for all the events that had led to his fall. Because if he hadn’t blackmailed Sean, Sean wouldn’t have had a reason to take him down.
Except, of course, for his unhealthy infatuation with Lucy.
“Sit,” Paxton said and motioned toward a leather chair across from his desk.
Sean didn’t move.
Colton put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him into the chair.
“Do you want me to stay?” Colton asked Paxton.
Paxton shook his head. “Please make sure that Sergio is keeping a close eye on Mr. Hunt. If he so much as sneezes, I want to know about it. And let me know the status of the investigation. I don’t want any surprises.”
“Of course.”
Colton left. Sean didn’t have anything to say to him right now. He didn’t think that his oldest friend could have been sucked in by Paxton’s charm and rhetoric, but he was wrong. Colton clearly admired him … why in hell he would admire this bastard, Sean didn’t know.
Yes, you do. Paxton has always fought for the underdog. Violently, illegally, and sometimes cruelly. But his mission has always been clear.
Colton was the same way. He’d always despised those in power who hurt those without power. Paxton had money. He probably funded projects Colton felt passionate about. Bought him off. Bought his loyalty.
And Sean had betrayed Colton. It didn’t matter that what Sean did he did for the right reasons, that what he did was to protect Colton as much as Sean. He’d lied to his best friend and telling him he lied for his own good wouldn’t get him anywhere.
Sean had once been the same as Colton. There were some things he did that he would never regret. Other things … Sean didn’t regret so much as he knew he’d never cross certain lines again.
Because of Lucy? Partly. But mostly because he’d grown up. He valued his freedom too much to jeopardize it for a cause that he had little effect on. He would risk his life before he’d risk his freedom.
“Do you know why I brought you here?” Paxton asked.
“Revenge. A motive as old as time. I found the evidence that took you down. I would do it again if I could.”
He sounded a lot braver than he felt. Sean recognized that Paxton held all the cards here.
Paxton shook his head. “That hiccup slowed me down, but didn’t stop me. In fact, in many ways, I wouldn’t be where I am today without your interference. I realized that had I been successful then, I wouldn’t ultimately have changed anything. Those men were already in prison, and while they deserved nothing more than to die, it’s the predators who walk free—who slip through the broken system—who deserve my wrath. I went back to the beginning, to my original mission, and it’s served me well.”
“If you’re so noble, why the hell are you working with a drug smuggler like Jimmy Hunt? Do you know what he’s done? Do you know who his son was? That he raped and killed dozens of women and Hunt covered it up? And yet you break him out of prison? Help him frame me?”
“I’ve given this plan a lot of thought, and I need to destroy you as you tried to destroy me. Sometimes, we have to align ourselves with the bad for the greater good. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”
“I’m not letting you bait me.”
“Bait you?” He smiled. “I know everything about you, Rogan.”
“If you think Colton knows everything about me, you’re mistaken.”
“Mona Hill was happy to spill everything for the right price. Long before she died, Colton paid her to find out exactly what you did that had her under your thumb. How you threatened her family. How you destroyed her blackmail business. How you used her for information. How you let her go when the police were looking for her. Cybercrime, breaking and entering, obstruction of justice … all very interesting.”
“You don’t know everything, Paxton.” Sean wasn’t going to explain himself. Nothing he said was going to change Paxton’s opinion of him.
“It didn’t take long to piece together all the information from Mona and what happened with Jimmy Hunt’s criminal network. And because you kept in touch with Mona, it was really quite simple to set her up so she’d call you when she saw Elise. It all worked out wonderfully—except that the police took too long to arrest you. They had to be gently steered in that direction, but once they found the gun and bloody rag, it was