Page 72 of Forbidden Access

Thorn didn’t hesitate. She drove the door into him again, harder this time, feeling it connect with his nose. Blood sprayed across the floor.

“Argh!” he screamed, clutching his face, the pain evident in his voice.

Damian was on him in a flash, grabbing the guy by the collar. Thorn moved with precision, wrestling the gun from his hand. She twisted his wrist sharply, the weapon clattering to the floor as she wrenched it away. With Damian’s arm locked around his throat in a tight headlock, the man had no chance to resist.

“Get on your knees!” Thorn commanded, her voice hard and unwavering.

The man collapsed to the ground, still gasping from the impact. As she stared down at him, recognition dawned.

“James?”

It was Damian’s head developer, his right-hand man.

James glanced up, blood and snot dripping from his busted nose. “Well done,” he sneered, his voice laced with sarcasm.

She didn’t appreciate his tone. “Got any duct tape?” she asked Damian, her gaze never leaving James.

“In the kitchen drawer,” Damian replied, keeping a firm grip on James.

Thorn moved quickly, retrieving the tape. When she returned, James was squirming, whining about his broken nose.

“Stay still, you little weasel,” Damian growled, tightening his hold as Thorn wrapped the tape around James’s wrists, securing them tightly.

When she was done, she looked up at James with disdain. “So, you were the leak.”

James shot her a venomous look. “Obviously. You think you’re so smart, all of you. Meanwhile, I tapped your phone. I installed listening devices in your house. I knew everything you were up to.” He laughed bitterly, a grating sound.

“But why?” Damian asked, his voice carrying a note of betrayal. “I thought we were a team?”

“No, Damian. There is no team. There’s only you. I deserved more. I helped you build Lydian into a billion-dollar success story, and now you’re running it into the ground. All my hard work. I couldn’t let you do that.”

“So you sold me out to Alek?” Damian’s voice hardened, his grip on James’s collar tightening.

“How else was I going to get what I deserved? The share price has tanked, millions wiped off the board at the drop of a hat, and all because you had to go all moralistic. What the hell, Damian? What happened to that pioneering spirit? You sold us out, man.”

Damian stared at him, disbelief mingling with anger. “Why didn’t you come to me? We could have discussed it.”

James sneered, his eyes narrowing. “Oh, and you’d have changed your ways for me? I don’t think so.”

“I could have compensated you. If I’d known you were unhappy?—”

“Why settle for compensation when I could have it all?” James’s sneer deepened, his eyes gleaming with greed. “The money, the power, the fast cars, the girls…”

Damian frowned, caught off guard. “What girls?”

Thorn’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Christine was crazy about you,” James spat, glaring at Thorn. “And you ditched her to marry her.” He nodded at Thorn, clearly clueless that their marriage was just a cover. The listening devices hadn’t told him that.

Damian’s response was instant and heartfelt. “What can I say? I fell for her.”

Thorn swung around. “What?”

His eyes were warm as he smiled at her. “You heard me. Somewhere along the line I realized you were the one I wanted to be with—permanently.”

Thorn’s heart soared. The honesty in his words made her want to throw herself into his arms, but she couldn’t. Not with James bleeding all over the floor.

Instead, she said, “I love you, Damian Clayton. I just want you to know that—for the record.” She wasn’t leaving anything unsaid again. “When you said those things… I thought you were breaking up with me. I couldn’t handle it.”

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