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“The hell it isn’t!” he roared. I caught a whiff of alcohol on his breath, the stench pungent.
“Liam,” I warned, remaining on alert.
He’d never put a hand on me before, but something about him was different tonight.
“Shit, Gin…” He hung his head, the weight of regret etched into his features. When he returned his gaze to mine, the old Liam was back, his expression softening. “I’m sorry.” He grabbed my hand and traced gentle circles along my knuckles with his thumb.
“It’s just… I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something…off about him. I don’t trust him. Not for a fucking second.”
“And yet you let him play in your golf tournament?” I pulled my hand from his and crossed my arms in front of my chest, purposefully not inviting him into my room. “And on your foursome, no less?”
“That was more Alton’s doing.”
“You could have rescinded his invitation. Or were the zeros in his bank account too tempting?”
“It was a strategic move. I wanted to see if I could figure out what he wants from you. Why he seems so interested.”
“Because you don’t think he’d be interested otherwise?”
“I didn’t say that.” He grabbed my biceps, smoothing his hands down my arms in a reassuring manner. “I don’t want you to get hurt. That’s all.” He chewed on his lower lip. “Especially considering the timing of everything.”
I stepped out of his touch. “What are you talking about?”
“About the necklaces. Then the attack outside the club, where he just so happened to be and was able to intervene. It seems a little too…convenient.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “What are you insinuating?”
He gave a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders. “I’m simply stating the obvious, Gin.”
“You can’t seriously think Gideon was involved. What would his motive be?”
“Hedidkill the guy who attacked you. And Benjamin Astor? The guy who the police believe sent you those necklaces?”
“What about him?”
“His body was found today. Onmyfucking sailboat. Shot in the abdomen.”
A chill trickled down my spine. “Who killed him?”
“Hell if I know!” He dropped his voice. “I sure as shit didn’t do it. Butsomeonedid.” He curved toward me. “And maybe that person is the man you’ve been spreading your legs for.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I pushed past him and stormed down the hallway toward the elevators, needing to put as much space between us as possible before I said something I’d regret.
“Then how do you explain this thing with Alton?” he called after me.
I whirled around. “What thing with Alton?”
Liam stepped closer, lowering his voice to a barely audible level. “Alton had a meeting with him earlier in the week and saw a draft press release announcing GeoCom’s acquisition of TechAway. He bought up thousands of shares of GeoCom since he knew an acquisition like this would have a positive impact on their stock price.”
“Which is illegal,” I reminded him.
Liam waved me off. “Then a few hours ago, a breaking news story hit about the CEO of GeoCom being involved in a huge corporate coverup of sexual assault. It just seems too…convenient. Like he planned it.”
“Gideon planned for a CEO to sexually assault dozens of his employees, some quite brutally, as well as bribe officials to cover it up, so he could…what?”
“I don’t fucking know, Gin! But between this, the body on my boat, and your attack, there’s a lot of suspicious shit going on. And it didn’t start until Gideon entered our lives. What the hell is it going to take for you to see that? To open your goddamn eyes!”
“Gideon hasnothingto do with any of it! You’re being ridiculous. Hesavedmy life. He’s a good person.”
