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Vanessa swipes at the screen, then turns it toward me.

I go still.

Blueprints. Construction bids. Approval requests, all stamped with Carter Holdings’ insignia. It's all legitimate work, but beneath it, in the fine print, are contract codes I don't recognize—buried beneath layers of legalese, hidden in the margins of multi-million-dollar deals.

Vanessa watches my expression shift and laughs, soft and sweet. "You're adorable when you try to pretend you're not screwed."

I school my features, refusing to let her see how deeply she's cut. "If you had anything truly damning, you wouldn't be standing here playing show-and-tell. You'd have used it already."

Her smile falters—just slightly—but then she recovers, swiping to the next image.

"I have enough," she says. "Enough to make them look twice. Enough to raise questions. And you, Liam—you don't get the benefit of doubt." She tuts, shaking her head. "The golden boy turned fraud? Oh, it'll sell." She leans in, voice lowering to something silkier, more dangerous. "And that's all I need."

A chill runs down my spine.

Because she's right about that, too.

The truth doesn't matter. The story does.

And Vanessa? She's always known how to tell a damn good one.

I take a slow breath, forcing the tension from my shoulders. "Even if I believed you," I say, keeping my voice steady, "what's your endgame here? You're not stupid enough to think I'd walk away just because you asked nicely."

She sighs, long-suffering. "I was hoping you'd be reasonable, darling." Then she smirks. "But fine. If I can't make you see sense, I'll just make you regret it."

She slips the phone back into her pocket, smoothing her coat like this is all just an unfortunate inconvenience.

Then…

A sharp shift in the air.

Cliff Reyes, standing just to her right, stiffens.

His eyes flick toward the warehouse doors. His fingers tighten around the grip of his pistol.

He's noticed something.

Vanessa follows his gaze, her expression turning sharp. "What?"

Cliff's voice is low, edged with warning. "We've got company."

Vanessa's smile vanishes, her body snapping to attention. Her eyes cut back to me, dark with realization.

"Find who they are and kill them," she barks at Cliff. And then she looks at me. "You didn't come alone."

"No, you stupid woman. I didn't."

The shock of being called stupid lands as it was meant to. There's a slight hesitation and it is enough. I lunge, shoving the gun out of her hand.

30

AVA

Liam's voice echoes in my mind.Promise.

I clutch my mother's bracelet between my fingers, the cool metal grounding me as the warehouse looms in front of us. The night air is thick, charged with the kind of tension that makes your skin prickle, the kind that tells you everything is about to go straight to hell.

Dean stands at my side, arms crossed, his jaw clenched tight as he watches the building's entrance. Ryan is pacing—of course he's pacing—his hands flexing at his sides like he's itching for a fight. And Tyler… Tyler is in full-on strategist mode, phone in hand, eyes darting between us and the security feeds he hacked into minutes ago.