She had chickened out on him. So much for her idealistic principles. He had thought Leah’s convictions were stronger than fear of a simple break-and-enter. He had thought he had convinced her of the greater good of their plan. But when she crouched below the window, he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t going to go through with it.

And he could not allow her to back out.

It was a lesson to him: you could not rely on women. Even when they tell you they love you. They were too fickle, too easily swayed by what they thought was right.

Just look at his mother. She had backed his father’s demand that Aiden move out three months ago. He could have forgiven her if she had said, “It’s out of my control. Your father pays the mortgage.”

But no, she had said to him, “Tyson, it’s time for you to take responsibility. You need to earn a living. And if you do that, if you prove to your father that you are reliable and trustworthy, then the door will be wide open for you at Green Matheson Security.”

Screw Green Matheson Security. He was sick of hearing that his father had built it with only his two hands and it was worth millions. Things were different now. Aiden was their son. They had so much money. Why did he have to do something he hated just to make his goddamned father happy?

So he disowned them. From the minute they kicked him out of the house, he was no longer Tyson Green. He breathed life into Aiden Boyne, the online identity he had created months ago.

This exploit with Leah would give Aiden Boyne the freedom to do what he wanted, would allow him to prove to his parents that he didn’t need to do some crap job just to make them happy. And it would make him a millionaire. Not too bad for a night’s work—and six months of pretending to be in love with a woman who was the polar opposite of what he found attractive.

He hoped Leah was dead. She had done what they needed her to do.

If she were still alive, she would be arrested. No question about that.

What an effing screw up. He and Tr0lz had planned this out to the exact detail.

He hadn’t expected that Mel Owen’s house would be a friggin’ arsenal. Although that had worked out to his benefit, if Leah was actually shot.

But he also hadn’t anticipated that Harry Owen would come home tonight. They expected him to arrive tomorrow evening. It put a major time crunch on him and Tr0lz.

The dog barked again, a high-pitched whine of excitement.

Oh, shit.

Sweat rolled down his neck under his balaclava. He needed to get the hell out of here. He’d be leaving his scent everywhere.