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“Fuck yes!” He clenches one hand into a fist, his eyes blazing with accomplishment and pride. He’s practically bouncing on his seat with adrenaline. “Did you see their faces? You were so fucking incredible, angel.”
“Of course she was,” Malice chimes in, shoving the key into the ignition. “She’s a fucking queen, and now they’re all going to know it.”
Ransom chuckles, shaking his head like he’s enjoying reliving every moment of our confrontation. “Fucking Olivia with her smug face when she called the cops. Like she just knew she was going to get to see us dragged away. Too bad for her she’s not the only one who knows how to blackmail.”
“That was a particular high point,” Vic agrees, smiling a little.
“And you were right. This was the perfect place to confront her.” Ransom cranes his neck a little to look back at us. “Two birds with one stone. We got to deliver the news to the Copelands that Troy the fucking rapist is dead, and make sure they know that we’ve got dirt on them we’ll use if they try to stop Willow from claiming what’s rightfully hers. Fucking brilliant.”
Malice, in true Malice fashion, cuts in to refocus everyone before the celebrations can go on too long.
“Yeah, yeah, it was great,” he says as he pulls out onto the street. “But we need to stay on our guard. We just pissed them the fuck off, and I doubt they’re going to let that shit go easily. We don’t know what move they’re going to make next.”
“He’s right,” Vic replies, nodding. “We can’t get overconfident now.”
“I know, I know. I just want to savor the victory for a bit,” Ransom says, but he gets more serious.
I listen to them past the rushing in my ears, my entire body buzzing like a live wire. There’s so much leftover adrenaline coursing through me from everything that just happened that I feel like I could jump out of the car, sprint back to the hotel, and still manage to beat the guys there. Seeing Olivia was terrifying, but it was freeing in a way too.
I’m committed now.
Olivia knows Troy is dead and that I have access to his money and his shares of his family’s business. The chance to try to slip away and run from my grandmother has passed, and I’m glad, in a way. Running was never going to be a permanent solution. Even if we managed to evade her, which would’ve been difficult, I would’ve spent my whole life looking over my shoulder. I couldn’t live like that.
So I’m in this now, until the very end.
As Malice drives, the four of us talk, hashing out what comes next in our plan to get my life back.
“The only downside of leveraging Troy’s assets is that now you’ll have to get involved with his family’s company.” Ransom makes a face. “I hate the idea of you being around those fuckheads any more than you have to.”
“It’s necessary,” Vic says, reaching across the seat to take my hand. It’s a simple gesture, but from him, even the smallest touches always means so much. “I know it won’t be pleasant, but you made Troy sign all of that over to you for a reason.”
He looks over at me as he finishes speaking, and I nod. “I did. I have no idea how to navigate all of that stuff, but I know I have to do it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you prepare for it. I have all the information we’re going to need. And if I don’t, I can find it.”
I smile at Vic, always grateful for his help and his diligence.
“Do you think Olivia will try to make a move before the next board meeting?” Ransom asks.
“What can she do?” Vic replies. “We’ve bought ourselves some time while she tries to untangle how badly she fucked up here, so I think we should be okay for the moment.”
We’re in as good a position as we can be, but Malice is right. We can’t let our guards down. Still, it is nice to have finally won something against Olivia. After months of her having the upper hand, calling all the shots, leaving us to scramble and try to figure out what the next step is, we’ve finally hit her where it hurts.
Hopefully we can keep it up.
We get back to the hotel and pile out of the car, then head inside. The front desk guy looks at us curiously, taking in our outfits and the way the guys all cluster around me, but he doesn’t say anything as we head toward the stairs.
On the second floor, Vic lets us in. As I step through the door, something odd catches my attention. It’s a nondescript cardboard box, big enough to hold a good amount of stuff, and it’s pushed up against the side of one of the beds.
It looks innocent enough, but my heart rate jacks up at the sight of it. Is this something from Olivia or the Copelands? Some move they’re making already? And if so, how the hell did they get it here while we were out? Eventheycan’t move that fast, can they? My head swims with possibilities, each more horrifying than the last, and Malice glances at me with concern.
“Solnyshka? What’s wrong?”
Taking a step forward, I point to the box. “What is that? Is it from Olivia or Troy’s parents? Could they have—”
I break off as a strange look passes over Malice’s face. He almost looks a little abashed, but that can’t be right. I’ve never seen that expression on his face before.
He clears his throat, looking from the box back to me. “Oh, that. It’s not from them.”
