
“I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice.
Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “You never loved me,” she choked out. “Not if you could do that.”
Desperately, he took a step towards her. “It was the only way I could keep you!”
She flinched. Closing her eyes, she exhaled. “I always wondered why a man like you would be interested in a woman like me. Now I know.” She opened her eyes, and tears spilled over her lashes. “I was just a possession to you. Someone to be married for the sake of land in Alaska, then traded for your brother’s company. Then kept at your whim, as what? Your mistress, your sex slave?”
“My wife!”
“You never thought of… of me. How I would feel. You either didn’t think about it, or you didn’t care.”
“It’s not true!” With a deep breath, he said, “Yes, I tried to use you to get revenge on my brother. But everything changed, Josie, when I… I fell in love with you.”
She stared at him. Turning away with a sob, she pressed her face against her sister’s shoulder.
“Please,” Kasimir whispered, taking a step towards her. “Doesn’t it mean anything that I gave up what I wanted most—the company that should have been mine?”
“You don’t have to give it up.” Vladimir stepped between them, his face grave. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a white page. “Here it is.”
For an instant, Kasimir stared blankly at the page. He took it from his brother’s hand. Looking down, he sucked in his breath. “It’s the contract I gave Bree.” He looked up in shock. “It transfers your shares in Xendzov Mining to me. You signed it.”
“Let this be the end,” Vladimir said. “I was wrong to force you out of our company ten years ago. I was angry, and humiliated, and my pride wanted vengeance. But I was the only one to blame. So take back what I owe you, with interest. Take it all. And let this be the end of our war.”
Kasimir’s mouth was dry. “You’re just giving it to me?” His voice was hoarse. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“A lifetime’s work. You’re throwing it away?”
Vladimir’s forehead creased. “I’m trading it. For the happiness of the woman I love. The woman who will soon be my wife.” His blue eyes, the same shade as Kasimir’s own, wer
e filled with regret as he said softly, “And to make amends to the little brother I always loved, but have sometimes treated very badly.”
A lump rose in Kasimir’s throat.
“I should have waited for you,” Vladimir said in a low voice, “all those days we walked to school in the snow.” Glancing behind him, he gave a sudden snort. “And I should have listened when you said Bree Dalton was a wicked creature, not to be trusted…”
“Hey,” she protested behind him.
Lifting a dark eyebrow, Vladimir gave her a sensual smile. “You know you’re wicked. Don’t try to deny it.” Then he looked back to Kasimir, his expression serious. “I was wrong to cut you out of my life,” he said humbly. “Forgive me, brother.”