Page 140 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

Pike taps the screen again. “A few weeks before she left him. Then they ramp up.”

I nod slowly.

“Pressure,” I say.

“Exactly,” Pike replies.

Fletcher frowns. “But if it’s not him…”

“Then someone else wanted her out,” I finish.

“Then why the email?” I ask. “Why did someone send it to me? To get her fired again? Why?”

Pike looks at me. “She’s stable now. New job. New town.”

“She’s safe,” Fletcher adds.

“Exactly,” Pike says. “And someone doesn’t like that.”

The room feels smaller suddenly.

I think about June in my house.

About the way she moves through it, as if she belongs there.

About Evan asking if she’s staying.

About the way she looks at him…

“She’s building something,” I say.

“And someone’s trying to take it from her,” Pike replies.

Cold settles in my gut.

“What’s next?” I ask.

Pike shrugs. “I keep digging. Deeper this time. Cross-referencing networks, patterns, and social overlap. Someone made a mistake somewhere. I just need to find it.”

“Quietly,” Fletcher says.

Pike snorts. “Please. I’m subtle.”

He packs up his tablet, slings his bag back over his shoulder and exits, leaving us with a bomb in our laps we don’t quite know how to defuse.

Fletcher exhales slowly. “Well… She’s clean.”

“I know.”

“You were worried,” he adds.

“I needed to know for sure,” I say.

Fletcher nods. “Okay, and now you do. So now what?”

I close my eyes, knowing if I let these words out, I won’t be able to take them back.

Then say it anyway, because I don’t know how much longer I can contain it. “I care about her.”