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“I know that you falsified legal documents,” I tell him. “I know that you forged signatures. I know that you helped your buddy Lorenzo steal from his own wife for years to build his business and enjoyed a big, fat payoff for your trouble. That was the year you left the firm you worked for, wasn’t it? You started your own that same year, if I remember correctly.”

“You’ll never prove it,” he flounders. “You have no idea the people I know. I’ll never allow it to see the light of day.”

“Oh, it’s much too late for that,” I chuckle. “We’ve already handed everything over to Bianca. I thought she might feel overwhelmed having to dive into a criminal case so soon after winning that draining divorce case against her scumbag husband—sorry, I know you’re buddies—but funnily enough, she seemed more than up for the challenge. We all have no doubt that she’ll gain another win, with all the evidence she got from me and Eli.”

I take a second to enjoy Alexander’s shock, because it is absolutely delicious, but only a second.

“That’s right,” I say. “Your perfect son, the one whose mind you poisoned for years, finally had a moment of clarity. I guess you shouldn’t have trusted him with a key to your office.” I lean in a little closer. “Once again, you just got too comfortable.”

Alexander moves to stand, vibrating with anger and acting like he might grab me, but I beat him to the punch. I wrap my hands around the collar of his shirt, pulling him over his desk so that his face is inches from mine.

“I would love to beat you half to death right now,” I tell him, my voice a deadly calm. “But that would be too good for you. So instead, I’m just going to inform you of three things, and you’re going to listen, understand?”

“I don’t have to listen to a fucking—”

I tug at his collar so hard that he makes a choking sound.

“I said,do you understand?”

He looks livid but finally seems to realize that I have no qualms about hurting him if it comes to it. He nods stiffly, his eyes bulging and his mouth a hard line.

“One.” I hold up one finger for effect. “You can expect to hear from Bianca’s legal team within the week. Two.” I add another finger. “You can expect to hear frommenot long after, because if you think a court will continue to grant control over my mother while you’re facing criminal charges, you’re even dumber than I thought.” He makes an indignant sound, but I barrel onward, not letting him speak. “And three.” Another finger, his eyes flicking to my hand with a mixture of fear and loathing. “If you fight me on this business with Mom, if you even lift a single finger to try to block me from transferring her conservatorship from you to me, I will make sure that you rot in prison. We both know that you’ll never see jail time because of this business with Bianca; I’m sure you’ll throw money at it until you’re sure that won’t happen, but I think we both know that if I wanted to keep digging, I’d find more. A person like you doesn’t juststopbeing a piece of shit. I can guarantee you’ve got a fuck ton of skeletons in your closet, and if you even try to fight me…I’ll make it my mission in life to find every fucking one of them. I won’t stop until you’re rotting in prison. Do you understand?”

“You’re making a big mista—”

I cinch the fabric of his collar until another strangled sound escapes him. “Do you understand?”

He looks like he’d like nothing more than to murder me, but I’m not bothered by it. The feeling is most certainly mutual. Heglares at me for several long moments, finally giving me a stiff nod. I know that’s as good as I can expect from him.

I release my hold on him more roughly than necessary, shoving him so that he tumbles back into his chair haphazardly. He’s still looking at me with murder in his eyes, but I shoot him a smile as I straighten my jacket.

“I’m glad we could reach an understanding. You have a good life, Alexander.”

He waits until I’m turning to leave to start shouting—an outraged burst of venom at my back about the mistakes I’m making, about how much he’s going to make me pay—but I’m already out the door and slamming it shut, leaving all my thoughts about Alexander Hart behind it. I don’t spare any glances to the house this time on the way out; I’m finally free of it. It means nothing to me now.

Dani is still leaning against the car outside when I step down the stairs leading from the porch, her arms crossed and her eyes full of concern, like she was poised to storm the castle at any moment if she thought I might need her.

“Did you hurt him?”

I shake my head. “Not really.”

“Pity,” she says blandly.

I fucking love this prickly woman.

I pull her against me, shoving my fingers into her hair and pressing my lips to hers briefly, staring into her gray eyes, which almost sparkle like silver in the sunlight. She really does make me feel…peaceful. I could get addicted to that feeling.

“Thank you for coming with me,” I tell her.

“You should have let me come inside.”

“Nah. You would have probably maimed him, and then I’dhave to study up on criminal law to defend you. Sounds like way too much work.”

“Are you saying I’m not worth the effort?”

I grin. “I’m saying I’m not going to risk only seeing you once a month for conjugal visits.”

“Wow, now who’s greedy?”