“He’s a man interested in power and money.Everything he does is a calculation of risk versus reward.I can see job losses right after the divorce being him.Mom had shares he wanted.Why didn’t he stop targeting her once he had all the shares?What is he after that he’s willing to risk attempted murder charges?
“He wouldn’t risk life in prison for a simple contract and social connection, no matter what kind of value is behind it.”
“I thought of that too and agree,” Mom said.“But maybe he thought using the shell company shielded him?”
“If he wanted to be ambiguous, he wouldn’t have kept pushing me toward Hestian, especially after the data leak put him in the spotlight.”
“Has he contacted you lately?”Mom asked.
“Yeah.The morning after the gala.He saw Kaya’s photos of Konni and me and offered to ‘clear the air’ with Konni about the data leak to help move along my relationship with his future son-in-law.”
“What a horrible man,” Becky said softly.
“Horribly smart and very opportunistic,” I said.“Konni is a bigger fish than Hestian, which is why none of this feels right.I think we’re missing something.”
“You might be right,” Mom said.“If your father had a connection at Steele Corp, he wouldn’t have used that connection to send data to himself.He would have tried meeting with Konni.Gaining favors.”
Konni and I shared a look because we both knew the data leak had been Lianna.
“If we rule that instance out, does everything else fit?”Konni asked.
“The fire and the car accident are still too high risk for him,” I said.
“Then we’ll focus on those and dig until we find concrete evidence,” Balak said.
I thanked him and promised that we would leave early so we could change before the dinner party.
Alone, Konni leaned back and opened his arms.Unable to refuse the invitation, I went around the desk and snuggled into his lap.
“Are you sure you’re not upset your father might have tried to kill your mother?”
“Positive.If he wanted her dead, he would have just killed her in the first place instead of going through the hassle of divorcing her and buying back her stocks slowly.”
“When you put it like that…”
“Exactly.And while I think the data leak is absolutely Lianna, I don’t think the car accident is.The fire, maybe.She’s a dragon after all.”
“She would have burned your house in person if it were her, not hired an arsonist,” Konni said.
I sighed and smoothed my hand over his chest, copping a feel to soothe myself, not him.He still started to rumble happily, though.
“We’re on a temporary time out,” I said, patting his chest consolingly.“Someone was a little too enthusiastic last night.”
“I’ll be sure to tie you down next time to prevent that.”
I grinned into his shirt, already looking forward to it.
The stunning dressBecky and Kaya had picked out for me fit the occasion, which was more party than dinner.As we mingled, Kaya made a point to introduce us to the other humans present.Thankfully, their welcoming smiles didn’t carry the elitism that Lianna’s smile held across the room.
“According to the news, you’ve had quite the month,” the woman in front of me said.
“That pond incident really made headlines,” another woman said with a chuckle.“But, don’t worry.We’ve all had our public disasters.”
A third woman nodded.“Mine involved a charity gala and a heel snapping on the stairs.You survive it and keep marching on to laugh about it later.”
“Exactly,” the second woman agreed.“You don’t get to slow down—especially this time of year.”
“Speaking of,” the first one said, looking at Kaya, “will you be at Saturday’s event?”
