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I blink.
“I’mout, Ella. This is my white flag, okay? I’m done with this fucking perpetual pissing contest with that man. But I amnotdone worrying about the last of my friend’s bloody family!”
My eyes drop to the document in my hand. It’s a legal contract, transferring all shares that I had sold to Oliver from Naomi’s laptop what feels like a lifetime ago, back to Noel. It also relinquishes Oliver from all rights on the board.
I swallow, dragging my eyes back to Oliver as I pass him the contract. His nostrils flare, his face red.
“Did you leak all of that shit to the police? To the press?”
His face crumples.
“Christ No,” he growls. “No, absolutely not.”
I sneer.
“Why, because you and my dad were buddies?”
His eyes narrow.
“Because your father was one of, if notthebest friend I’ve ever had. And I don’t make them easily. Because I can swear on his grave that I didn’t.”
“And your chauffeur?” I snarl. “The one who ‘saw me’ pouring fucking kerosene?”
Oliver’s mouth thins angrily as he shakes his head.
“Sacked. Immediately after I saw that on the news.”
“Nice way to cover your tracks.”
“I have no bloody idea why Mr. Karzony took it upon himself to say that, Ella. I truly don’t. Maybe just the lure of the limelight. But I most certainly never asked him to say that.”
“Thenwho did?”
His mouth thins. “I don’t know.”
I start to turn away.
“I don’t know, Ella!” He snaps. “Truly. But I have—”
“A hunch?” I snarl. “Let me take a stab in the dark on who your hunch might be.”
“Stabis an interesting choice of words,” he mutters.
I glare at him and whirl to leave.
“Please, Ella. I don’t have the slightest idea what possesses Jon Karzony to make that up. And this isnotabout the money. I don’t give a shit about that; I have plenty. I’m not trying to use you for anything. But I need you to see this.”
My mouth thins.
“See what.”
“Your father always wanted to believe that there was both king and villain in all of us. But, as much as I loved Thomas…”
His face darkens.
“He was wrong, I’m afraid to say. There are kings, and there are villains. But it’s naïve to say we waffle between one or the other. We pick paths, Ella. And in our little group back in college, unfortunately, there were those who had already picked the villain path. And they were always going to stay on it. Men like Kristoff Zima. Like Adrian Cross.”
His jaw sets.
