Page 131 of Stand Your Ground

We held each other tighter.

When the worst of the shaking passed, Lacey sniffled and pulled back. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I feel… everything,” I admitted. “Nauseous if I look at raw chicken. Hungry every hour like my stomach is a black hole. Tired like somebody filled my bones with wet sand. And also… full of life. Like there’s this tiny lighthouse inside me I didn’t know I needed.” I shook my head. “I didn’t think this would happen for me. Not like this.”

“Well, I’m glad it did,” she whispered.

We reached for napkins, for bagels, for familiarity. I watched Lacey split an everything with the practiced hand of someone who knew the right ratio of cream cheese to carb, and I swore for a moment we were teenagers again, the kitchen light yellow over our heads, Dad’s shoes thumping down the hall, Mom fretting about crumbs.

It felt like theft and reclamation both.

I asked her how long she was in town, and she told me just for the weekend, just long enough to tell me everything sheneeded to in person. But she promised to be back for the baby shower Maven and I were having together.

I was halfway through the bagel when Lacey cleared her throat. “There’s something else I want to tell you,” she said. “I wasn’t going to bring it up today. But it feels wrong not to, given… everything.” She looked at me, then at the door like she wanted to make sure Carter wasn’t going to interrupt. “It’s about Robert.”

The world narrowed to a pinpoint.

“What about him?”

“He works with Cole.” She paused. “My fiancé.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel or what to say, but I settled on, “Who I haven’t even met because I have been so self-absorbed.”

“Stop that.” Lacey shook her head. “You had every right to distance yourself, and I would have done the same.”

“He works at the same firm?”

“They’re not friends,” she rushed to add. “They’re colleagues. Same firm, yes, but different teams.”

“Lacey.” My name for her was a warning and a plea. “Please tell me you didn’t tell Cole…”

“I did but hear me out.” She wedged those words in quick, like she was putting a chair under a doorknob. “He believes you. He didn’t even blink. And he’s been… careful. I didn’t ask him to go to war. In fact, I begged him to keep his cool.” She smiled softly. “He’s a little like your man, I think, from what I know about him so far, anyway. He’s sweet, but he’s also loyal — and he has a hard time not losing his shit when someone hurts me.”

I smirked at that.

“Anyway, I just told him the truth and that I didn’t want to see that man’s face anywhere near my wedding. He said okay.” She swallowed. “And then… well. He just sort of started talking.”

“Lacey…”

“People trust him. He didn’t start a rumor mill. He didn’t say your name. But he told the truth where he could. He told people to look closer. And it turned out — this wasn’t the first time.”

Something cold and hot washed through me at once — the kind of heat that came from fury, the kind of cold that came from recognition.

“Accusations?” I asked. My voice was steady in that surgical way I hated.

She nodded. “Whispers. HR complaints that went nowhere because Robert’s the kind of man who knows how to keep his hands clean. But that’s shifting, Liv. Cole said everyone is distancing themselves. He’s lost clients. People have stopped laughing at his stupid jokes. He doesn’t get invited to happy hours anymore. The partners keep telling him he’s not needed.”

My heart was in my throat as I listened.

“It’s small. It is not—” Lacey sighed. “It’s not a courtroom. It’s not a monster in cuffs. But it’s something. And I need you to know that even if we never see him answer for what he did the way he should, the world is changing around him. Because it turns out the people he needs to maintain his perfect illusion can’t stand him. And the man I’m marrying was all too happy to help take the fucker down.”

I licked dry lips. “Does Robert know… it was me?”

“No.” Her answer was immediate. “He won’t. Not unless you tell him yourself. And if you want it handled differently, say the word.” She paused. “I told Carter all of this, by the way. Pretty sure he wants to be best friends with Cole now.”

“I might want the same,” I said softly, and then I pulled her into me for another hug. I never wanted to let go. “Thank you.”

She squeezed me tight in answer.