Page 44 of Hacker Betrayed

Paxton

“Thank you for meeting me today.”

“I’m doing this for Mia and my son,” Donovan said. I called him after my arrest to see if he could tell me more about the Ellisons. Cara and my other siblings would be angry if they figured out I might have a lead and not disclose it to them.

I nodded. “I will do everything in my power to protect both of them. I’m not going to step back and say you can win Mia over. We are flying to Vegas for a friend's wedding. I plan to ask her to be my wife before we leave. I love her.”

Donovan ran a hand over his face. “I won’t get in the way. She deserves the world. Our time together is in the past. To be honest, she never looked at me the way she does at you. I’m her dark past. All I ask is not to be cut out of my son’s life. She opened the door to something I never thought I would want.”

I never thought to push Donovan out of Lucas’s life for a second. Having a mob boss at our house for the holidays would take getting used to, but Mia’s entire family was part of the mafia. My sister would probably make us all sign some type of legal document. The thought made me smile.

“I’m not going to speak for Mia. But I won’t stop you from seeing Lucas,” I explained. “If she says yes to marrying me, I would like you to be there in Vegas. So we can start all this out as a family.”

“I’ll consider it. Back to why I’m here. How close are you to your stepbrother?”

“Not very. He was gone when we moved into the mansion and never came around much.”

He worked at Ruben’s hedge fund and lived in a penthouse downtown. During the holidays, he jetted around the world. I saw him gracing the tabloids more than I saw him in person.

Nora thought her son could do no wrong. The woman said all the images of Javion were photoshopped because her boy wouldn’t treat women the way they portrayed him in the articles.

“He tends to think money can buy him out of everything.” Donovan tugged an envelope from his pocket and tossed it on my desk.

The key to my mother’s death was in the envelope. For years, I searched for answers. Nobody had them, and now they were waiting for me to open them.

As a plastic surgeon, I had a steady hand. Not much made me shake, but a small tremor went through my hand as I peeled back the envelope's flap.

A picture slid out, and I stared at my stepbrother. His face was bloody, and he was limping out of the car that killed my mother. He had a knife in his hand. I flipped to the second photo, where he was reaching into my mother’s car. This was enough evidence for me to take to the cops. “Why hold on to this?”

“When that accident happened, I was only eight or nine years old,” Donovan said, motioning to the photo.

“How long have you had this?” I growled.

“The accident was across from one of my father’s restaurants. When my dad stepped outside to call for help, your brother offered him money. He’d already killed your mom and sister so they couldn’t talk.”

This evidence would tear Nora apart, but Javion needed to pay for what he did. “So, he paid your family off? You realize the money train is gone once I turn him in.”

“Dad used him to launder money through the hedge fund,” Donovan shrugged. “Like I said before, I’m not my father, and I’ve cleaned up the business. After killing my father, I spent hours combing through the blackmail he had on everyone. You’d be surprised at the number of people who have dark secrets.”

I was ready to drink a bottle of whiskey to forget the images of the man who’d sat across from me a few times over the years and acted like nothing had happened. My stomach turned, realizing Ruben adopted us because he knew what his son did.

The money they gave us now felt like blood money.

My phone buzzed on my desk with Brock’s name across the front. I swiped my finger and pressed the speaker button.

“Hey, Brock. I have you on speakerphone,” I explained.

“Ashlyn’s warehouse blew up about four minutes ago. Patty and Jessica were already out of the facility. Mia’s not answering. We figured out that Donovan and his brother Jordan are why Ashlyn’s company is going under.”

I reached to turn my phone off speaker, but Donovan grabbed my phone.

“Like fuck I am. That is some bullshit, Brock. Check your facts.”

“Your shell company siphoned money from her business, and Patty tracked the computer's IP address accessing her network. It leads to your house in Mexico. Guess whose jet went to Mexico this morning?” Brock asked.

“Jordan asked to borrow the jet,” Donovan replied. “I swear on my own life that Jordan is not behind this. That damn man would walk through fire for Ashlyn. He thinks he hides his feelings, but I know he loves her.”

“Everything points to your family and Mexico,” Brock growled.

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