She marched up to my desk. “You’ve been looking into Tom. Did you start that before or after we made our deal?”

I frowned. Clearly, we needed to check the company for leaks. “Have a seat.”

She raised her chin. “If I do, are you going to be honest with me?”

I leaned back, struggling to keep a smile off my face. I loved her fiery stubbornness. It was the same stubbornness I saw in the mirror. “I’ll consider it.”

As she sat in the chair Kade had vacated, I reached for my coffee and took a drink. I wouldn’t let her know how unsettled her presence made me. If I gave away how badly I’d like to see her cheeks flush with passion, it could ruin everything. “I think you’ll find I’m holding up my side of the bargain. I never said I wouldn’t investigate your brother. I agreed not to take over the company if, at the end of the month, you’re not convinced it would be better off in my hands. Those are two very different things.”

She held my gaze. “But the only reason you’d be looking into him is so you could blackmail him to let you have the company.”

I raised a brow. “Is it?”

“You know it is.” She crossed her arms. “There would be no point otherwise.”

“What about that old adage ‘know thy enemy’?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe that’s all this is.”

She was right. Not that I’d tell her so. If I couldn’t take the company, I’d settle for seeing Tom in prison. I just needed to dig up enough dirt to put him there.

“You can choose to believe me or not,” I said. “It makes no difference.”

She huffed. “You’re not acting in good faith.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Her accusation rankled. I’d always been a principled person, even when motivated by revenge.

She rolled her eyes. “Not sorry enough.” She pursed her lips, her expression uncharacteristically vulnerable. “Can you just tell me one thing honestly?”

“Depends what it is.”

“This isn’t a game,” she snapped.

I nodded, taken aback. “I know. Whatever your question is, if I’m able to answer it, I will.”

She released a long breath. “Thank you.” Then she said something that turned the blood in my veins to ice. “As part of your investigation, have you had someone following me?”

“No.” The fact she’d asked alarmed me, and I studied her features carefully. Now that I took the time to look deeper, I could see fear in her eyes, hidden behind bravado. “I swear, I haven’t. Has something happened? Are you in danger?”

That wasn’t part of the plan. She was supposed to have been safe.

She watched me closely, then her shoulders hunched. Many people wouldn’t have noticed the change in her posture, but I was attuned to everything about her. “I believe you.” She sighed. “I’m probably being paranoid.”

But her voice was full of doubt.

“Why do you think someone has been following you?” I asked. She stared into space for a moment, and I grew concerned. “Willow?”