“I’d like to see you prove any of it.”
Wes’s smile was feral. “I already have. You got sloppy, and AJ found your fingerprints all over this case. She couldn’t figure out what that string of garbage code that linked all the attacks meant. But I did.”
For the first time since he’d walked into the office, Wes saw fear in Jesse’s eyes. An involuntary confession.
“I’m not going to stand here and listen to bullshit accusations.” Jesse turned to stalk from the office, but the second he drew even, Wes pounced, shoved him up against the frosted glass of Max’s office wall by the lapels.
“I know what you did, you son of a bitch.” He angled his forearm across Jesse’s chest, his elbow dangerously close to the bastard’s windpipe. “I’ll bet if I look at her phone, I’ll find the same goddamn bug that was on Kaylee’s phone. That’s how you found Viv at Neiman’s. That’s how you knew we got married. And that’s why you phoned me this morning, to threaten me. Because you have control of her phone, which means you can watch the feed whenever the mood strikes. And when you saw me on it, you were worried your little plot might unravel, since it only works if Viv and I aren’t sharing secrets.”
Wes applied a little more pressure against Jesse’s trachea, and the bastard clawed at his arm.
“You want to take me down, fine. But you should have left her out of it, because you might have gotten away with it if you hadn’t blackmailed her.”
There was a dawning horror in Jesse’s eyes, and it was all the confirmation Wes needed.
“Yeah, that’s right. She told me what happened after we broke up. In fact, she’s the reason you’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison. She kept a diary, one that proves she never told me about the pregnancy. Which absolves me from being the blackmailer. There’s also an entry in there about the day she was rushed into lifesaving surgery. A date that I think the feds are going find very interesting when they compare it to that garbage code AJ found. And then there’s my favorite—the story of how you went to visit her at Yale, shortly after she’d been released from the hospital. Did you already know what had happened before you went? Or was it the visit that made you curious enough to do some digging?”
Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but Wes cut him off. “You know what? Don’t tell me. It’ll make the trial so much more compelling if I have some surprises to look forward to. But I’ll bet the FBI agents I gave it to this morning will get a kick out of it.
“Viv kept it all in a box, with a pressed tiger lily and some framed photos from back in the day. You’re even in a couple of them. You know how sentimental she is.”
Wes couldn’t help his mocking grin. “You poured the time and effort and the resources of an elite cybersecurity firm into screwing the two of us over, and she took you down with a diary entry and a hospital bracelet, you dumb fuck.”
And courage, Wes added silently. So much damn courage that she’d quit her job to get him out of jail. Sparred with him. Driven him to unparalleled heights of frustration and desire. And despite their complicated history, she’d never given up on him.
Jesse’s forced laugh was all bravado. “Tell me it hurt. Tell me it killed you when you found out what she’d done. The secrets she kept from you.”
The dig had no power, and Wes’s muscles relaxed slightly at the realization.
Because it had hurt. It had hurt them both. But it hadn’t killed them. In that moment, Wes recognized that they were stronger for it. Bad at communication, good at sex. That’s why they’d broken up the first time. But not this time. This time was different.
Because it wasn’t his computer prowess that had solved this case. It was the fact that he and Vivienne had actually talked to each other. Laid the ghosts of their pasts to rest.
He refocused on Jesse. “How the hell did I not know what a malicious son of a bitch you were?”
“You’re like a goddamn cat, you know that? Always landing on your feet. You get all the credit for Soteria, even though you’d still be working out of your junkie mother’s basement if it wasn’t for me! For my connections and all the investors I brought in. But you’re the one the magazines write about! You’re the one they praise. Like I’m nothing. I just stand by and watch you get everything I want. More of the money. More of the fame. The only reason you even met Viv is because I took you to that party, and then you got her, too!”
Jesse’s chest heaved with fury.
“I knew the only thing that would hurt you more than losing your precious company would be to know that the love of your life betrayed you. Got to admit, I didn’t think Vivienne would crack. She’s usually such a cold hard bitch.”
Wes increased the pressure of his arm. “You’re going to want to watch what you say to me right now.”
Jesse’s smile was a little manic. “Keep it up, tough guy. You want to strangle me? Punch me? Put my head through the glass? Go for it! I’ll press charges so fast you’ll be back in the slammer faster than Vivienne dropped her panties for you the night of the frat party.”
Wes’s muscles shook with the control it took not to take him up on the offer. He shoved Jesse back against the glass one last time, with enough force to make him feel it. But he’d made the wrong decision six years ago, when he’d chosen Soteria over her, and again the night before, when
