“What’s she doing here?” Sonia asks, tentatively.
I’m sure Daniela is wondering the same thing.
Two sets of eyes are glued to me. Hopefully they’re not holding their breaths waiting for me to explain. They both know better.
“Sit down,” I tell Sonia. She peers at me, begging silently for a reprieve. But she’s not getting a fucking thing from me. “Now.”
She sits at the edge of her seat, and I hand her a stack of photos. Not the photos that Daniela brought, but the ones Lucas printed this morning from the internet.
“Let’s cut right to the chase. You gave the photographer permission to run those photos. You vouched for their accuracy. And you led him to believe that there was something going on between us.” I am no less livid now than I was when Lucas told me about it this morning. If anything, I’m more furious now that Daniela knows.
Sonia doesn’t say anything in her defense. It’s all true. What I haven’t figured out is why she wants to cause trouble for me. She has a lot at risk—it doesn’t make sense.
“Tell Daniela why we were at the Intercontinental.”
Sonia gapes at me.
I’d like to hold her up by the hair and make her beg for my wife’s forgiveness before I slit her throat.
“Are you crazy?” she mumbles.
“Apparently there’s a growing list of people who think so. Tell her,” I repeat firmly.
“We were meeting at the bar to discuss a diverted shipment.”
I don’t as much as glance at Daniela while I interrogate this bitch. I won’t take a chance that Daniela pleads with those expressive eyes for me to go easy on Sonia. It would be just like her to ask for mercy on Sonia’s behalf.
“Were we alone?”
“Only for a few minutes. No.”
“Did we go up to one of the guest rooms either before or after the meeting?”
“No.”
“Did I fuck you in the bathroom in the bar?”
“No.”
“Have I ever fucked you?”
“No,” she huffs.
I watch Daniela out of the corner of my eye while I fire that final question at Sonia. Her mouth is open, and her brow furrowed, trying to make sense of the little scene unfolding.
I’m done for the moment, and I turn to my wife. “Do you have any questions?”
“What shipment?” Daniela asks.
I should have known that she’d focus on the diverted shipment.
I turn back to Sonia, who stares at me like her world is about to come crumbling down.Too fucking bad.
“Tell her. You put this shitstorm in motion, and now you’re going to deal with the fallout.”
“Women,” Sonia mutters, smoke coming out of her ears.
Daniela gasps. “Women? You’re trafficking women?”