“Now.”
“You know what, I’ll go. We can finish this later.” A man in a business suit got up from one of the plush leather chairs and hurried out the door, briefcase in hand.
Hamilton stood, his gaze meeting Derek’s, his upper lip curling. “What are you doing here? I fired you. If you’ve come for money—”
Jenna cut him off. “I know what you did. Do you know what happened as a result of your actions?”
Hamilton’s pupils dilated.Fear.“What are you going on about now? You just interrupted a very important—”
“You sent Derek to bring me home and told him to use force if necessary. When he wouldn’t do that, you bribed Governor Kazi with five hundred thousand dollars to rescind my permission to work in Balkh Province.”
The bastard’s face flushed red. “Don’t take that tone with me, little girl.”
Derek’s right fist clenched.
Oh, the fucker was treading on thin ice now.
Jenna wasn’t cowed. “Do you know what happened next? Kazi sent one of his men to abduct me. He wanted—
“I told you it wasn’t safe there, but you didn’t listen. I told you to stay home, find a husband, and not waste your life—”
“I was safe and happy there untilyoustarted interfering! Kazi wanted ransom money from you. He thought he’d play both sides—the hero and the villain—and come away a few million richer. His men set off a car bomb outside of Cobra’s compound. One persondied, and I was injured. See this? Stitches.”
“You should have stayed home.”
“I was abducted, threatened with rape. I watched men die because ofyou.”
Hamilton was getting flustered. “I don’t even know this Kazi person.”
“Liar! There are phone records and bank records. We know what you did, and so do the Joint Chiefs and half of Congress by now.”
Hamilton had begun to sweat, beads of perspiration popping up on his forehead. He stepped around his desk, getting closer to Jenna. “You met with them?”
Derek moved closer, too.
“Five Cobra operatives wereshottrying to protect me from Kazi’s hired killers, including Derek. One of those men is still in the hospital.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of any of this. You can’t blame me. I had nothing to do with it. If you had stayed home like I told you to—”
“Shut up! Just shut up! You made James’ life hell. You’re the reason he went into the army. He wanted to get away fromyou. You made my life hell, too, interfering in every decision I’ve ever tried to make. You probably drove Mom to suicide!”
Hamilton drew back his hand as if to strike Jenna.
Derek caught his wrist in mid-air. “Touch her, and I will end you.”
“That’s a threat.”
“You damned well better believe it is.” Derek released him.
But Jenna wasn’t finished. “As of today, you are out of my life. I disown you. You’re not my father. You’re just another corrupt politician who plays with other people’s lives. I don’t want to hear from you again for any reason.”
“You won’t get a dime of my estate.”
“I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you.”
Now it was Derek’s turn. “We’ve handed all the evidence we collected over to Congressional investigators. They’ll be in touch this afternoon. You’ll be getting a bill from Cobra for damages later today as well.”
“I’m not paying for anything Kazi did.”