Chapter 9
Victoria’s hand went instinctively to her throat, remembering the feel of Damian’s fingers crushing her windpipe. But there was something else about the note that nagged at her. The paper was her grandmother’s personal stationery – the watermarked kind she’d special-ordered from Italy. The kind that had been discontinued five years ago.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Elena: “Security footage shows no one entered. But there’s something you need to see. The handwriting analysis just came back. It’s not Damian’s.”
Victoria sank onto her bed, mind racing. If not Damian, then who? And how had they gotten past her state-of-the-art security? The baby moved restlessly, as if sensing her distress.
She pulled out her secure laptop, beginning to compile everything she’d discovered. The offshore accounts using her grandmother’s old templates. The accidents that seemed designed more to frighten than harm. The impossible note on impossible paper with impossible handwriting.
A pattern was emerging, but it didn’t make sense. Someone was recreating events from twenty years ago – events only family would know about. Someone with access to Kane secrets that even Damian might not be aware of.
Her hand rested on her growing bump as she worked late into the night, the baby’s movements becoming her constant companion. Each kick reminded her of what was at stake – not just her life now, but the future of the Kane legacy growing inside her.
The security feeds showed nothing unusual, but Victoria couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Every shadow seemed to hold secrets, every corner concealed potential threats. She was trapped in a web of lies and danger, with a child growing inside her and a man who both protected and threatened her.
But trapped animals were the most dangerous. And she was done being prey.
For a moment, she allowed herself to remember the feel of Damian’s arms around her today – protective, possessive, so achingly familiar. The way his touch still ignited fire in her veins despite everything. The genuine concern in his eyes when he’d shielded her from danger.
Then she pushed those dangerous thoughts aside, focusing on the evidence before her. Someone was playing a longer game than she’d initially suspected. Someone who knew Kane family secrets. Someone who had access to things that should have died with Elizabeth Kane.
The question was: who stood to gain the most from destroying both her and Damian?
She was no longer just fighting for revenge. She was fighting for answers, for justice, for the future of her unborn child. And somewhere in this deadly game of cat and mouse, those answers were waiting to be found.
The note on her pillow seemed to mock her with its familiar handwriting and impossible origins. But Victoria Kane hadn’t survived death to be frightened by paper threats. She was a Kane woman, carrying the next generation of Kane blood.
And Kane women didn’t break – they evolved.
* * *
The morning light filtering through the boardroom windows seemed unusually harsh as Victoria tried to focus on the quarterly projections being presented. At twelve weeks pregnant, the morning sickness had become nearly impossible to hide, especially during early meetings. The subtle ginger candies she’d been discreetly sucking on weren’t helping today.
“Ms. Cross? Your thoughts on the Asian market expansion?”
Damian’s voice cut through her nausea-induced haze. She looked up to find his eyes fixed on her with that unnervingly intense focus she’d come to both dread and crave. The past week since the elevator incident had been a dangerous dance between them – his protective hovering growing more obvious even as his suspicions seemed to deepen.
“The projections are optimistic,” she managed, fighting back another wave of nausea. The baby moved restlessly, as if sharing her discomfort. “But they’re not accounting for the regulatory changes in Singapore that take effect next quarter.”
She pushed herself to her feet, determined to maintain her usual commanding presence as she moved toward the presentation screen. The room tilted slightly, but she caught herself on the edge of the table, hoping no one noticed.
Someone noticed.
“You’re pale,” Damian said quietly as he appeared at her elbow, one hand coming to rest at the small of her back under the pretense of steadying her. The heat of his palm seemed to burn through her silk blouse. “Perhaps we should take a brief recess.”
“I’m fine,” she started to say, but the words died as another wave of dizziness hit. The room spun, and suddenly she was being lifted into strong arms, her face pressed against a familiar chest.
“Meeting adjourned,” she heard Damian bark as he carried her from the room. “Ms. Cross needs medical attention.”
“Put me down,” she protested weakly, even as her traitorous body curled into his warmth. His cologne wrapped around her, and the baby moved again, more forcefully this time.
He carried her to his private office, setting her gently on the leather couch. “When were you going to mention you’re pregnant?”
The question hung in the air like a loaded gun. Victoria’s heart stopped for a moment before she forced herself to meet his gaze with carefully crafted confusion. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Mr. Blackwood.”
His jaw tightened as he knelt before her, one hand coming to rest possessively on her knee. “Everything about you is my business, Ms. Cross. Especially when someone seems intent on harming you in my building.”
As if on cue, his security chief appeared in the doorway. “Sir, about those incidents we discussed…”
Damian’s expression darkened. “Report.”
“The brake line tampering wasn’t amateur work. We found traces of professional tools, and the security cameras in that section had been looped – expertly. Someone with serious resources wants to send a message.”
Victoria watched Damian’s face carefully as he absorbed this information. Something flickered in his eyes – recognition? fear? – before his mask slipped back into place.
“Double the security detail on Ms. Cross,” he ordered. “I want eyes on her at all times.”
“I don’t need —” she began, but his hand tightened on her knee.
“This isn’t a request,” he said softly, dangerously. “Someone’s playing a game I’ve seen before, and I won’t risk…” He broke off, something like confusion crossing his features as he studied her face.
