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“Now, tell me what you meant.”
The shock of seeing me wears off, and she straightens her shoulders, squaring off. “None of your business.”
Wrong thing to say. The look of guilt and despair on her face tells me immediately she has something to do with Bryce lying in this hospital bed.
Rage, fury, and hate boil to the surface and erupt. I drop Bryce’s hand and rear back. Before I can stop myself, I slap her with all the force in my body. There’s a loud crack as her head snaps to the side. She stumbles, falling into the wall. I try to lunge into her, but strong arms yank me back and restrain my movements.
“What in the ever loving fuck is going on?” Nate’s livid voice fuels my own anger even more.
“Liza is responsible for this.”
“What?” He back peddles us across the room, not letting me go. “Liza, what’s Devon talking about?”
She goes pale and looks at Bryce, holding her cheek. Finally, she takes a shaky breath and looks past me to my brother. “He was in the engine room because of me. I knew you were supposed to do the measurement testing the next morning, but I arranged for them to be ready. Once you went to bed that night, I had one of my guys tell him there were new data specs available. There was no doubt he’d go after them. It gave me a small window of opportunity to get him alone.”
“You lied?” His grip tightens around my chest, and he starts to shake.
“No, I did run new numbers. I had no idea there’d be an explosion.”
“The explosion was a freak accident. No one could have known. But that’s not the issue here. Why would you lure him down there?”
“He wouldn’t talk to me! For weeks, I’ve tried to apologize, but he avoided me. It’s bad enough I’m treated like a leper, but then I get the news I’m being transferred. This was an effort to beg him to make things right.”
“You need to leave now,” Nate growls. “We’ve all made it clear how we feel about you, yet you keep coming back. Get a fucking clue. You are a pathetic bitch. If you’re not out that door in five seconds, I’ll unleash Devon and turn my back.”
I struggle against him, wanting to claw her eyes out. She looks at Bryce once more then rushes ou
t the door with her head hanging.
Nate lets me go and steps back. “What a fucking cunt.”
“Yep,” I agree and feel my adrenalin draining. “You should have let me after her.”
His face pops up, humor filling his eyes. “When did you become Manny Pacquiao?”
“Who?”
“Never mind.” He shakes his head but can’t hide his amusement.
“Seriously, Nate, I was so mad she didn’t have a chance.” I hop from foot to foot, punching the air. “Look at my stealth moves.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but a loud beeping cuts through the room. We both rush to the bed and see Bryce’s chest jerking. Deja vu hits me with memories from the last time this happened. A nurse comes in and shifts me to the side. Dave is right behind her.
“Did anything happen?” She hits a few buttons on the monitor.
“Yes, my sister was being a goofy idiot,” Nate answers and gives me a pointed look. As soon as the words leave his mouth, my parents and Sheila come back in.
The nurse looks at me with a smile. “I’d recommend continuing that. He seemed to like it.”
“You think he heard us?” I squeal.
“Sure do. Think he enjoyed what he heard, too. His heart rate increased, but he’s not in distress.”
“Is he waking up?”
“We can hope. This is a good sign. Keep up the good work.” She pats me on the shoulder and leaves.
“What exactly were you doing?” Sheila asks.
