Of course it was him. The smug, controlling bastard who’s been circling like a goddamn vulture.
My hands clench into fists.
He hasn’t just been gaslighting her. He hired someone to drag her name through the dirt. To manipulate the narrative. To humiliate her.
To make her look unfit. Unworthy.
My vision flashes white at the edges.
“He used Ryan’s firm to light the match,” Hayden continues. “Media manipulation, false tips to journalists, influencer targeting. In exchange, Ryan got legal representation. James is handling his legal affairs now.” He pauses. “And Ryan didn’t stop there. He came after you too.”
My blood runs cold.
“Why the fuck would he come after me? To hurt Amelia?”
“That played into it, yeah. For James. But mostly, I think he targeted you because of me.” He lets out a slow, sharp breath, and I feel his anger behind it, like his control is hanging by athread. “I’m fucking sorry you got caught up in this. Ryan’s been gunning for me since he found out Priscilla and I had a thing. His jealousy runs deep. I think he knows we slept together last year after she left him.”
Jesus.
“You think he came after me to hurt you?”
“Yeah. There’s evidence in the emails that points to that. His team was instructed to seed shit about you and Bradford.”
James.
Ryan.
Both of them playing their games, thinking they’re untouchable.
They didn’t just come for her.
They came for me.
For my company.
For my name.
For my brothers.
And it circled. It breathed.
Because I didn’t know who I was hunting.
But now?
Now I have the fucking name.
And everything inside me goes still.
Not cold. Not quiet.Deadly.
I don’t see red. I see the finish line.
“Put everything you have in the Drive. I want eyes on it today.” Our secure, private drive. Just me and my brothers. Encrypted, untraceable, and locked behind three layers of hell.
“You drop that list, and sure, Ryan goes down. But so do people who trusted you to protect them. You could set your own company on fire.”
“Then I burn it.”