Yvonne was a firecracker, through and through. Just thinking about Mona and Berry plotting against Ste made her so furious, she was ready to throttle them herself.


    Ste gently squeezed Yvonne''s hand. "Do you really think crushing them would make you feel better?"


    Yvonne bristled. "What do you have in mind, then?"


    "A little retaliation."


    Retaliation? What kind of n was this? Was sweet, innocent Ste turning ruthless? About time, Yvonne thought. When it came to people like that, a little ruthlessness was exactly what was needed.


    She caught the sh of mischief in Ste''s eyes, and her own anger fizzled- curiosity taking its ce. Yvonne dropped back onto the couch beside her. "So, you''vee up with something fun?"


    Ste grinned. "Wanna y?"


    “Are you kidding? Nothing I want more!" Yvonne''s eyes gleamed. She lived for the kind of payback that left her enemies in despair.


    Ste pulled her close, her voice lowering conspiratorially. "Here''s how we do it..."


    Meanwhile, after returning to Ferrond, Yvonne threw herselfpletely into helping Ste. As for Dan, that grudge Yvonne once held against him back in Litamark? She''d practically wiped it from her mind—forgotten as quickly as she''d once been furious.


    But Dan? Dan was a mess. Anders Lowry watched, wide-eyed, as Dan kept knocking back drink after drink. When he''d emptied his ss one too many times, Dan just clutched the bottle and started guzzling straight from it. Anders considered himself a seasoned veteran of wild nights-but even he was shocked by Dan''s self- destruction.


    "Whoa, man-you can''t keep drinking like that," Anders said, reaching over to pry the bottle from Dan''s grip. Dan jerked away, hugging it to his chest.


    Anders looked helplessly to Carroll beside him. "What''s going on with him?"


    Carroll knitted his brows, ncing from Dan to Anders and back again. "He''s shaken up. Really shaken."


    "What happened?" Anders demanded. "Something at Litamark? cktower?"


    The word made his mind spin. Was


    it possible this was about not being Mr. Murray''s son after all? That didn''t sound right-Dan had never care much about his father Derek Anders couldn''t imagine Derek managing to rattle Dan this badly.


    Carroll raked a hand through his hair, uneasy. "It''s... not easy to exin."


    Anders''s patience snapped. He turned back to Dan. "Come on, man. What''s actually wrong?"


    Dan''s words came out thick with alcohol-and, shockingly, a hint of wounded pride. "Yvonne was convinced the man that night was Xander But she didn''t touch him,


    Not even a p


    Anders gaped at him, not sure he''d heard correctly. “Wait, what? Say that again?"


    But he knew he hadn''t misheard. Yvonne hadn''t touched Xander?


    How could that be? She''d almost beaten Dan to a pulp. Anders still had the bruises to prove it.


    Dan took a furious gulp from the bottle. "She just pinched his waist a couple times. Didn''t even hurt."


    The memory seemed to enrage Dan all over again, wiping away all trace of vulnerability. He pictured that smug tone Xander had used on the phone. It made him want to smash things.


    Anders''s jaw fell open. “She just... pinched him? After everything? That''s what she did? But with us, she went full berserker!"


    Dan nodded grimly. "That''s right."


    "That''s insane! Why didn''t she just pummel Xander?" Now Anders was just as indignant. "How is that fair? of us is us is e


    Same situation gets off with at


    half-dead the other


    couple pinches?"


    Anders hissed out a breath, his outrage in. "What about Shawn?" he blurted, recalling thest member of their crowd. What kind of fate had befallen him?