Page 198 of Matteo

This is news I hadn’t expected. “What made you think it was an internal job?”

“Not sure … but at least we’ve gotten to the bottom of it. You’ve been looking at it for months, dragging your feet—”

“Wasn’t dragging. I was combing through things carefully.” He’s always been on my back about this, believing I was too slow. That’s why he went behind my back and hired Elizabeth without even consulting me. “Did you have suspicions about Alex?” I ask, because he’s being his usual evasive self.

He looks away.

“Did you?” I ask again.

“He framed her, did you say?” He ignores my question. I find his reaction

too quiet, and too controlled, even for him. He’s known Alex for much longer than me, so this should have hit him harder than it hit me.

I lean against the wall. “He tried to. He called me when I was in Dubrovnik and said he'd found activity linked to her credentials. Login records. Authentication logs. Access attempts that appeared to originate from her account.” I make a face, feeling shame when I recall that phone call. “Everything pointed to Elizabeth being involved. At the time, it looked convincing.”

“She used to be a hacker, in her very early days.”

I turn and stare at the old man.

He knew.

I had an idea that he knew, but now he confirms it. I turn away from him again, pretending to be unaffected, but I bite my tongue and fight the urge to put a hole through the window.

I knew something didn’t add up about the way he hired her, without consulting me, and taking her on despite her not having the required qualifications. I was convinced there was a reason for it.

And now I know.

He hired her knowing she was a hacker. The pieces of the puzzle I’ve been trying to put together, begin to line up.

But why did he hire her?

“Don’t you have anything to say?” he asks.

I refuse to turn around to see that smug look on his face. That “Gotcha” grin. He thrives on things like this, on lies, secrets and subterfuge. I clench down on my teeth, fist my hands inside my trouser pockets. “I always suspected there was a reason for why you chose her.”

He laughs. “I needed an external consultant to audit the department. I had an inkling that it might be an inside job. I just needed to find out who.”

“And you hired a hacker?”

“I needed someone way smarter than all those prissy boys you've got working for you. Someone who can think like a criminal.” He pauses for effect. “Did you know about that?”

Thank goodness Elizabeth told me about her past.

I smile. “Of course I know. I know more than enough about Elizabeth.”

“Every inch of her body, too, no doubt.”

I turn around in disgust. The dirty, slimy bastard. He's baiting me. Trying to elicit a reaction from me but I won't give him the satisfaction. We stare one another down like enemies.

Because we are.

Blood means nothing when it comes to him.

“Should the company brace itself for a slew of sexual harassment claims?” I ask, walking towards him with a casual nonchalance I don’t feel. “The filth that comes out of your mouth when you talk about women is truly revolting.” I bend down, so that our faces are level. “Think about it,” I whisper, inches from his ear. “How bad it would look if our investors discovered what a sack of shit you really are. A dirty old man, with ailing health, and maybe not so invincible after all.”

I straighten to standing, staring down at him in revulsion. See his impenetrable cool exterior, but the tiny twitch along his jawline tells me he’s fighting for restraint. I twist the knife further. “Is that how you’ve been with women all your life? With Mama. With Aurora? They deserved so much better.”

He tilts his chin up at me. “Careful, boy.”