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“You can stop drooling on my laptop now, asshole.” Liam’s words catch me off guard, jarring me from the scene playing in my mind.

“What are you talking about?” I retort, aiming for nonchalance.

Snorting, Liam replies, “I’m talking about the heaving breath and the tight set of your jaw, Mase.”

My lips part to refute his claim, but he continues, “I know that look anywhere. Don’t try to deny it. It’s the same one you have whenever a girl catches your interest.

“Fuck off. I’m not interested in Eva.”

“Mhmm, sure. And the fist at your side—what’s that?”

Crap.

“Anger,” I quip, unclenching my hand.

Closing his computer, Liam angles his body to peer up at me. His eyes say it all. “Bullshit,” he hisses, standing up to fully face me. “Just admit this plan is shit.”

“Her family nearly ruined ours,” I say, hoping the words will stick so I remember the reasons why I can’t allow my attraction to Eva to grow—it’s the road to nowhere.

“Not her family, Mase—her Dad. But she’s not her father.”

His words strike me, lancing my chest and filling me with rage. It’s exactly what I needed—The perfect reminder. “The sins of the Father,” I growl.

Liam’s brown eyes blaze with fury. “How is this any different than what I did to her that day after class?” he challenges.

“I didn’t put my hands on her,” I lob back.

At least not in the way I want to.Thoughts of her body under mine as I cup her breast into my palm while I tease her nipple until she begs me to fuck her cross my mind.

No.

“Since when is the only way you can hurt someone physically?” Liam shoots back. “If anything, emotional scars are sometimes deeper because they are burned onto your soul.”

“This isn’t one of your poems, Lee, and had this been anyone else, you wouldn’t be arguing this hard for them,” I point out.

Shaking his head, he turns away from me and storms out of the room, slamming his door, effectively ending this conversation.

Thank fuck. He’s gone. This should make what I need to do easier. I wait for the victory to settle, but I’m met with a sour taste in my mouth.

I stare down the hall before plopping into the recliner my brother vacated and rubbing my forehead. Liam and I rarely fight—not even when we were kids did we argue over things. We’ve been a team since utero.

The fact that another Pierce is once again wreaking havoc on our family isn’t lost on me.

“I said she would be trouble,” I mutter to myself.

Grabbing my laptop from where I left it this morning before class, I begin digging further into Eva’s past. Then, I bring up the site and log in using the encryption key I purchased over the summer.

Initially, this was to get as much dirt on Rhion and Callum Pierce as possible, but that was before I knew there would be a perfect means of getting revenge. Typing a message onto the board, I wait for someone to bite.

It doesn’t take long for the person who helped me the first time to respond. I send them what I’m looking for, and then theysend the cost. “Fuck,” I hiss. This is five times the cost for both Eva’s brother and father.

Z_Av3g3r: Why is it more expensive than the first price?

Bouncing my knee, I watch as the text bubble says they’re typing.

BW091220: Do you want the information or not? I’m not in the business of negotiating prices. They are what they are—take or leave it.

My nostrils flare at the dismissive response, and I wonder if I truly need this information right now. I haven’t exhausted all my original plans, so I’m dipping into my trust fund for more money when there’s a chance I can find what I need on my own or have Eva provide it as I get closer to her.