Page 189 of Matteo

“He doesn’t feel anything,” I say. “You know that.”

“Then maybe you will.” Alex gives me a look I'll never forget. All this time I considered him as my friend and the man second to me in command, but in this moment I see only pure loathing in his eyes.

He despises me, us, the Knights. He despises everything we stand for.

“You betrayed me,” I say, before I can stop myself.

He nods. “I did.”

“You stood in that lab, day after day, looking me in the eye—”

“And you stood in this company, benefiting from decisions that cost people their lives,” he cuts in.

“You don’t get to justify this,” I say, but there’s less certainty in it now.

I take in a long breath, feeling as if my entire world is breaking down. It only takes a few events, a few people, to do that.

Ordinarily, the funding being pulled for his niece would never have affected me, had he not done this. But not only did he hit the company, he hit a bullseye square in the middle of me and Elizabeth.

I understand what he tried to do but he went about it the wrong way. His anger and personal connection twisted his logic. But like Elizabeth said, he would have been better to expose what my father did and to go public with it.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me,” Alex replies. “I’m telling you why I did it.”

It's not going to be easy to punish him, and though I try to think like a boss, the human element of this softens the blow I want to give him.

“You’re done here,” I tell him. Because there is no way he can ever work here again.

He nods once. “I figured.”

“You’ll hand over everything,” I continue. “Access, credentials, all of it. Security will escort you out.”

“I guess they will.” He's resigned to his fate.

He puts his hands on the desk, getting ready to stand up. “Is there anything else?” he asks.

“No.” I look at Elizabeth. “Anything you want to say, Elizabeth?” I ask, softly.

Her eyes turn glassy. “I wish you hadn't done it this way.”

Alex swallows, and stands up. “I'd better go empty my desk,” he mumbles.

Elizabeth meets my eyes for a fraction of a second, but there's no sense of triumph or winning. No “I told you so” expression. She looks as sad as I feel wretched.

Alex pauses at the door, his hand on the handle. “I'm not the problem, and I didn't start this. Your father did.”

Then he walks out.

I pull my phone out and call security, after which I turn to her again.

“I—”

“Don’t,” she says, getting up. “Don't say a word. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Ever.”

She leaves, and I'm left sitting with guilt and a sense of loss so deep, I can barely breathe.

Chapter 44

ELIZABETH