No one knew he had it, not even his uncle. It was his private hideaway, which made it perfect for his purposes. The other cabins were summer rentals, rarely used, which meant he normally had the entire place to himself. It'd be a safe place to stash Adele and allow them to regroup while he figured out whether she had anything to do with her father's business dealings, and if so, what that meant for the situation at hand.
Pulling into the small carport, he tugged the tarp down over the bike to protect it from prying eyes and the elements before taking the bags from her and leading the way to the door. Unlocking it, he kicked it open, allowing her to enter.
“Welcome to your new home away from home, Princess. Might as well make yourself comfortable, we're going to be here a few days until we can sort out this fucking mess. I'll get coffee on.”
She frowned. “I don't want coffee. I want answers.”
Chapter Three Hundred Ninety-Three
He should have known she wasn't going to settle down without knowing what had happened first. Besides, she deserved to know, he couldn't keep her father's death from her. He might be an asshole, but he wasn't that much of an asshole that he'd allow her to find out from her phone. Speaking of...
“You need to turn your phone off. Completely, just in case. I have no idea how far this shit goes, and I'm not willing to risk your life, Princess. You did your father's accounting. Did anything ever not add up? Suspicious invoices, strange deposits or withdrawals?”
She appeared confused, brows drawing tight at the questions, before she shook her head. “I don't know what you're insinuating, but my father's records are clean.”
“Are they? Or are you covering for him? I saw the second set in the safe, darling. Your father may be many things, but clean isn't one of them.”
At that, she stood, face paling. “What second set? What safe? Thian, what are you talking about? I handled all of dad's accounting. He hated technology, that's why everything was paper for him. I'm the one that had to input everything into digital software to keep him up to date. There was nothing in those records that didn't fit. I never saw a safe or second set of records. My father's accounting was clean. I made sure of it.”
He'd curse himself later, but he was a fucking fool, because he believed her. The outrage on her face, the confusion at there being a safe she didn't know about seemed real. Perhaps she hadn't known. The shifters had said as much, they hadn't believed he'd kept his daughter out of it. Maybe he had. Holding up his hands in a placating motion, he gestured to the couch across from him as he sat on the overstuffed chair.
“You might want to sit down for this, Princess. I found some paperwork in your father's office, hidden in a safe behind one of the paintings. There were deposits, large ones. We verified them... each came the morning after one of the women went missing near the campus.”
He gave her a moment to really hear what he'd said before he continued. “At the charity ball, I followed him to a side room, where he was demanding extra money because it'd put you in danger. He wanted them to make it worth his while. They didn't take kindly to what they assumed was blackmail. Your father is dead, Adele.”
“Once I heard that, they began talking about you, stating they were going to kidnap you to sell with the other women. They don't believe you didn't know anything, that your father kept you out of it. I knew then there was no time, I had to get you out and deal with the fall-out later. I don't know how deep this runs, how high up the chain it goes. That's why we can't use your credit card or have your phone on. I don't know if they can track you.”
He'd expected hysterics. At the very least, some tears. Instead, she seemed to be in shock as she pulled her phone from her purse, carefully removing the back to pull the battery from it and laid it gently on the table. After, she stood, moving to the kitchen to open random cupboards until she found a glass, getting a drink of water. Only then did he see her shoulders shaking as she stood with her back to him, pretending to be taking a drink to avoid showing her tears. His heart broke at the strength she was trying to hold onto.
Giving her the space she needed, he went into the bedroom, straightening up a bit and grabbing the extra blankets from the closet. He'd give her his bed, it was more comfortable. He'd sleep on the couch. Not like he hadn't slept in worse places. When he went back into the living room, she was once again sitting on the couch, hands folded in her lap.
Her eyes were reddened, but the tears were gone. Sitting across from her once more, he cleared his throat. “Look, I know it sucks, but you had nothing to do with this. Your father chose his path, to willingly look the other way while women were hurt. Right now, our focus needs to be on keeping you safe, not what's already happened.”
She nodded, sniffling before she raised her gaze to him. “Did he really say he wanted more money to make me being in danger worth it? Truly?” At his slow nod of confirmation, the tears finally came. “I don't understand why
