Petrov bent so that his face was an inch from mine. “You should never have fucked that interfering bastard or helped him take what should be mine.”

My instinct was to cower, but something told me he would enjoy that, so I straightened my spine. “Ronan King is three times the man you’ll ever be.”

Smack!

His other hand clipped me around the face, and spots flashed before my eyes. Still, I didn’t flinch. “What do you want with Dad’s company?”

Petrov gripped my chin, his features twisted with anger. “We started our companies at the same time, but Frank married your bitch of a mother, which gave him connections to Chicago’s elite. He took the clients I should have had. He never deserved his empire. I was more experienced. Willing to do whatever it took. But he got in the way time and time again.”

“But you made your fortune,” I protested. “You’re a very rich man. Why do you care?”

“I did.” He sounded smug. “No thanks to him. Now I can take away everything he worked for.”

“But he’s dead!”

He squeezed my face tighter. “And I am not.”

I whimpered. He was crazy. I knew he and Dad hadn’t had the friendly rivalry Dad had liked to pretend they’d had, but I couldn’t understand why Petrov harbored so much bitterness.

“What do you want with me?”

His smile turned wolfish. “You were Frank’s beautiful daughter. His pride and joy, as much as the company ever was. Making you mine would have been perfect.” He released me, and my jaw throbbed where his fingers had been. “The juicy cherry on the top of my dessert, as you Americans like to say.”

I felt sick.

“I see you’re beginning to understand.” He nodded appreciatively. “Good. Unfortunately, I’ve had to resort to other ways of getting what I want.” His eyes traveled over my face. “You’d better hope your lover is willing to trade you for Frank’s company.”

My breath caught. That’s how he was going to play this? Use me as a bargaining chip?

“He won’t do it.” I had no idea if I was telling the truth. I had a feeling Ronan would do nearly anything to protect me—far more than Tom ever would.

Petrov nodded to one of the men, and the fabric hood was dropped over my head again. “If not, then you and I will have plenty of time to get to know each other.” He chuckled darkly. “Enjoy your stay. I’ll be back soon.”

Chapter Thirty

Ronan

“I’ve got bad news,” Joanna said the second I answered her call.

“Damn.”

Joanna was unflappable, which meant that if she said something was bad, it really was.

I flashed the screen to Kade and Zeke, who’d joined me in my office, to show them who was on the line, then put it on speaker.

“What is it?” I half expected her to mention Tom, but what actually came out of her mouth was so much worse.