Page 106 of Vow to Hate You

“You have no right to barge into our home,” Damian bit out, slamming the door shut.

“Home?” Christian spat. “This is not your home. Connecticut is—where you’re supposed to come into the office. Instead, you two are holed up here while our livelihoods burn to the fucking ground. If you answered your damn phone, you’d know.”

“Get dressed, Natalia,” my father ordered curtly. “We have things to discuss?—”

“Yes,we,” Christian cut in, his voice thick with anger as he focused on my dad. “You’re not going to go behind my back to try and fuck me over.”

Damian stepped in front of me. “What’s going on?”

“This is your fault,” my father exploded, getting in Christian’s face. A small gasp escaped me when he shoved Christian. “He was your employee. I’m not losing everything because of you.”

“What happened?” Damian asked loudly, catching both of their attention.

“Jack turned on us,” my dad ground out, glaring daggers at Christian. “Locked us out of most of our accounts. Talking to our partners and clients behind our backs. Gossip is spreading thatwill ruin us in business. All thanks to your father, who trusted him witheverything.”

My pulse thrashed as I listened in disbelief. Damian was rigid, his eyes darting to Christian, who had his hands clenched at his sides. My father shook his head before pacing in front of the kitchen island.

“He’s been with me for over a decade,” Christian finally spoke up, cutting through the tense silence. “I never thought he’d do this.”

“He has us by the balls,” my dad nearly screamed, his face turning red. “He fucked us. Now he’s gone. Our men have been searching the city all night for him.”

“How?” Damian asked in a low voice. “Legally, everything is in your names. He shouldn’t be able to do any of this.”

Christian hesitated. “Some of our business contracts are…not exactly on the right side of the law.”

My eyes flicked to Damian. The blatant shock on his face made me believe he had no idea about it, and fear for my husband getting caught up in this had ice sliding down my spine.

“He’s blackmailing you?” I asked, regretting my question when all three of them swung their gazes toward me.

“Yes,” my father answered stiffly. “I’m getting as far from this as possible. He was an employee ofValentinEnterprises. This is Christian’s mess, so he can worry about it. Take your son and go figure it out.”

“Your name is all over my company,” Christian hissed vehemently. “This won’t only fall on me.”

“Maybe. But I’m distancing as much as I can. I want their divorce to happen immediately. My daughter will not be associated with this?—”

“That won’t be happening,” Damian growled.

“Of course it is.” My father looked at me, expecting me to agree. “The contract is void. Natalia, pack a bag. We’re leaving.”

Damian wrapped an arm around me, locking me to his side. “No.”

“I’m not talking to you. I’m speaking to my daughter.”

“You’re giving orders tomy wife. Try it again, and I’ll throw you out of this apartment.” Damian’s voice was full of threat. I didn’t move a muscle when my dad met my eyes.

“Natalia,” he said tightly. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I retorted, keeping my voice steady. “And I’m not getting a divorce.”

Fury swept across his face as he stormed closer. “Your commitment is to our family. Not him. His father created this mess, and I won’t allow you or I to go down with them. I don’t care what I need to do—you’re coming with me.”

“Really?” Damian asked, his voice dripping with danger. “How will you do that? It sounds like you have enough problems without adding a hospital visit to the list. If you lay a finger on her, I’ll make sure you leave here on a stretcher.”

“Damian,” Christian warned. “You don’t threaten him. We will all figure this out.”

“What if I fix it?”

Damian’s question had silence blanketing the room. I peeked at him, but he was focused on his father.

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