Page 73 of Reckless Seduction
“Let’s go.” My father’s voice is tense. “Make sure you dress Bailey in something eye-catching. Don’t embarrass me because of your dislike for her.”
Sarah makes a disgruntled noise but ultimately agrees.
Three steps, and the sound of the door opening and closing. It feels as if I can finally breathe.
What the hell did I just overhear?
Shaking it off, I focus on the task at hand. Getting the information from the safe. I slip out of the closet, closing it quietly behind me in case anyone is still in the vicinity. Quickly,I place the small electronic device on the safe’s interface and press twice to activate it. There is a small hum, then the interface glitches, and then the locking mechanism disengages.
That was easy.
I turn the knob of the safe and open the heavy door. The inside of the safe is nearly empty, aside from a few accounting ledgers. I push those aside and push on the black velvet wall at the back. It tips downward, revealing exactly what I have come for.
The laptop.
Snatching it up, I place it on the desk and get to work, starting it up and inserting the decryption key.
Okay, that is settled. Now to do some digging of my own. I turn back to the safe and peer inside. There is a small stack of manila envelopes nestled to one side of where the laptop has been.
Pulling them out, I hold them in my shaking hands, afraid of what I will see if I open them. The truth, no matter how freeing it could be, is a deadly weapon. Knowing the truth means I have an edge, a weapon of my own, but do I want to know the truth that I now suspect? Going my whole life believing in one thing, only to have it ripped from beneath me would be a devastating blow.
Can my soul take it?
With trembling fingers, I peel back the front of the first manila envelope. The tears I had been shedding before, while huddled in the closet, begin again in earnest. What I have overheard and begun to suspect is laid bare before me.
There is no escaping reality now that I know the truth.
Two truths, in fact. And one lie.
A lie they will come to regret.
TWENTY-NINE
I slipthe papers back into the envelope with shaking hands, but it’s useless. The damage is already done. Truth doesn’t go back into hiding because I’m not ready to face it.
My reflection stares back at me from the black screen of the laptop—wide eyes, tear-streaked cheeks, lips parted like I’ve forgotten how to breathe. For a second, I don’t recognize the girl staring back at me.
Good.
Because she no longer exists. Not after tonight.
I swallow hard, forcing the tremor down my throat as I drag the sleeve of my pajama top across my face. There’s no time to fall apart. Not here. Not now. Not when I’m sitting in the middle of his office with enough evidence to destroy him tucked into my hands.
Or get me killed.
My fingers hover over the keyboard before I force them to move, plugging in the USB the twin’s hacker gave me. The screen flickers once. Twice.
Then unlocks.
A cold hollow feeling settles deep in my chest.
How come this feels too easy?
Nothing about this should be easy.
The desktop loads, stark and organized. Files labeled in neat, clinical rows. Names. Dates. Locations.
People.
