“Refresh my memory,” I say calmly.
“Because of all that shit that happened over the blockchain protocol.”
“All that shit? You mean how you stole my idea for the blockchain protocol and presented it as yours?”
The words land between us like something detonating. Eight years of swallowed anger, compressed into a single sentence.
Vaughn’s breathing hard. His jaw works. For a moment, I think he’s going to deny it. Use the same slick deflection he used at QuantumTech, the same confident smile that convinced everyone I was the one who couldn’t be trusted.
But he doesn’t smile.
“What the hell do you want me to say? It’s ancient history. I was young and dumb and did something stupid, okay? I admit it. But your career recovered. And that doesn’t mean Archie should have to suffer.”
I feel the weight of my phone in my hand, recording every word.
I was young and dumb and did something stupid, okay? I admit it.
There it is. After eight years. An admission.
Something I could use to destroy him. I could send it to his company and watch his career implode the way mine nearly did.
The satisfaction should be sweet. But it doesn’t feel that way right now. Not with the knowledge that Archie will be collateral damage.
“Look at his face.” Vaughn glances back at the photo on his phone. “He looks besotted with you. That’s the same face he used to make when he’d show me something he was excited about, some book or some fact he’d just learned. He’d get this look, like the whole world was amazing and he couldn’t believe no one else had noticed.”
The words hit me somewhere deep.
Because I know the look he’s describing.
Vaughn drops his hand and fixes me with a glare. “What the fuck, Leo? Did you target Archie just to get to me? That’s incredibly fucked up. You need to stay the hell away from him.”
“Why the hell do you care?” The anger rises in me before I can stop it. “Didn’t you cut him out of your life? Tell him he’s too much?”
Vaughn continues to stare at me. “He told you that?”
“Yeah, he told me that.”
The silence stretches. Vaughn’s face does something complicated. It’s not the defensive anger I was bracing for, but something rawer. He staggers forward, dropping into the chair opposite me like the air’s been let out of him.
We sit in silence for a few seconds before Vaughn raises his gaze to meet mine.
“Does he know about your history with me?” he asks.
I can’t hold his eye. And Vaughn knows what that means.
Vaughn’s nostrils flare. “So you’ve been lying to him? What’s your game? Get to me through him?”
“No. That’s not my game. The whole thing was a mistake.”
“A mistake? You expect me to believe that you just accidentally started dating my brother?” His words are coated in disbelief.
“I accidentally injured your brother in a pirate-themed pancake restaurant because I thought he was you.”
Vaughn blinks. “What?”
“It’s a long story. The point is, it was never supposed to go this far.”
Vaughn’s eyes narrow. “I’ll tell Archie the truth. I’ll tell him you deliberately tried to hurt him because you wanted to hurt me.”
