Chapter 17 #2
"That doesn't make sense — this will cost me the Costel contract. Not that I care about that, but I still don't—"
Leire can't finish. Her mind is a complete mess, too chaotic to think straight, let alone decide what to do first — kill him or report him to the police.
"Listen," Candela says. "I know this is awful, but you need to focus."
She shows her the threat that came with this morning's image.
Last chance.
"What does that mean?" Leire asks, her voice trembling, her vision blurring with tears.
Kate's match has already started, and instead of being in the stands to support her, she's here listening to this woman tell her that her father has betrayed her trust and is trying to blow up her life.
"It means I'm probably still the only journalist who has it. You need to move fast before someone hands it to another outlet and lets the world in on something that belongs only to you and Brogan — especially you, Cobos."
Leire stands up and looks toward the door, her mind suddenly clear — but there's one last question circling.
"Why you? Why not some other journalist who would've already published it?"
"I've thought about that a lot, and I can only come up with one answer."
"Which is?"
"I'm a veteran. I have a loyal following and everyone knows I've never published a lie or twisted a story.
But I think the real reason is that I'm the only female Spanish journalist covering this event.
If the goal here is to hurt you, the damage will be infinitely worse coming from me, because it'll land directly on your audience.
It won't hit the same way if it runs in some French paper nobody in Spain has ever heard of. "
Leire stares at her, taking it in — and then realizes she still has one more question.
"If you had that first photo for two years, why didn't you ever use it?"
"Because I have principles. But mostly because I have a lesbian sister who spent too many years in the closet because she didn't feel safe coming out. Nobody should get to make that decision for you, Cobos. Now get out of here and deal with this before it explodes in your face."
"Thank you," Leire says, and walks out at a run.
She knows exactly where to find her father — he has a reserved seat right next to hers in the stands.
She moves through the corridor with tunnel vision, a dull ringing in her ears that blocks out the crowd noise from the match.
She doesn't look at the scoreboard or ask anyone how it's going, but she does stop for a moment when she catches Kate returning a crosscourt backhand.
Her grunt on the follow-through is the only sound that makes it through — and Leire stands there for a few seconds watching before she asks one of the security staff to go get her father from his seat.
She waits off to the side and watches Bruno look over in confusion when the guard points her out. Her father gets up, squeezes past people with apologies, and finally makes it to the stairs.
"We need to talk," she says without looking at him, gesturing for him to follow.
Bruno puts his hands in his pockets, calm, and follows her inside the building and back to the same room where she'd been with Candela just minutes before.
"You put cameras in my room," she says the moment the door closes, her voice low and sharp, and she watches the tension move through her father's entire body.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asks, but she catches him press his brows together and then pinch his earlobe — the same thing he's always done when he's nervous.
"Since you feel entitled to violate my privacy, at least don't insult my intelligence. I haven't called a lawyer yet, but I promise you I will."
"I didn't see anything, Leire." Bruno raises his hands. "I swear on your mother's memory."
"Don't you dare bring my mother into this!" she shouts.
Her father glances at the door and gestures for her to keep her voice down.
"Okay, just calm down — and I can prove it. I'll hand you my phone right now. You'll see there's nothing on it beyond what I'm guessing Candela already showed you."
Leire is stunned by how easily he admits it.
"You put a camera in my fucking room," she says, stretching every syllable.
"Yes." He takes a step back, red with shame.
"But it only recorded until I got the one photo.
That's all I needed, and I swear I never wanted anything more than that — I could never have used it against you.
Go ahead and report me if it makes you feel better.
They won't find anything else, no matter how hard they look. "
Leire crumbles all at once. Her eyes fill and she's pinching the bridge of her nose hard, trying to hold it together for just a few more seconds.
"Leire—"
"Just tell me why. What were you trying to get out of this?" she asks, her voice breaking.
"To open your eyes."
The answer — and the cold, matter-of-fact way he says it — throws her so completely that the tears stop for a moment.
"To open my—"
"I just wanted to scare you. I knew sooner or later she'd come to you."
Leire feels like her head is about to split open. A steady ache is building behind both ears.
"I don't understand any of this." She drags a hand through her hair, which is a disaster at this point.
Bruno presses his hands together as if in prayer and holds them close to his mouth, exhaling the long, slow breath of someone summoning patience.
"You're going to wreck whatever's left of your career if you keep up this stupid thing you have with Brogan.
It's only a matter of time before someone catches you, and when that happens, Costel won't just cancel your contract — they'll sue you and take you for everything you've got.
That relationship clearly isn't going anywhere.
I just wanted to scare you into ending it once and for all.
You've got a few good years left, sweetheart. Use your head."
For several seconds Leire feels as if her tongue has frozen solid in her mouth. She tries to move it, to form a question, to put into words how betrayed and heartbroken she feels — but she can't make a sound.
"I chose Candela because I knew she wouldn't use the photos. That instead of running them, she'd warn you."
"H-how?" she stammers again, feeling cold despite the sweat on her skin.
"Isaac knows a shareholder at her paper.
At a lunch after a golf match where everyone had too much to drink, the guy let it slip that he owed Candela a lot — because she'd had a photo of you and Brogan for years and never used it.
Look, I know this wasn't the right way to go about it, but if that woman could see you, anyone could, if you keep this up—"
"I want you out of the tournament," Leire cuts him off.
"I want you to pack your bags and go home — your home, not mine, because I don't want to see you again for the rest of my life.
If I get back to the hotel tonight and you're still checked in, I will report you.
Don't come near me again. Ever." She takes one step closer.
"And make sure those photos never see the light of day.
Because if they do, I will spend the rest of my life burying you in the darkest hole I can find — one that's exactly what someone as contemptible as you deserves. "
Leire walks past him without a glance and steps out of the room feeling like she might die from the anxiety alone.