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“Twofuckingyears? Ethan Delaney, whatever other middle names you have, Anderson, you messed with my sister fortwofucking years and didn’t have thedecencyto tell me about it? Really?”

“I could give you more excuses, but they’re all bullshit. This one’s on me.”

He leans in and fists my tie, tugging me up from my seat. “If I tell you I don’t buy this committed man in love act you got going on, if I tell you to break it off with her, what would you do?”

Grabbing his shirt, I snarl in his ear, “I’ll tell you to go fuck yourself.”

I let go and shove him back into his seat.

A tensed silence suffocates the private room inside The Menagerie, a lounge on the lower floors of The Orchid. I’m so glad we’re meeting early and no one’s here to witness the inevitable bloodshed.

No one can take my Nova away from me again.

Suddenly, Liam laughs, the abrupt noise shocking me. He slams his hand on the table and bends over, his body trembling.

The bastard.

“You should’ve seen the look on your face.” He slaps his knee and wipes his eyes—the asshole has tears from laughing too hard. “Fuck man, you thought I was going to kill you, didn’t you?”

“Fucking shit,” I mutter and yank my tie loose, dragging in a deep inhale.

“You deserved it. You so fucking deserved it. I’m not a dictator, Ethan. You’re my best guy. I want you to be happy. I love Firefly and I want her to be happy. If the two of you being together will make you both happy, then hallelujah.”

Then the smile slips off his face and his nostrils flare, the icy glare back in his eyes. “However…if you break her heart,yourheart will have a hole in it, just like this table.” He yanks out the butter knife and tosses it onto his plate, revealing the damage he inflicted.

It doesn’t faze me. “I’ll hurt myself before I hurt her.”

That’s a vow.

He holds my gaze for a moment, then nods. Then he crosses his arms behind his head and lets out a relaxed sigh, like he didn’t threaten me a few seconds ago.

“I’ve waited a decade to give you that spiel, so now that we’ve got that out of the way, I want to give you an update on your embezzlement case—”

“Hold on. Hold on a fucking second.” I raise my hand. “What do you mean, you’ve waited a decade?”

Liam arches his brow and tsks under his breath. “You really think you guys snuck around without me noticing? Really? You think your lovesick smile when you scribbled in your precious notebook wasn’t obvious? You think my sister bringing your favorite foods tomybirthday party wasn’t a big fucking clue?”

He shakes his head. “And then you had your one eighty degree personality change after Firefly’s accident. Do you think I’m motherfucking blind?”

“You asshole. You let me believe—”

“You deserved it. You kept me in the dark and I returnedthe favor.”

Blowing out a breath, I shift in my seat. My lips twitch as I try not to smile. It feels so good to have everything out in the open. No more hiding. No more sneaking around.

“Fine. You got your revenge. Moving on. So, what do you have for the case?”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Liam straightens, pulls out a small piece of paper from his jeans pocket, and slides it over the table. I turn it around.

I snap my eyes up, flames singeing my chest. Gnashing my teeth together, I crumble the paper in my fist.

“You sure?”

“A hundred percent. That’s the hedge fund behind BoC Equitable Investments. They moved the money already, but I tagged them before they shifted things around.”

“But why? These aren’t huge amounts. Sure, millions over a decade, but barely makes a dent. This makes no sense.”

Liam drums his fingers on the table. “No clue. I don’t think we have the full picture yet, so don’t tell anyone.”