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“Denyer?” a man asked, his voice shaking. He sounded a lot like Jake, but Cole couldn’t be certain. “Denyer, who?”
He heard the moment Bryce put them on speaker, the noise ratcheting up a level. But Bryce’s response was quiet. He sounded robotic, so matter of fact and utterly devoid of emotion. He was fuming, and Cole hated fuckface Denyer even more for separating them. They should be there for Bryce. No, this shit should never have happened in the first place. “Maxwell Denyer, the Lightning’s lawyer. He was the one who tipped off the media.”
“I know that name,” a woman answered.
There was a pregnant pause when another man asked, “How, Rob?” His deep voice was a dead giveaway—Mike.
“I haven’t dealt with him before, but I remember seeing it written down…. Shit, how do I know that name?” the same woman answered, Robyn he assumed.
“I…,” Bryce started.
Cole tried to tune out the background noise, but it was hard with the commotion.
“He’s okay, Ez. It’s an anxiety attack. Let Jake look after him. They need a moment together,” Cassie said. “Hell, I need a moment.” She paused, but when she spoke again, her voice was wobbly like she was fighting back tears. “We know him too. He’s… We haven’t heard that name in a long time, but it’ll never be long enough. Maxwell is Jake’s father. Jake changed his surname to Phillips—my surname—after we moved here.”
“He….” Bryce trailed off again.
“That’s it,” Robyn uttered triumphantly, but her tone was tinged with disgust. “He’s a partner at one of the big firms. I remember Western Mineral getting advice from him on who to donate campaign funds to. It was weird because he was in Sydney and we were in Perth, but he’d tell the board which of the candidates up for election were mining friendly and which were environmentalists. Whenever we had issues, the board would say ‘who you gonna call?’ and then I’d get instructions to leave the problem alone. A few days later, it was fixed.”
“That sounds like him,” Cassie agreed.
“He was the one who Aurelius Branigan, the CEO, called when I thought I’d been successful in burying the exploration permit for the caves. Then all of a sudden, the minister allows it.”
Cole was curious. He wanted to know more about both Cassie’s history with Denyer and Robyn’s, but now wasn’t the time. “He’s a piece of shit,” Cole agreed, but he had more pressing concerns. His boyfriend’s silence was scaring him, and the distance between them wasn’t helping. “Bryce, talk to us.”
“He said his son had been hurt because of his relationship. Was it a lie or did Denyer hurt Jake?” Bryce asked, horror filling his voice. Cole hated the betrayal in his tone, but he understood far too well. Cole might have been angry, but Bryce had placed his trust in both the Lightning and Denyer. They’d let him down spectacularly.
“Denyer is the reason we don’t live in Sydney. He’s also why Phoenix no longer practices law.” Cassie paused and he heard her sniffle. “He decided that no son of his could be a homo. Jake worked for Denyer’s best mate—”
“The agent from City Scape,” Ava interrupted.
“That’s him. Charles. He fired Jake because Denyer told him to. Somehow, we still don’t know how, his lease got terminated too.”
“Bloody hell,” Ava uttered.
“That’s not all. I lost my job when he called up some of my clients and had them move their real estate work to another agency—probably City Scape. We were broke, couldn’t get work because of our non-compete clauses, and were paying astronomical rent to live in the city. The cheapest option was to move here to my family’s holiday home.”
There were murmurings, and Cassie continued, “We had it easy. Denyer ruined Phoenix’s career, his relationship with us, and his mental health.”
“It’s why he moved here,” Robyn said, understanding dawning in her voice. “I’ve tried to persuade him to work for Nick and me, but he doesn’t want to go back to law.”
“I doubt he ever will either.”
“Where do you want to take this?” Robyn asked. “I don’t have any experience doing ethics work, but I’m sure Nick or one of his partners will. Do we have evidence that it was him? Can we take this further?”
“I don’t know,” Bryce whispered.
The fire in Cole’s belly burned bright. He would protect his man. He’d get justice for him. He’d also get vengeance for Cassie, Jake, Phoenix, and even Robyn.
“We’re going to fix this,” Cole promised. “We’ve got someone on it. We’re gonna stop him from hurting anyone else.”
Ava squeezed his hand and added with absolute confidence, “She’ll take him down.”
Twenty-three
Ava
A
