She shrugged in what she hoped was a calm, casual gesture, but inside she was shaking and on the verge of puking. He still hadn’t said anything that couldn’t be explained away. “Like I said,” she laughed. “It’s messy. Wouldn’t it just be easier to come to an agreement of some kind?”
He vibrated with rage. “What kind of agreement?”
Liv swallowed hard. “You tell me. What do I have to give you to get you to back off?”
“A signed statement,” he hissed.
Her heart stopped. This was . . . this was getting close. “A signed statement saying what?”
“That you didn’t see a goddamned thing.”
Shit. Was that enough? Did she have him yet? It didn’t seem like enough, but if she were smart, she’d agree and leave and hope this did the trick. But she wasn’t smart. She was enraged and scared, and when she felt like that, she did crazy things, like opening her and mouth when she should keep it shut.
“Is that how you do it? How you keep your dirty little secret? You intimidate women until they sign statements saying it never happened, they never saw anything, you never touched them?”
Royce let out a weary sigh, as if suddenly tired of having to deal with this inconvenience. “Do you really think I don’t know how to do this after all this time?”
Her pulse spiked again, but this time from elation. Holy shit. They had them. She had him! He couldn’t possibly explain that away. He was all but admitting it!
“Yes, I suppose you do,” she breathed, trying to school her features. “I think I can agree to your terms.”
He winked. It made her blood turn to ice. “Good girl. You always were smart.”
“Thanks, I think.” She tried to back away from him, but he held firm. Her pulse skyrocketed.
“I’ve always liked you, Olivia. I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement.”
“Me too.” Liv tried again to pull away, but his fingers dug into her lower back. She couldn’t get away without causing a scene.
Royce smiled in a way that suggested she’d just walked into a trap. A burst of adrenaline filled her veins, and the image of a radioactive syringe came to mind. She realized with a sickening dread that she couldn’t even motion to Derek for help. She was facing the wrong way and was hidden in the crowd of other dancers. She could only pray that Noah and Mack were talking to him.
“You know what?” Royce said, his tone way too casual. “In honor of our new truce, I think I’m going to give you some free advice.”
“Let me go,” she whispered.
“I’m concerned about your choice of companionship lately.”
Liv tried to keep a neutral expression, but ice ran through her veins. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Braden Mack, of course.”
Rage made her tremble, her vision blur. “Braden Mack is a thousand times the man you are and always will be. You don’t get to say his name. You don’t even get to think his name.”
“You know what’s funny about that?” Once again, Royce’s face became calm. Frighteningly so. As if she’d just given him the perfect segue. “His name is exactly the problem.”
Mack could hear voices, but they were muted and murky beneath the roaring of blood in his ears. The van was suddenly too small, too hot, too fucking far away from her.
“Dude, are you listening to this?” It might have been Noah who said it, but Mack was too focused on getting through to Liv before it was too late.
“Liv,” he said into the microphone. “Liv, listen to me. Get away from him. Now.”
Her voice through the earpiece was suddenly timid as she spoke to Royce. “Wh-what are you talking about?”
“Liv, please.” Shit. Please, God, she couldn’t find out like this. She couldn’t find out from him. “You have to listen to me.”
Noah leaned into his mic. “Derek, what’s going on in there? Can you see them?”
If Derek answered, Mack didn’t hear. He could only hear Liv. And Royce. And the sound of his entire life crashing down.
Royce’s voice filled the van. “See, that’s what I was afraid of, Olivia. That he didn’t tell you the truth. You should be thanking me for saving you from that . . . that murderer’s son.”
Hop grabbed Mack’s arm. “What the hell is he talking about, Mack?”
Mack shook Hop off and once again tried to plead with Liv. “Babe, please. Listen to me.”
“You’re a fucking liar,” Liv hissed. But the tremble