And he was fiercely loyal to Dan.


    Any potential threat to Dan? Carroll would handle it quickly and ruthlessly, no hesitation, no mercy.


    Take now, for example-if Hull ended up siding with Lacey because of Susanna, that could spell serious trouble for Dan down the road.


    A shadow flickered across Carroll''s eyes as he reminded Dan, "What about Mr. Schultz? How are we handling that?"


    He meant Xander.


    Dan''s expression turned even colder, his jaw tight.


    Scar had crossed him once, and Dan was never one to let debts go unpaid.


    He closed his eyes for a second, voice low and dangerous: "Deal with Susanna first. Leave Xander alone for now."


    Xander, that son of a bitch-he''d get what wasing to him. Soon.


    Carroll nodded. "Understood."


    Right now, Susanna was the priority.


    If Susanna became the bridge between Hull and Lacey, getting those two on the same side, that''d be a disaster for Dan.


    They couldn''t let that happen.


    Meanwhile, with Xander-


    He was rxing with Bonnag, swirling a ss of red wine. Bonnag puffed on his cigar, giving Xander a sideways look.


    "So... that night... did you two really..."


    He didn''t finish the sentence.


    He''d dropped Xander off that night and left, never expecting so much drama to unfold afterward.


    Especially once Yvonne got involved.


    Bonnag had thought Yvonne, fresh off getting hitched to Xander, would pull some typical newlywed stunt-maybe a spat, maybe a scene. But then she and Dan had that infamous blow-up.


    At first, Bonnag figured Dan was just trying to humiliate Xander.


    But it turned out...


    Xander took a sip of wine. "You think I''d lie about that?"


    Bonnag, usually the picture of calm, couldn''t help but smirk. He remembered how


    Yvonne had put Dan in the hospital-nearly beat the guy half to death.


    "Poor Dan," Bonnag said, shaking his head. "Guy''s a total punching bag."


    Word was, Dan was still stuck in the hospital.


    Xander snorted. "Couldn''t have happened to a nicer guy."


    And


    BS troubles were far from


    over,


    Yvonne didn''t even


    believe Xander had been invoel t night. Content bevoel


    Which meant, when Yvonne finished whatever she was up to, Dan could expect another beating or two.


    Bonnag grinned. "So, when you told Yvonne it was you, she didn''te after you?"


    That was the real surprise. Dan got wrecked, but Xander walked away without a scratch.


    Xander shrugged. "She doesn''t believe me. At all."


    Bonnag whistled. "Man, Dan just can''t catch a break."


    They were stillughing about it


    when Shawn burst in, breathless et


    "Guys, Hull''s heading to the airport. Oks like he finally found out where your wife''s at."


    Bonnag raised an eyebrow.


    Xander frowned. "That fast?"


    What was Yvonne ying at? She was usually impossible to track down.


    Shawn continued, "Hull''s private jet takes off in ten minutes."


    "Where''s he going?" Xander demanded, his tone icy.


    "Nalog City. Odds are, she''s on one of the inds there."


    Nalog City was famous for its sprawling archipgo.


    Yvonne loved real estate-especially inds. She owned hundreds, big and


    small.


    hidden she took Ste, she''d


    It


    on one of those


    swet


    YOK forever for anyone t


    her.


    And now, with Susanna missing, she''d probably done the same thing.


    Xander tossed back the rest of his wine and stood. "Get our jet ready."


    Shawn blinked. "We''re going, too?"


    Xander smirked. “Susanna''s training just started. She''s not going to be much trouble yet."


    Shawn stared. So... they were going to help Yvonne?


    Maybe. But Xander also wanted to give Dan one more headache to deal with.


    Only problem? That meant going up against Hull, too.


    Shawn groaned. This was going to be a nightmare.