Page 69 of Betraying Family Vows
My fingers fly across the keyboard, cross-referencing accounts, following the money trail. I'm so absorbed that I don't hear the door open.
"Find anything?"
I jolt, nearly sending the laptop flying. Dimitri leans against the doorframe. He's changed into a black t-shirt that stretches across his broad shoulders and fresh jeans that hang low on his hips. His hair is still damp from his shower, and even messy it's still somehow cute.
"Yes, I found something," I say, nodding toward the laptop. "Something big, I think."
He crosses the room in three long strides, sitting beside me on the bed.
"Show me," he says, his voice low and intense.
I turn the screen toward him.
"I found wire transfers," I say. "Fifteen of them. Labeled as installments, payments to a company called H. S. Holdings. All with the same note, 'To S, installment whatever number it was.' See," I say, showing him one of them.
His jaw flexes.
"It's got to be the same 'S' you mentioned," I continue. "The one who pressured my father. But that's not all."
I click through to the search results from my secure login, revealing the transfers after my father's death. "Two days after he was killed, thirty-seven transfers were requested and accepted. Thirteen accounts belonging to Cosmo were completely drained. Whoever 'S' is, they didn't just manipulate my father, they took everything he had after he died."
Dimitri's breathing changes, grows shallower. His eyes track the numbers on the screen, and for a brief moment, I see something like hope flash across his face. Like a man who's finally been given a life raft.
"This is exactly what we've been looking for," he says. "A paper trail."
I nod, feeling a swell of something dangerously close to pride. "I can track where the money went next. If I just?—"
"Wait." Dimitri's voice hardens as his eyes narrow. The hope vanishes. "We had people look at this computer for weeks. We didn't find anything. How exactly did you discover all this so quickly? These accounts were locked."
Shit. I can see how this looks.
"I used my old login from when I interned for my father's company," I explain, feeling defensive heat rise in my face. "No one deactivated it. Lucky, I guess."
He stares at me, his expression is a storm.
For a second, I think he's going to thank me.
"Or you knew exactly where to look because you already knew what was there." He stands and takes a step back. "That can't be all. Cosmo was your father, you must know more."
The warmth from our earlier connection evaporates. My temper flares, hot and bright.
My stomach drops. "Excuse me?" I ask and slam the laptop shut. "You think I'm lying to you?"
"I think you're not telling me everything."
"I'm not hiding anything," I snap, shoving the laptop away. "Unlike you. You've been playing me since the beginning, haven't you?"
His jaw tightens. "That's not what I'm doing."
"Isn't it? You think you're the only one who's been used?" I stand up, needing to be on equal footing. "My entire life has been a lie. My father was a criminal who never acknowledged me publicly. My mother killed herself because she couldn't handle living without him. And now I find out that the person I've been blaming might actually be a victim too. So forgive me if I'm a little upset about being accused of anything by the man who cut my dress off at knifepoint."
Dimitri's nostrils flare. "You drugged me first. Don't play innocent now."
"I was used. By my father's memory, by my own stupid need for vengeance," I say, my voice rising. "Just like you're letting yourself be used by your own paranoia. You're so terrified to trust anyone that you'd rather believe I'm lying than accept that I might actually be helping you."
"Because help always comes with a price," he growls. "What I can't figure out is what you want from me. First you try to kill me, then you save me, then you fuck me?—"
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," I say, throwing up my hands. "That was just adrenaline and opportunity."
