My forehead wrinkles. “I don’t know where your brother is.”
“No, not that.” He waves his hand in the air, then mutters under his breath, “Though it would make things a lot simpler.”
When he realizes what he said, his eyes widen. “I mean, I want to see my brother… know that he’s okay… but…” His eyes turn a little wild, and his entire body coils tight. “Taggert Construction is in trouble,” he blurts out. “A few months before he left, Aaron had another one of his brilliant get-rich-quick ideas and used one of our major reserve accounts to buy bitcoin.”
Sounds exactly like something Aaron would do.
Tyler looks at me expectantly.
“Okay?” I blink, still totally lost as to why he’s telling me all this.
“He had the only password to the bitcoin wallet,” he says, like it should mean something to me. When I stay quiet, hecontinues. “We can’t get our money out without it, and we need it. We owe a lot of money to…” He shakes his head, his agitation growing. “The idiot didn’t leave a copy anywhere we could find it. That’s why I need your help.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, or about any bitcoin.”
“He said he left it with you.” Tyler insists, taking a step toward me. “When I learned what he’d done—though at the time I didn’t realize how much he’d taken from the account—I told him he needed to give me the password, in case he forgot it or something happened to him. He refused to give it to me. You, of all people, know what a control freak he was.”
My brain recoils from the memories his words summon.
“But Aaron loved you. I know he…” Tyler takes a deep breath and looks at me seriously. “Look, I know my brother had problems. And yeah, I should have handled it differently back then. I can’t change that. But my family needs that money to cover loans coming due. You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
Anger burns inside my chest. “Handled it differently?”
“I’ll give you a cut... 10%. I just need you to give it to me.”
I gape at him. “Give you what?”
“The password. The numbers I need to access the bitcoin. He said he left a copy with you.”
Suddenly the extra section in the lawsuit makes sense.
“I know it will be hard for you to accept, since you’ve never believed it before but… Aaron lied.” My voice drips with sarcasm. “He didn’t give it to me.”
“No.” Tyler shakes his head like the action will erase my words. “This was before you broke up. He was serious. I argued with him, and he said you were going to be his wife, and he trusted you to be loyal. He thought I would access the money and take credit.”
“He never?— “
His hand latches onto my forearm. The shock of it keeps me from reacting, long enough to realize I can’t make a scene here.
“Maybe you don’t know you have it? Maybe he left it inside something…” His tone is getting wilder, and his grip hurts.
I pivot my wrist, catching his thumb and twisting just enough to break contact and push him back a step. “I don’t want to break your wrist here in public, but I will if I have to,” I say coldly, aware that we are drawing attention from the surrounding people.
“I’m only going to say this once, so be sure to pass it along to your family when you also tell them to leave me the fuck alone. I don’t know where Aaron is or anything about a password. But if it’s something he left me, you’re out of luck. While I was in the hospital, my brother threw out everything in my house associated with Aaron. And when I moved, I got rid of the things he didn’t know about. I can’t help you. I don’t have it.”
The color drains from Tyler’s face, and his body sags.
I release his wrist. “Go home, Tyler.”
“I’m a dead man.” He stares at me with hopeless eyes for another beat, before turning and walking away.
I stay still until the crowd swallows him. I rub the spot on my arm where he touched me, then make myself let go. My stomach turns, and I can’t tell if it’s guilt—or relief.
The sensation of being watched creeps up my spine, but this time when I look around, it’s Liev’s dark eyes boring into me. He must not have seen Tyler grab me—because if he had, it would’ve endedverydifferently.
Liev tilts his head, dark brows drawing together.
I nod and give him a smile, letting him know that I’m good. I’m not sure when we developed this odd form of physical shorthand, or why something in me eases knowing he is nearby again. When I turn back to Keke, it’s with a genuine smile.
