“I want an unredacted copy of that audio,” Monty immediately said.
“And I will ask the same of whatever record you might have of this meeting.” His gaze came to mine. “While I certainly did consider you a disappointment when it came to power, I never thought you were stupid, Elizabeth.”
I snorted. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
His smile was cold—distant. “I suppose it is too late for that.”
“You suppose right.”
He nodded and glanced at Clayton. “We may leave, now.”
Clayton picked up his phone and immediately strode from the room. But not without one final glance back at me. His silver gaze promised retribution. Promised hurt in more ways than I could even imagine.
I crossed my arms and glared back at him. I refused to show him fear, if only because that’s exactly what he wanted.
The strength imbued by the red rage held until my father had left. Then the utter enormity of everything that had happened hit; I began to shake so fiercely that my knees gave way and I would have fallen had Aiden not lunged forward and somehow caught me.
He didn’t lower me onto a chair. He simply wrapped his arms around me and held on tight as I shook and shivered and generally unraveled.
“It’s okay.” His voice was soft—soothing. “It’ll be okay. The worst of it is over now.”
No, it wasn’t, I wanted to say, but the words remained stuck in my throat.
I remained in the security of his arms for a very long time, drinking in his scent and trying to find the courage to step back, to stand once again on my own two feet. To once again gather strength in order to fight on.
Because I would have to, before all this was over
“What we all need is coffee,” Belle said, as she strode in through the door. “And cake. Big slabs of cake.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Monty said. “Where are Ruby and Jenna?”
“They can’t fraternize with witnesses—it could lead to accusations of tainted evidence.” She took a small black device out of her pocket. “They’ve said we should keep this on hand; if we have any further meetings or confrontations with Clayton, we need to record them.”
“Did they manage to record this confrontation?”
“Yes and no. Whatever device the bastards were employing to jam the frequency worked well enough that their recording was patchy.”
“That’s what the silver disk was,” I said.
“Most likely,” Monty said. “Though I’d have thought holding it on their persons would also disrupt their own recordings.”
“Not necessarily,” Aiden said. “There’re jammers that can block specific frequencies, and they’re likely to have set their recording frequency to one of the unblocked ones.”
“Monty,” Belle said, “come and cut up the cake while I make the coffees.”
As he obediently followed, I finally pulled away from Aiden. His grip slipped from my waist but he hovered close, ready to catch me should I go down again. Which was possible, given the utter weakness still washing through me. The red wave had taken a very physical toll on my body, which was decidedly odd.
“Where are Ashworth and Eli?” I said, suddenly noticing they weren’t in the room.
“Following Lawrence and Clayton to make sure they’re leaving the reservation as promised.”
“I’ve no doubt they’ll return to Canberra,” I said. “It’s the whole ‘not coming back’ bit I reckon will cause us problems.”
“Even Clayton wouldn’t go against your father,” Monty said. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“Except that he and Father have had a falling out, remember?”
“Just like him and your mom,” Monty mused. “I wonder if it has anything to do with his odd comment to Ashworth?”
I moved across to another table and sat down. Not just because it was bigger, but because the air didn’t hold any lingering scents, be it their anger or the woody scent of Clayton’s aftershave.
Neither of which you should be able to smell, Belle commented.
I frowned. Since when have I not been able to smell aftershave?
I was fully connected, remember? Trust me, what you smelled and sensed wasn’t normal for anyone other than a wolf. We really do need to speak to Katie and uncover what the hell is going on.
Yes, but not tonight. I haven’t the strength.
Tomorrow night, then.
I was going to suggest tomorrow morning, before we open.
Aiden’s knee pressed against mine as he sat next to me; the contact had the still-churning inner nerves easing just that little bit more. The man definitely made me feel safe, even if it was more illusion than truth when it came to the likes of Clayton.
That would mean getting up before dawn. It’ll be cold.
Freezing. But it’s our best chance to get answers without having anyone tagging along with us.
Meaning Aiden.
Yes.
He’s aware of the changes in you, Liz. He wants answers, even if he’s not currently pressing.
He’s not pressing because he’s waiting for his perfect wolf to arrive.
Not true.
I frowned. Meaning what?
Oh, he is waiting for Miss Perfect, but that has nothing to do with his concern for you. Out loud, she added, “What odd comment are we talking about?”
She picked up the tray of coffees and brought them over. Even from where I was sitting, I could smell the alcohol she’d added to hers and mine. The sooner we got the whole marriage mess sorted the better, or we were going to end up alcoholics.
Monty followed with three plates of black forest cake and a fourth containing a stack of brownies.
“I’m not sure even I can get through that many slices,” Aiden said, accepting the plate with an amused smile.
“I have every faith in your eating prowess,” Belle said, sliding a steaming coffee mug across to him.
Monty handed out the remaining plates, then leaned the tray against the table leg and sat down. “On discovering who Ashworth was, Lawrence said ‘that would certainly explain recent events in Canberra.’ I took it to mean Liz’s parents’ recent separation.”
I frowned. “But how would
