Page 58 of Rebel Protector

He didn’t care. He never had.

Dom had been right—her father wasn’t capable of love. And Carlos, that brute, watched with a sick grin, enjoying her humiliation.

“Did you sabotage the shipment?” Alek’s voice dropped to a growl.

“What shipment?” she asked, trying to keep her voice steady, but she knew what was coming.

He waved the phone in front of her face. “Thisone. Don’t lie to me. You’re smarter than you act. You found out about the shipment, didn’t you? And you told someone. That’s how the authorities knew.”

“I didn’t,” she pleaded. “I would never do that to you!”

Alek’s temper flared. “Then how did they know where to find us?” He kicked the leg of the chair, making it wobble. “Dominguez said there was a leak, but I didn’t realize the leak was my own daughter.”

Carlos gaped at them.

It was good to see him taken by surprise, even if it did give him even more reason to hate her. Sure enough, his leer turned into a glower of disgust.

Alek’s voice softened, but it wasn’t with kindness. “I expected more from you, Rebecca. I should’ve known better. You and Damian—you’re the same. You both deserted me.” He snorted. “So much for family loyalty, huh?”

For a moment, Becca forgot to be afraid. “You used Damian! He wanted out and you wouldn’t let him go. You manipulated me into marrying him to keep him under your control. It was a despicable thing to do.”

If he was surprised at her retaliation, he didn’t show it. “It was necessary.”

Only to his criminal enterprise. He made her sick. She couldn’t believe she’d spent all this time and energy trying to forge a bond with him. “Well, maybe you could live with that, but I couldn’t.”

They should have had this discussion months, if not years ago. If they had, she wouldn’t even be here.

“I made that man what he is today,” Alek sneered. “And how did he repay me? By disclosing all the dark web transactions to the goddamn Feds. What a rat!”

“He did what?”

She gaped at him, confused. Last she’d heard, Damian had disappeared, never to be seen again.

“Oh, didn’t you know? Your darling ex-husband betrayed me to the Feds.”

She stared at him, but Alek wasn’t done. “He’s a billionaire philanthropist, thanks to me. I funded his start-up when it was nothing more than an idea on a rebuilt laptop in my spare room. That boy had nowhere to go when I found him. He owes me everything!”

“I had no idea,” Becca whispered, still amazed at what her ex had become. He’d always been brilliant—it was just a matter of time before he hit the big time. She was glad. After everything he’d been through, he deserved it.

“Backstabbing bastard.”

“Is that why you’re hiding out here in Panama?” Becca asked. “Because the Feds are after you?”

“He’s the reason I had to leave America,” Markov snarled. “My damn home! Now I’m stuck here in this cesspool of a jungle making deals with the goddamn cartels. It would be laughable, if it wasn’t so fucking tragic.”

Carlos shifted his feet as if to remind Alek he was still there.

It worked. Alek exhaled and threw her cell phone on the ground. It cracked, along with any chance of rescue. Then he stood on it, grinding his heel into it until it was well and truly broken—along with her dream of getting out of here.

Now there was no way to tell Dom she was in trouble.

She stifled a sob. “What are you going to do with me?”

“Me? Nothing. Carlos, on the other hand?—”

He turned to his henchman, who’s eyes flickered in anticipation. “Find out if she’s told us everything.”

CHAPTER 23