“It’s over.”
“What’s over?” Elijah asks, his brows knitting together as he stares at me.
“All this,” I say, with a sad smile. “The photos, the tape recordings.” He hasn’t realised they were all recorded on hotel property. I recognise the photos. I’m sure the video footage is no different.
Elijah shrugs, clearly not understanding the enormity of what I uncovered.
I shake my head.
“Dad used the hotel to spy on our guests, Eli. When it comes out, the FHG is finished. No one of any importance will want to stay here, hold meetings or conferences at our hotels. I’m sure I was working here at the time, so deniability won’t work. Everyone will think I was complicit.”
There’s a knock at the door.
Elijah reaches for me, his eyebrows folding inwards as his nose crinkles.
Pulling away, I shake my head.
He pauses.
I’m holding on by a thread. No more comfort. It is what it is. I only hope the information I’m about to hand over is enough to nail the bastards once and for all. Dad must have felt it was worth it, so I’m trusting him.
“That was fast,” I say, knowing Pen must have called ahead after I contacted them.
Elijah averts his gaze.
I get up and open the door. I am faced with a middle-aged woman in a dark pantsuit, her hair tied up in a severe chignon, her makeup flawless.
“Kathryn Frazer,” she says. “Pleased to finally meet you.”
“And you are?”
She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “An old friend of your father’s.”
Pen appears next to me, moving me aside, and it’s then I realise I’m blocking the doorway. The woman and her two goons enter.
Pen points to the spare room.
“Through there,” she says.
The woman nods, her eyes softening as she takes in Pen’s dishevelled appearance.
They disappear. Jax has made more coffee, which is now steaming on the table.
I take a seat next to him and wait.
The stranger reappears, her gaze moving to Pen’s. She nods, a silent message passing between them.
Pen moves next to me, taking my hand in hers.
“They’re the missing files?” I ask, earning myself a surprised look.
The woman walks towards us. I motion for her to take a seat. I can’t stand it when people stand when I’m sitting, and right now I’m not sure my legs will hold me up.
“Did you really have no idea what your father was doing?”
I shake my head, meeting her gaze.
“You were working with him closely.”
