Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,137
rounding with excitement. “Holy shit, this is impressive.”
Tapping a few more buttons, Taylor’s brows crash down, another click pulling up something that concerns him. “All but one file, at least.”
“What’s the file?”
“A letter,” Taylor answers, his voice careful.
Okay. I can’t take it anymore.
“What’s in the fucking box?” I ask, mimicking the movie, a grin tugging at my lips when Tanner flashes me a look that all but promises me he’ll punch me in the face if I don’t shut up.
Flinging the envelope to me, he grabs the computer to look at the letter while I glance at the address label, shock rendering me silent for a few seconds.
Tanner was right to ask how Governor Callahan ended up with an envelope from John Bailey at JJB Tech, Ltd. that is addressed to his daughter, Luca.
The postmark is dated the day Luca’s father died, so how the fuck was it stolen?
“I’m going to go print this out and then bring the computer back so you can get to work decrypting the rest.”
Tanner storms from the room. His heavy steps stomp up the stairs en route to his home office. Rather than standing around and waiting to see what it says, I set my drink down and chase after him.
Dark green eyes lift to mine as soon as I step foot into the room.
“First, you’re going to tell me what’s going on between you and Ivy, and when you get done doing that, I’ll tell you what this letter says.”
He’s in battle mode, straight and to the point.
“I’m letting her go,” I answer, dropping my weight onto the chair opposite him. “What’s the letter say?”
Laughing at that, Tanner shakes his head. “If you think I’ll accept that as an actual explanation, you’re an idiot.”
He grabs a pen to flip through his fingers, the printer quietly running beside him. “What happened?”
“She knew I set her up back in high school.”
His brows lift, a silent gesture to tell me something he doesn’t know. “You told her that. So what?”
I sigh. “She knew before she set the fire and ran to you for a favor.”
Brows lifting higher, he sits back in his seat, that damn pen flipping faster. “The fuck? Why would she do something so stupid?”
Laughing at him asking the exact same question that ran through my head, I tell him, “Because she knew it meant we would resurface eventually, and she was trying to hold on to me. Ivy admitted she never hated me in high school. That she -“
I can’t even fucking say it. I glance past Tanner at the window behind him, my jaw tight because the truth is too infuriating.
“So what’s the problem? You never hated her either.”
My eyes shoot to his, and he laughs. “What? Everybody knew it. You wouldn’t have given her the time of day if you hadn’t. So I’ll ask again: What’s the fucking problem?”
Refusing to hear what he’s saying, and also refusing to consider the truth of it, I cross my ankle over a knee and nudge my chin at the printer. “I told you what you wanted to know. What’s the letter?”
“I think you’re being an idiot,” he says, his stare holding mine before he grabs the papers from the printer and admits, “It’s a letter to Luca from her dad. Apparently, it wasn’t just our fathers trying to kill him.”
Son of a bitch. “Who else?”
“I suspect Governor Callahan,” Tanner growls, “but the letter doesn’t specify. It just tells her to get out of state.”
“Georgia?”
“Here,” he says, the pen almost snapping in his hand. Tossing it on his desk, he grabs a rubber band and winds that through his fingers instead.
“And she hasn’t seen the letter yet,” I say, thinking out loud more than asking a question.
“After we decide the game plan, you all will need to leave. She’s not going to want company while reading this.”
“I agree.” Pushing to my feet to go downstairs, I’m stopped when he says my name.
Tanner’s stare is locked on my face. “You can’t walk away from Ivy. She’s family now. You said so yourself.”
All I can think about is the marks on her face. If not for me, they wouldn’t be there. Now she’s no better than I was on the day we met, and I’m the only person who can be blamed.
Obviously, her father already knew about the fire, but if not for me, she wouldn’t have challenged him with our fake engagement and put herself in a position where he would use it against her, or