Page 112 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

The men I love.

The baby.

Everything colliding at once.

Chapter thirty-nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine—Ethan

I’m already on the phone when the message comes through.

“Understood,” I say, keeping my voice level. “We’re still on track for the next milestone. Connor’s handling some personal matters, but it won’t delay deliverables.”

The investor on the other end pauses just long enough for me to hear the shift. “We’re hearing some noise about stability. Personal conflicts. Anything we should know?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Nothing that affects the terms. We’ll have the updated projections to you by end of day.”

I end the call and set the phone down. Andrew is watching me from the couch. Liam has stopped pacing long enough to stare at his own screen.

My phone lights up again. Harrington Group. I scan the message while the weight in my chest settles.

I forward it to both of them without comment.

Liam reads it and lets out a short laugh that isn’t funny. “Jesus. He’s not even pretending anymore.”

Andrew doesn’t say anything at first. He just stares at his phone. Then he stands up, slow and deliberate. “This is because of me. Because I didn’t tell him the truth a year ago.”

I shake my head. “It’s because of all of us.”

I walk back into the suite. Liam and Andrew both look up.

I shake my head once. He's not budging. He believes he's doing the right thing.

I sit down and look at my phone and think about the things I can actually fix—the updated projections, the end-of-day deadline, making sure Riley eats something today.

Small things. The ones with answers.

I cannot fix the fact that Connor is actively trying to blow up the one thing we built that was supposed to be solid.

Another message comes in from our liaison. This one is worse.

Connor has formally flagged concerns about “personal instability affecting partnership integrity.”

I read it twice.

“He’s not just pulling back,” I say. “He’s framing it as a risk to the deal itself.”

Liam drags a hand down his face. “This is insane. We’re sitting here babysitting a deal while she’s over there and I can’t do a damn thing about it.”

I picture her there—trying to hold her ground, pretending she’s steadier than she feels. And we’re not there.

Andrew’s jaw tightens. “He’s not just pulling back from the deal. He’s punishing her through us. Making sure we feel it.”

I lean back in the chair. “If we lose this deal, we lose leverage. Stability. The one thing we thought wasn’t going to shift under us. We need to be smart about this.”

Liam turns on me. “Smart? You want to sit here and play nice while Connor tanks everything because he’s pissed we didn’t run the relationship by him first?”

Andrew cuts in, voice low. “You think Riley’s going to thank us for saving the deal if it means we let her brother destroy her in the process?”