Page 28 of The Devil's Daughter

She drugged him and evacuated with the rest once he was unconscious.

Then we burned the whole fucking place to the ground with him inside.

14

Drake

My voice ishoarse from talking by the time I take a breath. Their eyes are wide when I lay the last bit on them. Ben stands and disappears into the lounge, returning with the crystal decanter of Scotch and four glasses. He pours, and we all drink.

“So, yeah. I murdered my dad to save a hundred women. To save whoever else might fall into his clutches later. The two members of the facility’s staff who were there were paid well enough that they agreed to corroborate the story Flores and I crafted, but there was no love lost on the bastard. They had no objection to agreeing that the fire started from one of the so-called storage units while the owner was visiting, and that he went in to try to stop it and never came back out. The fire marshal bought it, and we paid off whoever needed paying, but only three people knew he was there: the security guard, the receptionist, and the woman he went to see.”

“And the drive filled with video files…” Baz says.

“Insurance. There are faces in many of those videos who wouldn’t want it made public that they were involved in such an operation. Prominent men, associates of my dad. I didn’t watch them for pleasure, if that’s what you’re thinking. Only to see who the clients were. And I didn’t install the fucking cameras in my own apartment. I wouldn’t watch a woman unless I knew she wanted me to.”

“If anyone took issue with you taking the helm of your father’s company, tried to frame you, for example, you’d have ammunition to throw back at them,” Baz says. “Like now.”

“Is that what this is?” Ben challenges. “Someone trying to frame you somehow?”

“Tell them,” Baz says.

Elle and Ben both look at me expectantly, and I sigh. “I may have received a few threatening emails within the last couple weeks. They’re cryptic, though. I can’t tell who they’re from, or even what they know—only that they knowsomethingand they’re trying to blackmail me into stepping down. I think the cameras were a hint that they know about those videos.”

Elle’s brow knits, and I wish I could ease her worries, but there’s nothing I can say that won’t sound like bullshit.

“Was it only women?” Elle asks. “In those rooms?”

“Mostly, but there were some… boys. The ages ranged from young teens to early twenties for most of them. Some of the women were a little older, but not many. I learned when I was setting up their new identities that several had small children who were taken from them when they arrived and were put into the foster system. I did what I could to help, but I’m still trying to track them all down.”

Bile rises to burn my throat, and I chug another measure of Scotch to chase it back down.

“Jesus,” Ben mutters. “You should have fucking told us a week ago. Didn’t you think this was relevant to us doing our jobs?”

“Your job is to protect Elle. Not me.”

“No, our job is to protect everyone in that building. You appointed us the heads of your security department. We manage everything,andwe watch Elle. And now we’re watching you too. Someone knows your secret. Who’s to say they won’t hit harder next time? Tell me you havesomeclue who it might be.”

I shake my head and sit back, heaving a sigh as I swipe both hands through my hair. “I don’t know who all the players were in Dad’s scheme. I figured the beast would die if I cut off its head. They couldn’t traffic more people if I didn’t allow it or give them a way to profit from it on this end.”

Elle sits back with a laugh. “Your company is calledTyphon, Drake. Was your dadreallythe only one at the top?”

I frown at her for a moment before realizing the joke. Typhon was a mythical Greek beast with a hundred heads. My grandfather chose the aspirational name hoping that one day the company would have offices worldwide, which it eventually did. We have almost two thousand operating facilities across the globe now.

“If Typhon’s the company, my dad was Zeus, so yes. No one else called the shots. That doesn’t mean the VPs of any of our subsidiaries weren’t involved somehow. If any knew about the trafficking and were in on it, they’d be upset by the lost income stream. But there aren’t many who were familiar enough with the family or HQ to know my secret. Plus it’s been a few years. Why would they come after me now?”

“It’s a place to start, at least,” Baz says. “I’ll do some more digging. In the meantime, we’re staying put until I find a lead on who put that shit in.”

“Staying put might be a problem,” I say. “The renewable energy gala is this weekend. It’s too late to postpone, and since I’m the host, I pretty much have to be there. Also … I may have put all of you and your families on the guest list.”

Baz gives me an exasperated look, but Elle’s eyes brighten, which was the reaction I was hoping to get from her.

“Not an option for us,” Baz says.

“Aww, why not?” Elle complains. “It won’t be any riskier than being at work.”

“Which you haven’t done for two weeks,” Baz says.

“Aren’tyouoverseeing security for the event? You can make sure it’s safe.” She squeezes Baz’s arm and his defenses visibly crumble, but he puts on a stern face.

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