The moment was interrupted by Elena arriving with a doctor – their planted ally, thankfully. Victoria endured the examination, knowing it would seem suspicious to refuse. Throughout it all, Damian remained nearby, his presence both comforting and terrifying.
Later that afternoon, safely in a secured conference room, Victoria met with Jack Tobias. The elderly man’s face was grave as he spread out documents on the table.
“It’s worse than we thought,” he said without preamble. “The pattern we’re seeing? It’s exactly like what happened in ’99 – right before your grandmother’s husband died in that ‘hunting accident.'”
Victoria’s hand went to her grandmother’s ring. “You think the same players are involved?”
“I think someone’s using the old playbook,” Jack replied. “Someone who was there, who knows all the moves. Your grandmother left messages about this possibility – encrypted in her personal diaries. We’re still decoding them, but what we’ve found so far…” He shook his head. “She knew this might happen. She tried to warn us.”
“What kind of messages?”
Jack pulled out a leather-bound journal. “Most are in code, but we’ve translated this entry from three months before she died: ‘The vultures circle again, wearing familiar faces. Trust no one who claims to protect the family name – the greatest threats come from within.'”
Victoria studied the journal entry, her grandmother’s elegant handwriting bringing a fresh wave of emotion. “She knew someone would come after the company again. But why now? Why this way?”
“There’s more,” Jack said, his voice dropping lower. “We found references to a project called ‘Phoenix’ in her private files. Something about contingency plans, fail-safes built into the company’s structure. But the full details are locked behind encryption we haven’t cracked yet.”
The baby moved restlessly as Victoria processed this information. Each kick felt like a reminder of everything at stake – not just her revenge, but her grandmother’s legacy, her child’s future.
Her phone buzzed with an urgent message from Elena: “Need you in the secure room. NOW.”
The secure communication room they’d established in a forgotten corner of the building was already running hot with activity when Victoria arrived. Elena’s fingers flew over multiple keyboards, screens filled with data.
“They’re watching your hospital records,” Elena said without preamble, pulling up encrypted files. “Someone’s been trying to access your old medical files – the ones from the night of your ‘accident.’ But they’re also tracking current hospital databases, searching for pregnant patients admitted in the last three months.”
Victoria’s blood ran cold. “How close are they?”
“Too close. They’ve already flagged several women who match your general physical description. They’re cross-referencing with private clinic records, focusing on facilities that offer discrete services to wealthy clients.”
“Can you block them?”
“I’m trying, but whoever’s doing this has serious resources. The coding signatures…” Elena hesitated. “They’re using some of the same programs your grandmother’s security team developed. Programs that were supposedly destroyed years ago.”
The implications made Victoria’s head spin. Someone with access to Kane family technology, someone who knew about her pregnancy, someone who understood the old power plays…
A notification pinged on one of Elena’s screens. “Damian’s increased your security detail, but he’s also ordered deep background checks on you. He’s getting suspicious of the gaps in Victoria Cross’s history.”
“Let him look,” Victoria said, though her heart raced at the thought. “Our backstory will hold up. Focus on finding out who’s accessing those hospital records.”
As evening fell, Victoria found herself working late again, the office floors eerily quiet. She was reviewing more of her grandmother’s decoded messages when she heard voices from Selena’s office. Moving silently, she positioned herself near the partially open door.
“She’s becoming a problem,” Selena’s voice carried clearly in the darkness. “Damian’s obsessed with protecting her, and she’s starting to ask questions about accounts that should stay buried.”
A man’s voice responded – one she didn’t recognize, but something about its cadence seemed vaguely familiar. “Your concerns are noted, but elimination isn’t an option right now. We need to be subtle.”
“Subtle?” Selena’s laugh held no humor. “Like the brake lines? The maintenance cart? Those were your idea of subtle?”
“Tests,” the man replied calmly. “We needed to see how she’d react, who would protect her. The results have been… illuminating.”
“And what about her condition? If Damian finds out —”
“He won’t,” the man cut her off sharply. “But we need to move faster. The pregnancy complicates things.”
Victoria’s hand flew to her stomach. How did they know?
“Then let me handle it,” Selena insisted. “She trusts me enough to let her guard down. One private meeting, that’s all I need.”
“No.” The man’s voice turned cold. “You’ve already failed once with her sister. We’ll do this my way.”
Sister? Victoria’s mind raced. What did he mean about failing with her sister?
“Fine,” Selena conceded. “But she’s becoming a problem. Handle it before Damian figures out who she really is.”
“Oh, I’ll handle it,” the man promised, his voice sending chills down Victoria’s spine. “After all, history has a way of repeating itself in the Kane family. Especially when it comes to tragic accidents.”
Victoria pressed herself against the wall as footsteps approached. A shadow passed the doorway – a tall figure she couldn’t quite make out in the darkness. But something about his movement, his bearing…
The baby kicked sharply, as if sensing her distress. Victoria waited until the footsteps faded before slipping away, her mind whirling with questions. Who was the mysterious man? What did he mean about her sister? And how many players were really involved in this deadly game?
One thing was certain – she wasn’t the only one wearing a mask in Kane Industries. And some of those masks had been in place long before she ever married Damian.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Elena: “Emergency. Your old medical records just got accessed from inside the building. Someone knows, Tori. Someone knows you’re alive.”
