Page 44 of Rebel Protector

Dom’s brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing. “What do you mean?”

Becca swallowed hard, the weight of her secret pressing down on her. “There are things about Alek... things you should know before you do anything.”

CHAPTER 18

Becca walked onto the wooden deck and gazed out at the sun hovering over the horizon. She’d turned down her father’s offer for dinner, saying there was something she needed to take care of, then she’d slipped away to see Dom at his cabin. They needed to talk.

This time the coast was clear, and she didn’t run into Carlos or anyone else.

“What did you want to tell me?” Dom came to stand beside her.

There were two loungers on the deck, but this wasn’t a casual chat. Becca felt better standing, while delivering this news.

She took a nervous breath. “I wanted to tell you about the first time I met my father.”

He gave a curious nod, probably wondering why she was divulging this now.

She’d never told anyone this, but suddenly, she needed to get it out. Needed him to understand. “After my mother passed, I went to San Francisco to look for Alek. All I had to go on was a name my mother had written in her diary. To my surprise, he was easy to find. A successful businessman, he lived in thissprawling mansion in the hills, with servants, a tennis court, even a lake. It was like something out of a movie.”

She paused, collecting her thoughts, but Dom didn’t interrupt.

“At first, things were awkward between us, but as time went by, he warmed to me—or so I thought. Eventually, he asked me to move into his mansion. I was running out of money, so I agreed. I thought it would bring us closer together. It was while I was there that I met Damian.”

Dom’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s Damian?”

She hesitated. “He was this young, hot-shot computer programmer who worked for my father. Apparently—and I didn’t know this at the time—my father conducted a lot of business on the dark web. Damian was his cyber guru. Together they sold millions of dollars of merchandise on the black market using a form of cryptocurrency that Damian invented.”

“Like bitcoin?” asked Dom.

She nodded. “Just like that, although with Damian’s currency, it was easier to remain anonymous.”

Dom nodded.

“Anyway, we began dating. He also lived at the mansion, along with several other full-time employees. Alek’s business empire was vast and extended across many different sectors.”

Dom had gone very still.

“Alek funded Damian’s cryptocurrency startup. He invested large amounts of money into it, mainly because it was benefitting him directly, and it was a legitimate front for his less respectable undertakings.”

“Was he dealing arms at that point?” Dom asked.

Becca shrugged. “I think so. He was born in the Czech Republic and had a lot of contacts there. He used to fly to Eastern Europe all the time on ‘business trips.’ In the beginning, I had no idea what he was involved in—I was just happy tohave found him—but as the months went by and I got closer to Damian, I realized what he was really up to.”

“And Damian was happy to be Alek’s facilitator?” Dom asked scornfully.

She sighed. “It was complicated. Damian was a good guy deep down, but he’d gotten into a bad crowd at a young age. I know that doesn’t excuse it, but he made the best out of a bad situation. He was a computer hacker before Alek took him under his wing.”

“You sure do like the bad boys, don’t you?” Dom murmured.

She flushed. “Like I said, he wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, it was shortly after that when Damian began acting strangely. The business was going well, but his relationship with my father was under strain. I didn’t know what was going on, I just knew they weren’t getting along like they used to. Then one day, he said he wanted out.”

“Can’t blame him,” said Dom.

Becca continued as if he hadn’t spoken. Reliving the moment her life had fallen apart wasn’t easy.

“Alek came up with this crazy idea that if we got married, Damian would be tied to him forever. He’d threatened to leave, he was even prepared to sacrifice the company, but he knew too much about my father’s black-market dealings. Alek couldn’t let him leave. I was afraid for him.” She paused, gnawing on her lip. “So, we got engaged.”

Dom gawked at her.