by Mia Taylor
A sob escaped her lips and she gritted her teeth, obviously struggling to keep her composure. She swatted the tears from her eyes impatiently.
“But it’s done now. You did it. I don’t know how long you’ve been sleeping with her and I don’t care. Evangeline is out of our lives now and I want us to forget she ever existed.”
Ryker’s head whipped up and he stared hopefully at his beautiful wife.
She doesn’t know about anyone else or anything else!
His heart began to thud with anticipation.
“We will never mention her name in this house again,” he assured her eagerly. “Please, Victoria, you must forgive me, darling. I love you so much. I would rather die than see you crying.”
He waited for his words to overtake her as they always did, but to his shock, her expression hardened more.
“You must really think I’m an idiot,” she spat. “I know everything, Ryker. All of it.”
Blood drained from his face and he stared at her in disbelief.
“W-what are you saying?”
A slow, cruel smile formed on her lips.
“What do you think I mean? I know everything. I know about the money you stole. I know it all.”
His face twisted into an almost indecipherable expression.
“I-it’s our money, darling. I was going to pay it back! I needed it for the campaign and…”
He trailed off when he saw the look on her face.
She didn’t really know that I took the money. She guessed and I confessed.
Panic seized Ryker then and he felt his body shifting as the stress overcame him. Surprise and disappointment overcame Victoria’s face as she stared at him.
“Really?” she muttered. “Are you going to attack me now?”
As his body morphed, she fell onto all fours, her teeth baring.
It was only then that Ryker saw the form of another bear amble into the living room, his black fur gleaming in the afternoon light.
“You!” Ryker hissed, roaring slightly. “You did this!”
“You did this to yourself,” Benjamin replied quietly. “You had a woman who loved you more than anything and you went out of your way to sabotage it at every turn.”
“Toria, you can’t listen to him!” Ryker howled. “He—he—he…”
“He what?” Victoria whispered tiredly. “He has nothing to gain from this.”
With another furious roar, Ryker lunged forward, but Benjamin seemed to anticipate his movements and met him midair.
“NO!” Victoria yelled as the two beasts fell backward, their massive bodies hitting the rectangular windows with a crash.
Time seemed to freeze as Ryker felt the rush of air greet him from outside and then he was falling to the pavement below.
Alone.
Epilogue
A hand at the small of her back caused her to turn around but Victoria already knew who it was before she looked at Benjamin.
“Are you okay?” the PI breathed in her ear. The heat of his words flowed through her, sending a now-familiar shiver of pleasure through her body.
“I’m just thinking,” she confessed.
“He won’t come back here, Toria,” Benjamin told her. “He knows he has a target on his back if he does.”
Victoria nodded slowly and closed the heavy drapes of the front room. She’d been unable to return to the condo since the afternoon Ryker had fallen.
That was Victoria Duvall’s home. Victoria Ewinger needs to lay new roots now.
And it seemed that those roots existed in the arms of Benjamin Hamilton.
It had been natural that she returned home with the investigator after the police had come and gone, taking Ben’s full statement of what he knew about the fallen Senator.
Fallen in every possible way, Victoria thought without any amusement. The whole situation was sad and depressing.
For three weeks, she had waited for word of Ryker, but he had disappeared into the New York streets as if he hadn’t dived thirty stories to the ground.
She waited for questions on how he might have survived such a tumble.
Mostly, she waited for Benjamin to declare his feelings for her.
She looked up at him, her eyes filled with warmth as he smiled down at her.
“Who said I was thinking about him?” she asked and Benjamin grimaced slightly.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Tor.”
“I don’t lie to you,” she replied softly. “And I know you don’t lie to me either.”
He seemed slightly surprised by her words and he nodded slowly.
“I don’t,” he agreed solemnly. “You’ve been through enough without hearing more BS.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?” Benjamin laughed.
“For always being truthful with me. You didn’t have to tell me everything about Ryker.”
“Yes, I did,” he replied.
She met his gaze steadily.
“Why?” she asked softly, already knowing the answer. “Why did you betray your other confidences for me?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
“I want to hear you say it aloud,” she insisted, holding his gaze. A fuzzy grin appeared on his face.
“Because you’re my mate, Victoria. I knew that from the second you walked into my office and had me save your husband.”
“And you did it!” Victoria muttered in disbelief. “Even knowing that we’re mated to one another.”
“Of course.”
Victoria blinked, feeling a lump forming in her throat.
Because that’s what mates do. They put the other’s happiness above their own. That’s what Ben did for me because that’s what I would have done for him.
“I should have left him then. His own mother tried to warn me but I didn’t listen.”
“You’re here now,” Benjamin replied, reaching out to pull her close. “And that’s all that matters.”
Victoria swallowed and nodded, blinking away the emotional tears in her eyes.
“Yes,” she breathed, tilting her head upward. “I’m here to stay, no matter what happens.”
Their lips met for their first kiss of many and for the first time in her long life, Victoria knew she was exactly where she belonged.
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