Page 175 of Scandalous

“It was just lying on the printer,” she lies.

“Who?”

“Valentina Garcia,” she says softly.

“Motherfucker,” I hiss. “Santi’s own sister?”

“I didn’t believe it either honestly, but I followed the money. It was definitely her bank account that the deposit went to.”

“Why?” I say out loud more to myself than her.

“Look, I don’t know, but you needed to know. What she did was wrong. What all the gossip rags did was wrong. They went too far and none of you guys deserve this. I can’t imagine what Aurora is feeling.” She pauses. “Is she really as nice as she seems?”

“Even more so,” I say absentmindedly.

“I can’t wait to meet her. You are bringing her home, right?”

“I plan on it, yes,” I say as I stand. “I appreciate your call, but I have to go handle this now.”

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath. “Ezra?”

“Yeah?” I say as I open the door and head down the hall.

“Take it easy on Santi. This is going to hit him hard, and he’s as much a victim as you are.”

“Don’t worry,” I say as I come to a stop right outside the kitchen. “I’ll talk to you soon.” Hanging up, I slip my phone into my pocket and stare at my family.

During the ride and all through dinner, we were tense with the unknown. Now, though, everyone is slightly relaxed. While they might not feel safe, they know that we can make it through anything.

And now I have to drop another bomb on them. One that might just kill Santi.

“Hey you.” Aurora smiles. “Everything okay?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. “I know who turned on us.”

“Who? How?” everyone asks in unison.

I raise my hand, asking them silently to be quiet. “My cousin Letty works for a tabloid in London. Without going into details and jeopardizing her job, she did some research and found out who.”

“Spit it out already,” Santi demands.

Taking a deep breath, I cross my arms. “It was Val.”

“Val who?” Aurora frowns.

I hear Liam suck in a breath and Drake curse, but never once do I look away from Santi. I see the moment it registers to him.

Santi shakes his head. “No, no, no. She’s wrong.”

“Letty even tracked the money transfer. She’s not lying.”

“Why? She wouldn’t.” He pushes away from the table hard, skidding the table on the floor.

“Who? Who is Val?” Aurora demands as she looks between all of us.

“Valentina Garcia set up a camera and filmed us all at our most vulnerable,” I state.

“Holy shit.” Liam shakes his head back and forth.

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