He’s done nothing, and I don’t know what you want as proof that he’s innocent.”
The trio fell silent and exchanged glances.
Hunter raised a brow. “Here’s what we know. It’s not the three of us. It’s not One-Mile. It’s not you, Cutter, or Josiah. That leaves Trees.”
“Or…” Logan cut in before Zy could push back, “Tessa.”
It was all he could do not to punch the asshole. “No. Fuck no. She’s the goddamn receptionist. She doesn’t have access to those secrets.”
“We didn’t think so either. But now we’re rethinking.”
“This is bullshit.”
“Shut up and listen,” Joaquin growled. “We’ve eliminated every other possibility. It’s either your bestie or your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” he objected automatically.
Logan rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. We all know you’re one bad decision away from breaking your contract…unless you already have and there’s something you want to tell us?”
“I haven’t touched her.”
The three of them exchanged another glance, then seemed to come to some silent conclusion he wasn’t privy to.
“Then here’s the deal: You’ve got two weeks to figure out which one of them is guilty or we’re letting them both go.”
“What?”
Hunter picked up where his brother left off. “We made it easier for you by sending Trees out of town for a week. Invent a reason you need to stay at his place while he’s gone. Search it from top to bottom. If he’s got dirt, you need to hand it the fuck over.”
“He doesn’t.” Zy knew he kept repeating that, but Trees wouldn’t stab him—or anyone else—in the back like that.
“Now you get to find out for sure…at the same time you investigate Tessa.”
Were they insane? “How? You sending her out of town, too?”
“Nope.” Logan reached behind him and plucked a file folder off his credenza, then whipped out a small pile of papers held together by a staple. He flipped a few pages, drew a giant X on one, then jotted something in the margin. He passed it to his brothers next. Each of them also scribbled on the side. Finally, Logan shoved the document back in the folder and slid it down the table to him. “You’re welcome.”
Zy opened the folder and found his employment contract inside. The nonfraternization clause had been crossed out. All three of them had initialed.
They had removed the restrictions keeping him from pursuing Tessa? Even the goddamn idea made his skin tingle.
When he looked up, Logan smiled. “Yes, you’re now free to fuck her. Congratulations. But you better think with something other than your dick.”
Too late. His dick was already having a party…and his conscience was choking on guilt. The only way to get close to her was to deceive her?
“No.” He couldn’t do that to Tessa.
Joaquin shrugged. “Told you we should have just fired Trees and Tess and been done with it.”
It took everything he had not to jump out of his seat and tell them to go fuck themselves. “Neither of them deserves that.”
“No?” Hunter shrugged. “Then prove it.”
Over the past ten months, he’d seen the three of them push, shove, and maneuver some of his fellow operators into tight spaces and corners to get what they wanted. Zy had always been careful to keep his nose clean, so he’d never had it happen to him. He’d even wondered if the rumors were an exaggeration. But no.
They really were manipulative motherfuckers.
“Tessa won’t touch me. She needs this job.”
Joaquin flashed him a rare smile. “I’m going to take her aside this morning and present her with a new contract. Better sick pay and vacation, tighter non-disclosure…and no nonfraternization clause. She’ll sign. Then you’re both off the hook.”
Goddamn it. Their coercion pissed him off. But the thought of touching Tess while proving she’d done nothing wrong? “Fine. I’m in.”
“We know.” Logan sounded like an arrogant prick. “You’ve got two weeks. Get a move on.”
He clenched his jaw against some choice words that would probably get him fired and stood. As he marched for the door, it crashed open. In walked a man he hadn’t imagined he’d see in this office ever again.
Caleb Edgington looked shell-shocked, like he’d collided with panic and run face-first into death.
What the fuck was wrong? “Colonel, sir?”
Hunter and Logan both stood. Joaquin, not far behind, rose with a frown.
“Dad?” Hunter approached him.
The older man swallowed. “Your sister…”
Sudden tension gripped the room.
“What’s wrong with Kimber?” Logan scowled.
“I received a threat a couple of weeks ago. It wasn’t specific, just a tube of lipstick and a warning to hand over Valeria Montilla before they took whoever the tube