Page 36 of Rivals and Liars

She shows her the threat that came with this morning's image.

Last chance.

"What does that mean?" Leire asks, her voice trembling, her vision blurring with tears.

Kate's match has already started, and instead of being in the stands to support her, she's here listening to this woman tell her that her father has betrayed her trust and is trying to blow up her life.

"It means I'm probably still the only journalist who has it. You need to move fast before someone hands it to another outlet and lets the world in on something that belongs only to you and Brogan — especially you, Cobos."

Leire stands up and looks toward the door, her mind suddenly clear — but there's one last question circling.

"Why you? Why not some other journalist who would've already published it?"

"I've thought about that a lot, and I can only come up with one answer."

"Which is?"

"I'm a veteran. I have a loyal following and everyone knows I've never published a lie or twisted a story. But I think the real reason is that I'm the only female Spanish journalist covering this event. If the goal here is to hurt you, the damage will be infinitely worse coming from me, because it'll land directly on your audience. It won't hit the same way if it runs in some French paper nobody in Spain has ever heard of."

Leire stares at her, taking it in — and then realizes she still has one more question.

"If you had that first photo for two years, why didn't you ever use it?"

"Because I have principles. But mostly because I have a lesbian sister who spent too many years in the closet because she didn't feel safe coming out. Nobody should get to make that decision for you, Cobos. Now get out of here and deal with this before it explodes in your face."

"Thank you," Leire says, and walks out at a run.

She knows exactly where to find her father — he has a reserved seat right next to hers in the stands. She moves through the corridor with tunnel vision, a dull ringing in her ears that blocks out the crowd noise from the match. She doesn't look at the scoreboard or ask anyone how it's going, but she does stop for a moment when she catches Kate returning a crosscourt backhand. Her grunt on the follow-through is the only sound that makes it through — and Leire stands there for a few seconds watching before she asks one of the security staff to go get her father from his seat.

She waits off to the side and watches Bruno look over in confusion when the guard points her out. Her father gets up, squeezes past people with apologies, and finally makes it to the stairs.

"We need to talk," she says without looking at him, gesturing for him to follow.

Bruno puts his hands in his pockets, calm, and follows her inside the building and back to the same room where she'd been with Candela just minutes before.

"You put cameras in my room," she says the moment the door closes, her voice low and sharp, and she watches the tension move through her father's entire body.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asks, but she catches him press his brows together and then pinch his earlobe — the same thing he's always done when he's nervous.

"Since you feel entitled to violate my privacy, at least don't insult my intelligence. I haven't called a lawyer yet, but I promise you I will."

"I didn't see anything, Leire." Bruno raises his hands. "I swear on your mother's memory."

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this!" she shouts.

Her father glances at the door and gestures for her to keep her voice down.

"Okay, just calm down — and I can prove it. I'll hand you my phone right now. You'll see there's nothing on it beyond what I'm guessing Candela already showed you."

Leire is stunned by how easily he admits it.

"You put a camera in my fucking room," she says, stretching every syllable.

"Yes." He takes a step back, red with shame. "But it only recorded until I got the one photo. That's all I needed, and I swear I never wanted anything more than that — I could never have used it against you. Go ahead and report me if it makes you feel better. They won't find anything else, no matter how hard they look."

Leire crumbles all at once. Her eyes fill and she's pinching the bridge of her nose hard, trying to hold it together for just a few more seconds.

"Leire—"