Page 128 of A Lethal Game of Trust

“I’m coming to get you,” he repeated. “I’m fifteen minutes away.”

48

Owed Power

Dom didn’t wake when I wheeled my suitcase out of his room and waited in the lobby for Derek to come and pick me up.

Within a minute of getting in his car, D had pulled over due to my begs and, in some random car park, got out his tablet to take me through the accounts. There, in black and white, was Bristow Buildings.

The Belovs.

And, that night, the only member of that family who was capable had turned off our security cameras.

That wasn’t a coincidence.

Friendship and loyalty meant nothing to them.

Love meant nothing to them.

But those businesses did. The money, the power.

Your dad and I always said the lines would join properly eventually. He’d be so happy, Leo.

Manipulation for the businesses. Everything had been manipulation.

I wouldn’t be a ‘real Belov’, I would be used to get the rest of the Castillo empire. The few things still in my name. Over thelast couple of years, they had tried to take and liquify more businesses, even selling Tillo Tower, my dad’s pride and joy of a hotel.

The tablet trembled in my hand as Derek rubbed my back and spoke in reassuring tones. I didn’t hear what he said, but I appreciated it. Especially when I shoved the tablet into his hand and sobbed into his chest.

Last night, Dom had the opportunity to tell me everything. He hadn’t. He had sworn on my life that he had no involvement.

But his dad had killed mine.

And, even then, I knew that I had to get away. He’d tricked me once, I was clearly lovesick enough to fall for it. And him.

Derek took me to a hotel on the shore, where I changed and showered in a numb, emotionless state. He waited in the car and helped me pack my suitcase in the boot. “Back to mine? Or to Osburn?” he asked as the boot came down.

“The Belovs’.”

He looked at me with a stern expression. “No, Leonie. I am not taking you there. Not right now. You need to think this through, we need to think this through. If you go in all guns blazing—”

“I have a plan,” I told him, opening the passenger door and pulling on my seatbelt.

He joined me in his seat, but didn’t start the car. “Leonie—”

“If you’re about to go ahead and say Ivan didn’t do it, you can save your breath. He did or he knew about it. That man is far too invested in his accounts to not notice a quarter of a million slipping through the net and you know it.”

“But that doesn’t mean he ordered—”

“Start driving, I’ll explain on the way.”

He listened intently, driving slowly, taking the scenic route, but asking question after question to drag out our conversation. He could ask as many questions as he liked but I knew what I was doing. Nothing was going to stop me.

He pulled up at their drive, the guard at the security gate letting us through. It was 7 am by now and Ivan would have been drinking heavily last night. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to wait for him to wake up.

Their housemaid opened the door for me and ushered me into the kitchen with a smile. “Miss Castillo, welcome home.”

When I didn’t say anything, she continued, “I’ll wake Miss Belov—”