Page 113 of Vegas with my Ex’s Best Friends

I stand up. The room feels too small. “I’m not choosing the deal over her. I’m saying we can’t afford to lose both.”

Liam laughs. “You sound exactly like the guy who left the ER because he couldn’t handle shit he couldn’t fix. Newsflash, Ethan—we can’t fix this with spreadsheets.”

Ouch.

I grab my phone. “Give me five minutes.”

I step out into the hallway and dial Connor’s number. It rings four times.

He picks up.

“Ethan.”

His voice is flat.

“We need to talk.”

“I said what I needed to say yesterday.”

“You’re not just hurting Riley. You’re hurting the company. The Harrington deal is hanging by a thread because of the meetings you’ve canceled. The investors are asking questions.”

Connor exhales. “Personal instability affecting partnership integrity. That’s the language I used. It’s accurate. I’m not trying to kill it. I just can’t sit across the table from you right now.”

I close my eyes. “This isn’t just about the deal. This is about your sister. She’s pregnant. She’s scared. And she chose to stay. She’s not running this time.”

“Don’t,” he says. “Don’t lecture me about my sister. You three stood in my kitchen and lied to my face for months. Andrew—the same guy who wrecked her—has been working beside me every day like it was nothing. And now she’s carrying one of your babies and you expect me to just nod and move on?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We should have told you sooner. That part’s on us. But punishing her for it isn’t going to change the fact that she’s staying. She’s choosing this. All of it.”

Silence stretches.

When Connor speaks again his voice is quieter. Harder. “I’m not punishing her. I’m protecting her. The way I should have the first time.”

He ends the call.

I stand there in the hallway a long moment, phone still in my hand. Now it feels like I’m watching three futures slip through my fingers—and I can’t stop any of them.

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.”

Andrew’s expression darkens. “He’s making her choose between us and him.”

Liam crosses his arms. “So what now? We just wait for the deal to die while she’s stuck in that penthouse trying to hold it together?”

I sit down. My hands stay still on the table, but the rest of me is shook.

My phone vibrates again. Private message. From Harrington himself.

I’d like to schedule a closed-door meeting tomorrow. Just you and me. Some things are better discussed without all parties present.

The implication is crystal clear.

If I take the meeting, I might save the deal.

If I don’t, everything we’ve built could collapse.