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“No,” Zoe shot back. “It’s not good. All the revenge and payback has to stop.”
“We’re going to stop you.”
There was no way Everly was going to let these two tell her what she had to do. “And how do you plan to do that?”
As she spoke, the conference room door opened again. Everly composed her face, expecting to see Devon Connor, but the four people who walked in shocked her to her toes.
Susannah Dailey-Kirby entered first, her beautiful face lit with satisfaction at Everly’s surprise. She was followed by her brother, who stopped behind Zoe. From their body language, Everly guessed the break-up rumors were wrong. Harrison Crosby was there, as well, lending London his support.
Rounding out the quartet was Paul Watts, Ryan’s best friend. Everly wasn’t sure whether he or Susannah presented the most danger, but suddenly she wasn’t feeling all that steady.
“I don’t know what you all think you’re doing here,” she declared, deciding to go on the offensive. “But I won’t be intimidated.”
“Oh, I think you will,” Susannah Dailey-Kirby replied smoothly.
“Your little vengeance plot stops here and now,” her brother put in, his expression like granite.
Everly crossed her arms over her chest. “Or what?”
Ryan Dailey scowled. “Or we’ll ruin you.”
There was a reason they’d chosen to confront her at Connor Properties. Meeting here deliv
ered a strong message. If she didn’t agree to their terms, they would mess with her business. Well, she wouldn’t be strong-armed like that.
“I’ll take you all down with me.”
“And who do you think the world will believe?” Zoe demanded, showing more backbone than she ever had before. “All of us or you?”
“In addition, I have a statement from the hacker you hired to get into Tristan Crosby’s computer,” Paul Watts said.
“But I didn’t use the flash drive,” Everly protested, pointing at London. “You did.”
The event planner shook her head. “Wrong again.”
Everly did not like how this was going. She hadn’t been able to get justice or revenge for Kelly. Neither Linc nor Ryan had been punished. And London had fallen in love with Harrison. Nothing had gone according to plan and she seemed to be the only one paying a price.
“So are you going to give up and leave us in peace?” Zoe asked, her voice softening.
The sympathy in her gaze was almost more than Everly could bear. “I hate all of you,” she snarled.
“But you’ll leave us alone,” London persisted.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Zoe said. “We just want all this to end.”
A coalition of six determined people stared at her, awaiting her answer. Everly was out of trump cards and dirty moves. Despite what Zoe had said about not wanting to hurt her, Everly knew if she persisted, they would do whatever it took to make her pay.
Still, seeing London and Zoe so happy, while her sister rotted in jail, made her more resolved than ever to fight. At least that was her plan until the door opened and Devon Connor appeared. His attention went straight to her and something in his unrelenting stare warned her he knew more than he’d let on.
“Have you settled everything?” he asked.
“Not quite,” Susannah said. “But I think Everly was just about to agree to our terms.”
Rage rose in her. She didn’t want to give up or to give in, but with Devon’s keen blue eyes watching her intently, Everly recognized she had to stop her vendetta or risk losing her business.
“Fine,” she snapped, unsure whom she hated more, the six of them or herself for failing. “Negotiations are over. You win.”
* * *
