Page 41 of The Mogul: Leonard

“No, but I think I owe you an explanation,” she admits.

“You don’t owe me anything,” I point out.

I don’t want her to feel compelled to confess something so private she looks ashamed about it.

“I want to give you an explanation. Even if I don’t want to talk about it. If that makes any sense,” she clarifies.

“Do you know how I started as a white hat?” she asks as I invite her to sit on one of the crates beside me.

I shake my head, not trusting my mouth to say another stupid thing.

“It was when we entered the witness protection program. I was a kid with a computer and a lot of time to spend in my room. I was terrified to go out in the beginning because I thought someone was coming to kill me, to kill my family,” she explains.

I can’t even imagine being so scared so young. She was barely a teenager when her sister testified at the trial that completely changed their lives forever.

“I missed my sister. I didn’t know if she was dead or alive, but I was scared to search for her because I didn’t want to lead someone to her if they tracked me. So I decided I wanted to do something to remove the problem. Remove the person that ruined our life,” she confesses.

She gives a quick glance in my direction, probably to gauge my reaction. I hold her gaze for a second before speaking.

“Did you want to kill him?” I ask. There is no judgment in my voice. I’m only curious to know what went through the head of a scared fourteen-year-old.

She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I didn’t think that far ahead. I wanted to find information about him and understand if there was something I could do to free my sister and my family.”

I believe her. Sometimes you want to know more to put your heart to rest. I guess her parents tried to protect her young mind from all the brutal information about the trial, but doing so fed her fear. She wasn’t a toddler unable to understand; she was a teenager with a vivid imagination. And considering the adult she is now, she was a smart one.

“So I tried to hack the FBI.” A small smile curves her lips.

I chuckle. “Of course you did.”

“I didn’t succeed, but from that day on, I dedicated my whole life to this, to find a way to reunite my family. When this nightmare disappeared years ago, I felt empty. I don’t have a purpose in my life anymore and I feel lost. And I feel angry because I should be happy, but I feel just…lost.”

I study her face, her big eyes full of shame and somehow regret. I always thought she was a spoiled brat, but the truth is that behind that pink hair and cocky attitude, there is a woman scared about her future and scared of what she became.

“You can do for others what you did for your sister,” I suggest.

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Use your skills to help people. You have no idea how many injustices there are in this world. Bad things happen to good people, and justice often isn’t served. Help those people. Use your skills to find a way to give those victims the life they deserve, a life without fear. Help those people to heal.”

“You’re suggesting I do something illegal?” She smiles.

“I’m suggesting you find irrefutable proof to put the perpetrators behind bars.”

She nods and lowers her gaze to the concrete floor. Her brows are furrowed as if thinking about it. I hope she will consider it.

“Thank you for listening. It’s difficult to find someone to tell these things to. Not even my sister or Raphael know,” she confesses.

I study her and understand her reluctance to say something like that to the person who involuntarily caused all this.

“I’m glad to help.”

But the truth is that I feel powerless in the face of her struggle. I can give her money and a company, but I will never be able to give her what she really needs: the answer to a future she can’t see in front of her—the most terrifying thing of all.

14

Roxanne

When Leonard invited me to spend the day with him and his friends, I didn’t imagine waking up at six in the morning for a limo picking me up at seven. But here I am. On the dock, waiting for Raphael’s bodyguard to secure the boat before heading out for a sailing trip.

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