Page 156 of Shattered Veil
“We have to talk.” His voice is flat and unemotional.
He was told to end his relationship with me, I know it. He’d started talking Gaelic over the multiple heated conversations, yelling and slamming his fists on the desk.
I’ve been holding it together. And now...
Now it’s over. And I can’t blame him. How do I know this won’t happen again? How do I know next week there aren’t more tripwires planned and another set of withdrawals won’t start all over?
I walk with pain searing up my leg, wearing a cumbersome aircast because Wesley carved away the rose tattoo on my ankle. Just to be a dick and hurt me, since I’d had that one when we met. That one didn’t cover his sins, but he wanted to make new ones.
“It’s okay, Balor.” I put my hands on my stomach. “These are your babies. I won’t keep them from you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I gather your family is livid with me. And I don’t blame them.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. They’re livid. But not with you, I promise.” He strokes my cheek. “They’re furious with me. I hired your father and put us in this position because of my own thirst for power. I knew I should haven’t touched you, but I couldn’t resist you. This ismyfault.”
But it’s not like Kieran will put a hit on him.
Right?
“How did my father do this? I want to understand your world better, Balor.”
Because he’s going to be in mine for the rest of my life.
“He was feeding that bank-draining virus code a PIN every couple of days to keep it from launching. When he killed himself, it triggered the withdrawals.”
I shake my head. “He could have been hit by a car! How freaking reckless!”
“I know, butterfly.” His eyes slip closed and for a second, I see him wiping away a tear. “Ella, come look at your dad’s laptop.”
“Balor, no offense, I know this is your world, your beating heart, but I don’t ever want to see another computer again.” I’m ready to close all my social media accounts, too.
“I located your father’s ransomware code.”
My heart stops. “You did?”
“In another file. Along with an email from a hacker in Japan.”
“What?”
“Your dad planned to sell him the code for one billion dollars.”
One. Billion. Dollars.
“Do you know who this guy in Japan is?” I ask, keeping my lunch down.
“I sure do.”
“Okay. Why are you looking at me so funny.”
“The code is tangible property, according to Eoghan, and not abandoned, in legal terms. We found his will, too. You’re the sole beneficiary, Ella.”
My father was cremated, his ashes sitting in a box here in the apartment. Balor and Shane declared him dead, falsifying a death certificate.
“The code is mine, technically?” I stare at him. “And you’d hand it over to me?”
“Absolutely. It’s not mine.” He swivels in my father’s chair, looking back at the laptop screen.