Page 85

Best a man who was his equal.
But there had to be more.
His effort to frame Lachlan seemed too personal. Her mind scrambled to fit together pieces of the puzzle. What was she missing? They’d both served in Afghanistan. Was there a connection? She thought back to Jared’s medals and commendations. There had been no photos of him with his unit, only ones with famous people and politicians taken after he’d gotten out and started LAI.
In fact, the only photo she’d seen of him in the military was the one in his home with his lover.
His Afghan lover with the striking blue eyes.
Eyes she’d seen on someone else—Roshan Haider.
Nadia.
Nadia Haider had been Jared’s lover. Sophia stared at Jared wide-eyed as all the pieces slid into place. Jared and Roshan Haider had worked together to get revenge against Lachlan for Nadia’s death.
She needed to get away from Jared. Call Lachlan, warn him.
“I don’t know what I’m saying. I didn’t mean to accuse you. This is all so confusing.” She clutched her purse tighter to her shoulder and cast a longing glance at the bank of elevators. “I have to go. My friend’s waiting for me upstairs. Take your evidence to the FBI—I’ll tell them everything I know.”
One step, then two.
She kept her gaze locked on the elevators.
“I know you accessed LAI’s computers, Sophia.” Jared’s words halted her steps. “It didn’t paint a pretty picture of Lachlan, did it? What did he say when he saw all the evidence against him?”
Her knees trembled.
Rob must have told him about her asking for Jared’s login credentials. There was no point in denying it.
“I didn’t show it to him. I sent it to someone with more power and connections than you.” Hopefully, Admiral Dane would piece together the truth before it was too late.
Just a few more steps.
A flash of anger melted the frost in Jared’s eyes before they chilled again. “Then that makes what I have to do so much easier.”
Sophia took another step forward, her heart hammering in her throat.
A stranger stepped out of the shadows. Muscular, a bit shorter than Jared, he had a full, dark brown beard, a high and tight haircut, and black eyes that stared at her with a total absence of emotion.
She pressed her lips together to suppress a scream. Black spots danced in her vision.Breathe.Passing out now wouldn’t save her. She had to think her way out of this. Letting her shoulders droop, she did her best to look deflated and teary. “I have to agree that the evidence against Lachlan is pretty damning.”
Jared had closed the gap and now stood directly in front of her, the ruthless-looking man at his back. Fear cemented her feet to the floor. His hand lifted, caressed her cheek. “You’re a terrible liar.”
She recoiled.
“It’s a shame it’s come to this. I had plans for us.” His gray gaze turned to dirty ice. “Do you know why I hired you? It wasn’t your high-powered references. You’re smart and capable, but you lack the experience of older, more seasoned professionals.”
He fingered a lock of her hair, raised it to his nose, and inhaled.
Bile rose to the back of her throat.
“It was the potential I saw to mold you into the kind of wife who would be an asset to my political ambitions.”
His wife?
Someone he thought he could control.
Someone who wouldn’t embarrass him at the high-powered cocktail parties where Washington elites made backroom deals and anointed future politicians.