Page 118 of Logan
“The video was sent to me and other executives last night.” Liam’s voice echoes in my head, an endless, taunting loop. Someone filmed us, some sneaky, sleazy bastard, and now our most intimate moments are splashed across the inboxes of men who hold our fates in their hands.
A red haze descends, fury and panic clawing at my throat. I fumble for my phone, my fingers clumsy with rage as I scroll through my contacts.
“Sam.” I bite out the name through gritted teeth as the line clicks open. “I need you. Now.”
“Mr. Valeur?” He sounds wary, picking up on the lethal edge in my tone. Smart man. It’s why I recruited him, plucked him out of the quasi-legal hacker circles he used to run in.
“I have a job for you. Off the books. You track, you trace, you bury. No questions asked.” I keep my voice low.
“What’s the target?” To his credit, there’s no hesitation, no hint of doubt. He knows better than to balk when I use this tone.
“There’s a video. Of me. In a...compromising position. It was sent to the Valeur exec team from an anonymous account. I need you to find out who’s behind it. I need a name.” I need someone to punish, to crush, to destroy for daring to touch what’s mine.
“I’ll need to see the video. Analyze the metadata, trace the digital trail.” He pauses. “I can assure you of my absolute discretion, but?—”
“Check your inbox.” I cut him off. “Should hit your secure server...now.” I pace the narrow hallway like a caged beast, my free hand clenching and unclenching at my side. “Dig into this, Sam. Dig deep and fast. And when you have a name, I want this video scrubbed. All evidence erased, all traces wiped. Like it never existed.”
I end the call and lean my forehead against the cool wood of Sloane’s door, my pulse pounding in my temples. When I find out who did this, who dared to violate our privacy, our trust...there’ll be hell to pay.
A reckoning.
But that’s for later. Now...
Dad.
He received the video, too, and he doesn’t know it’s me. I need to talk to him. Better he hear the truth from me before this blows up.
I drive to the Valeur Industries offices and take a deep breath before exiting the car. Dad will be devastated, shattered by what I have to tell him.
My whole life, every choice, every sacrifice, has served to groom me for this role, to fulfill my duty to the Valeur legacy, to prove I’m an integral part of this family. And now I’ve let him down in the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
Dad’s secretary jumps up from her chair when she sees me, her eyes wide and startled. “Hey,” I say, ignoring the frightened look on her face and the way her gaze darts to the closed door of my father’s office. “Is Mr. Valeur in?”
She nods. “Yes, he’s in his office. Shall I let him know you’re here?” She reaches for the phone.
“No need.” I wave her off, already moving past her. “I’ll announce myself.”
I twist the knob and step inside, closing the door behind me with a soft click that sounds like the sealing of a tomb.
The look on Dad’s face is serious and angry, his brows drawn together and his mouth a grim slash.
Has he already received an update? I’m pretty sure Liamwouldn’t report to him without giving me a heads-up first, but Dad has an uncanny ability to ferret out secrets. He’s had to in order to build Valeur into the empire it is today.
“Hey, Dad.” I try to keep my voice steady.
“Everything all right, Logan?”
Okay, he doesn’t know. Small mercies. “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
Dad leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers under his chin. “What’s so urgent that you’re interrupting me in the middle of a workday?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and sit, deciding to just spill it all at once, like ripping off a band-aid. A really big, really bloody band-aid. “I’ve been involved with a company employee.”
Dad stares at me, his expression unreadable. The silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating.
“I slept with a company employee,” I clarify.
Dad’s expression hardens, his lips pressing into a thin, bloodless line. “You what?” His voice is soft, but I hear the steel beneath, the barely leashed fury.
