Page 80 of King of Deception

“Of course.”

Approaching us were Detective Monaghan and Jude on their way to another room. As they walked past us, the latter turned around, scowling at me. “I knew I recognized you; you’re the Drakos heir!” He then chuckled, shouting as he walked on, “Well done, Ella Bella! Well done!”

Looking away, I tried to touch Ella’s arm before she took a step away, widening her eyes in disbelief as she looked at me as if for the first time. Her gaze painfully scrutinized me while everyone’s eyes remained on us.

“The Drakos heir?” she breathed as if trying to process it. She then inched closer. “Philip Drakos, Abel? That’s who your father is?”

My jaws clenched as I stopped my tongue from uttering something I would regret—and in this scenario, that could have been anything. Instead, I closed my eyes and looked away.

The Captain then approached, addressing her. “Miss Boraine, please, will you join me in my office?”

“Philip Drakos’ son?” she mindlessly murmured as she began to walk away with Nilsson, her eyes not leaving me as her shoulder brushed against mine.

Abel, focus. Focus. My brain urged me, so I quickly pulled out the phone, texting Iris.

Not returning to office. Postpone all meetings.

I, then, called Nathan.

As soon as he picked up, he said, “Hey, I was just on my way to you.”

“Change of plans. Come to Captain Nilsson’s.”

“The precinct? What are you doing there?”

“Ella was attacked. Her ex was arrested.”

“Fuck me,” he sharply inhaled. “Alright, I’m on my way.”

In the Captain’s office, Ella sat at the other end of the room as if trying to stay as far away from me as possible. Monaghan joined us with another officer while the Captain settled behind his desk, observing.

“Miss Boraine,” Monaghan started, “we’re gonna try to wrap this up as quickly as we can so you can go home and rest.”

Her eyes, glassy and dazed, stared at him.

“Alright,” he sighed. “Would you take me through what happened?”

“Jude and I broke up about seven months ago,” she half-mindedly said, looking down at her fingers. “At first, he pretended that it was okay. But then, four months ago, he started contacting me again, asking for another… chance.”

“Was he violent in any way before today?”

I looked at her, dying to hear her answer.

“He—” she paused, and I saw her swallowing with difficulty. “Yes. But never like this.”

“Okay, we’ll get to this in a minute. What was it like before?”

My heart raced as I heard her say, “He picked fights about every man in my life. Friends, colleagues… even strangers at bars. He—” She shook her head as her eyebrows wrinkled, all while looking downward. “He had fits of rage where he would throw things. Break stuff. He destroyed my company laptop once, and I had to have it replaced.”

“And what about you?” he dipped his head. “Did he ever attack you physically?”

Her lower lip trembled, and it took all of my energy not to go over there and hug her. I watched her lips shake before she mumbled, “Once.”

“What happened?” he insisted. “Please, Miss Boraine. We have to know.”

“The first time I hinted at taking a break, he…” for a fraction of a second, her eyes glanced up at me before going back to her wringing hands. “He shoved me into a wall.” She lifted up her hand, touching her right temple. “The side of my head was badly bruised, and I had to wear my hair differently for a couple of weeks.”

Shooting up to my feet, I mumbled, “Fucking…” from under my breath.

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