Page 57 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

Attie snorts. “What do you think?”

“I think Angela doesn’t do anything without careful calculation.” Or at least not the Angela who’s been the mastermind behind making all our lives miserable.

“I’m inclined to agree with you.” Rustling, as though Attie is reviewing her notes. “She left a drive behind, and we’ve recovered internal Lyon communications, records of financial transfer, surveillance logs.” A beat. “Along with a long list of names never previously associated with the Lyons before.”

I lean one hand against the glass and swear.

“And you’re wondering why I’m on that list,” I rasp.

Silence.

Then, “No, Thorn,” she says quietly. “I know exactly why you’re on the list.”

My pulse starts racing.

“Same as I know the man you are now.”

“I—”

“And anyway,” she says, neatly cutting me off, “we’re not here to talk about your past. We’re here to learn about Angela’s.”

I straighten. “What?”

“Her father was in deep,” Pascal says. “And she left a note with a file detailing precisely how deep.”

I close my eyes as pieces slot into place. “Does Jean-Michel know?”

“I’ll tell him in the morning,” Pascal mutters. “Let him and Tiff get their sleep.”

That’s probably for the best. There’s no point in waking him up just to tell him that his ex-wife may be a complete and total bitch…but that she likely got mixed up with the Lyons through no real fault of her own.

Then again, she stayed around the family.

But I would have to—if not for Pascal helping to get me out.

The Lyons don’t allow people to slip quietly away. Especially not those they have power over—and a woman whose father was in deep, who was married to a successful businessman with a young daughter, would have been precisely the type of person they would love to exploit.

“What does Angela want?” I ask quietly.

“Chrissy safe. Jean-Michel safe.” Attie pauses. “And probably a way out.”

“Fuck.”

“Precisely,” Attie mutters. “Who knows if any of it is real, or if it’s another angle she’s trying to exploit.” A sigh. “But we’re going to run this lead down to the end anyway.”

Of course she is.

Because it may be the only way out of this shit, the only way to take down the Lyons once and for all.

We talk for another few minutes, discussing the files and Angela’s motivations and what our next steps could be.

But none of us bring up the truth.

That if it is true, Angela finding a way to extract herself from the criminals she’s lived amongst the last decades won’t be easy.

Hell, it’ll likely be impossible.

Eighteen