“Ready to cause some trouble,” Kai says with a grin. “As always.”
“Try to keep it legal.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
My father almost smiles. Almost. “I don’t doubt you’ll find a way.”
His attention shifts to June, and his expression softens noticeably. The change is subtle but unmistakable. “June. I hope these three aren’t giving you too much grief.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.” She smiles.
I move to stand beside her, my hand finding the small of her back automatically. The contact settles something in my chest, even as the rest of me stays coiled tight. “The numbers are in, and it’s worse than we thought,” I tell the pack. Then I go through and explain what Dad and I were chatting about earlier.
“That piece of shit.” Kai pushes off the wall, his whole body going tense.
I spread Joshua’s printout and my phone on June’s desk, and everyone gathers around. “Look at the comparison. Actual sales versus what Holden reported to my father.”
Carter lets out a low whistle. “Jesus. And I bet the difference is disappearing into his pocket.”
“None of this would have come to light without June,” I say, addressing my father but keeping my eyes on her. “She’s the one who started pulling at the thread.”
June meets my gaze, and I give her a small nod.
“Go on,” my dad asks of her.
“I discovered something at first,” she explains. “From the night Seth got arrested. He wasn’t drunk.”
My father’s brow furrows. “I don’t understand.”
“Someone spiked his drink,” she says. “We found security footage from the bar showing a woman likely slipping something into Seth’s glass. An out-of-towner. A friend and I tracked her down and got a confession.”
“Who the hell is she? Why?” My father’s voice rises.
“Holden paid her,” I say. “He wanted me to look drunk and out of control. If everyone’s whispering about the Benton boy’s public meltdown, then maybe fewer people will attend and nobody will ask why the numbers don’t add up.”
The room goes quiet.
My father sinks into the chair behind June’s desk, and for the first time in my life, he looks… older. He drags a hand down his face and lets out a heavy breath through his nose, the kind that sounds too controlled to be anything but anger.
June leans forward with her palms on the desk, eyes sharp. “He paid a woman to spike Seth’s drink,” she says, blunt as a hammer. “My friend and I got her to admit it. She thought it was just a prank, that it would make him look reckless. She didn’t know Holden was using it to cover a financial mess he created.”
My father’s head snaps up, and his gaze locks on her.
“I told you I didn’t get drunk that night,” I add. “I knew something was wrong. I just couldn’t prove it.”
My father’s jaw twitches. He stares in my direction, and there’s something raw in his gaze I’m not used to seeing. “I should have believed you,” he says. “I’m sorry, son.”
The apology is new. My father doesn’t apologize, not ever, so hearing it now, in front of everyone, tells me exactly how deep this cut goes.
My father turns to June. “June, I can’t thank you enough. You’ve saved this circuit more than you know.” His gaze shifts to me, then to Kai and Carter, and a faint smile tugs at his mouth. “And I can see exactly why my boys are so taken with you.”
June’s cheeks color, her lips curling upward at the corners. “They’re not the only ones with good taste,” she replies, dry and bold, and it’s enough to make Kai choke on a laugh behind me.
My father’s smile sharpens, pleased by the spine. “Good,” he says simply. Then the warmth drains and the businessman returns. “I’m contacting my lawyers immediately. Get Joshua to do another account, and if today’s numbers come back similar when compared to Holden’s, we move fast before he gets wind and tries to disappear.”
“He’s not running,” June says, voice edged now. “He just agreed to buy my house and my business from my parents. He’s planting roots. He thinks he’s about to set himself up permanently with money he stole.”
My father’s expression turns dark. “Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t profit from any of it.” He stands, and the air shifts with him. “We’ll burn his whole plan to the ground.”
