He reaches for my arm, but Benson steps between us. “You touch her, you die.”
His voice is lethal, deadly.
The senator freezes, stunned, then pivots sharply, leading us down the hall to his office.
The moment the door shuts, he explodes. “Are you fucking insane? How dare you walk into my house and disrespect me like this after everything I’ve done for you?”
“Everything you’ve done for me?” My laugh is sharp.
This man is unbelievable.
“What have you ever done for me besides lying to me my entire life?” I ask.
“You wouldn’t have made it as far as you have without me. Without the Ashford name.”
“Bullshit. I’ve worked for everything I have. None of it came from you.”
“And where are you now? No job. A doomed relationship with a fucking loser who is about to go to prison. And after that little stunt in there,” he grits out, pointing at the door, “you’ve secured yourself a one-way ticket out of town.”
“Are you going to toss me in the Potomac, too?”
His eyes flash with anger. “Careful, Karmen. He may be able to protect you now, but once you walk out of this house, I’ll—”
I take a step forward. “You’ll what?”
He has no idea what’s coming. No idea how thoroughly his world is about to collapse.
“I just want to know why,” I ask. “Why lie to me all these years? Why not tell me the truth?”
“The truth about what?”
“About who my real father is?”
His expression hardens, cold and bitter. “You want the truth? You want me to tell you how your whore of a mother had an affair right after we got married with the fucking landscaper of all people. She humiliated me. Betrayed me. Then she turned up pregnant. I wasn’t about to let a bastard child ruin my career, so I got rid of him.”
Pain slices through my chest. My entire life has been built on his lies. And he stole any chance I ever had of knowing my real father. Anger coils hot and violent in my gut, my forefinger itching to hug the trigger. To end him. But shooting him would be mercy, and I want him to live with this for the rest of his pathetic life.
“And as for your little boyfriend?” he sneers. “That was Salazar’s idea. I just benefited. The only thing we didn’t expect was your connection to him. But I should’ve known. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I collect two steps forward, pulling my cell phone from the pocket of my jeans. Chin lifted, I square my shoulders and hold it out for him to see. His eyes widen, face turning the palest shade of white as the image pops up on the screen.
“You fucking bitch.”
“The Feds already know everything. Your confession is just the icing on the cake.”
He reaches for the phone, but Benson slams him onto the desk, pinning him with a forearm to the back of his neck.
“You want to do the honors?” Benson asks.
The senator grunts in pain, struggling to get free.
“You go ahead, baby. And make it hurt.”
“You’ll pay for this. Both of you. This isn’t over!” he shouts as Benson cuffs him and hauls him upright.
“No,” I say, meeting his eyes. “You’re right, this is far from over.”
Benson escorts him out first, his expression a storm of fury and disbelief. The sun offers a bit of warmth to the brisk afternoon as the rest of the task force fans out across the area, agents moving with efficiency as they work to separate and detain every guest.
