I placed my gun back in its holster, and Kade set Tom’s on the coffee table. We weren’t genuinely worried about him making a move, but better safe than sorry.

“You love this, don’t you?” Tom sneered. “Always the golden boy. It must be a dream come true to see me staying in this dump while you lounge about in your fucking penthouse.”

I didn’t respond. Under different circumstances, I’d have taken joy in the reversal of our positions, but now all I cared about was getting Willow out of a psycho’s crosshairs.

“I’m not taking your deal.” Tom sprawled insolently on the bed as though to emphasize the fact he wasn’t afraid of us.

“Actually, you will.” I watched him in disgust. The man wasn’t worth the pricey shirt he wore. “If you don’t, we’ll turn in evidence of your illegal dealings to the police. This place is a palace compared to prison.”

He paled. “You don’t have anything on me.”

I nodded to Kade. “Show him.”

Kade brought a file up on the screen of his cell phone and held it in front of Tom. I couldn’t see the details from here but I knew it displayed a list of off-book transactions Tom had made and clients who didn’t exist according to the official Lennox Securities records. Kade scrolled down so Tom could see how far back our information went. There were years of data he’d falsified. All of the remaining color leached from his face.

“We have more,” Kade said. “That’s only the beginning, and you can be sure that your buddy Petrov has people in prison who’ll make sure you don’t have a pleasant stay.”

“Okay.” Tom held his hands out, and they trembled. “You pay my debt and get rid of your evidence, and I’ll give you the company.” His expression was a combination of disappointment and respect. “I never expected you to play this dirty. I underestimated you. You’re more like me than I thought.”

I remained stone-faced, but his words struck hard. This wasn’t my preferred way to do things, but sometimes the end justified the means.

“One more thing.” I hesitated for a brief moment, wondering if I really wanted to do this. But if I was blackmailing my old nemesis to save his sister, I might as well go all in. “Leave the state and never contact Willow again.”

Tom scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I’m not leaving Chicago. It’s my home.”

I raised a brow. “Yes, you will. Or everything we have goes to the cops.”

Kade and I exchanged a glance. We didn’t have quite as much dirt on Tom as we’d implied, although we definitely had enough to warrant a deeper investigation.

“Where the hell am I supposed to go?” Tom demanded.

“I don’t care. As long as you leave Willow alone.”

“What if I stay in Chicago but promise not to make contact?”

I mulled over the suggestion. I really wanted him gone, but we could set up safeguards to make sure he didn’t get to her. “Fine. But one wrong step and you’ll regret it.”