Page 161 of The Penalty

“He has pictures and videos.”

“Of?”

“Victoria with other men. Famous athletes and coaches, mostly.”

Bile rose in my throat.

“How did he get them?”

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. “S-some are fake. Others are real.”

Pieces started clicking into place. “The tech start-up in Manhattan. Are they behind it?”

A shaky nod. “We hacked into the mainframe at the Legends facility to manipulate the wireless network. Every phone and computer connected was rendered vulnerable. Players, coaches, staff, visitors, basically anyone signed in to the network at the stadium. We gained access to phone numbers, texts, emails, the cloud, you name it. Our only target was Victoria but we messed around with other accounts and phones to deflect attention.” He paused. “We, uh, we also hacked into her personal wireless network to access images on her laptop.”

Clenching my jaw, I used every trick I’ve learned in training to keep my body still.

I had to.

If I didn’t, I’d fucking throw him through the window and into the street.

After a few seconds, something else occurred to me. “Did you ever pay anyone to harass Victoria and Hannah?” I scowled. “Victoria was groped at dinner by some asshole.”

Philip’s neck bulged with a hard swallow. “Yes.”

“And her car?” My voice dropped several decibels. “Are you behind that?”

“Technically.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I shouted. “You know what? Doesn’t matter. I’ve heard enough.” I slammed my fist into his face. “Where is he?”

Philip recoiled in pain and terror. “I don’t—”

“Say I don’t know one more time and you’ll be hauled out of here in a pine box.” Bunching his shirt in my grasp, I pressed his body into the wall.

A hand wrapped around my arm. “Xavier. Let him go.” Adam’s calming tone had zero effect on me.

Rage pumped through my veins like poison, corroding every cell until it pooled in my stomach.

“How much of this did you know?” I seethed, pinning a deadly stare on him. “Do not fucking lie to me.”

Adam straightened his shoulders, looking affronted. “I only knew about the blackmail schedule. I’m just as surprised by the rest of it as you.”

I studied him. Even though our relationship was frayed, I could tell when he was being truthful. Nodding, I released Philip, watching him slump to the floor.

Reality narrowed to a razor thin focus.

Dark thoughts. Spiral. Revenge. Redemption.

“Listen to me, you sniveling twat.” I crouched down to make eye contact and flexed my hand into a fist. “I know you’re lying. You know where Jordan is hiding, don’t you?”

Fear enlarged his eyes.

“I’m going to get an answer out of you one way or another. Where. Is. He.”

Philip touched his bruised cheekbone and winced. “He never left England. He just sent his plane to different locations to throw off Bennet because he knew you’d come after him.”

A fresh wave of rage swept through me. “He’s been here the whole time?”

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