Just thinking about it made Neal''s blood pressure spike.


    They''d finally managed to find the guy, but on the way back to Bridger Lake, there was a car ident. The car and the man inside were smashed between two


    trucks, crushed so t you could barely tell what was what.


    Sebastian''s jaw tightened as he stared ahead, the cigarette pinched between his fingers now bent and nearly broken.


    Lately, all he could think about was how to get Reese back.


    She wouldn''t ept his gifts. She''d blocked his number. Every time he tried to use his influence, it only drove her further away.


    He kept circling back to how it all started—that drink that had been drugged. If he could figure out who did it all those years ago, maybe he could use it as an excuse, just to get Reese to meet with him, even if only for a minute.


    But now Neal was telling him the guy was dead.


    "What happened?" Sebastian asked.


    "Car ident," Neal said, raising his voice to cut through the pounding music. "Cops say it was just bad luck, but I don''t buy it.


    "From the very start, this whole thing has been a mess, like someone''s been working against us the entire time.


    "After we picked him up, everything went wrong. I even brought extra security- three cars in total. Of course, only the car he was riding in got hit."


    Neal leaned closer. "Think about it. Besides me, did you tell anyone else?"


    Sebastian''s eyes went cold.


    He''d only told Reese. But why would Reese sabotage this? If anything, she''d want to know who drugged her more than anyone.


    That just left...


    He nced up at Neal.


    Neal''s expression changed as he caught on. "You think it was me?


    "Yeah, my family wanted you to marry my cousin, but drugging someone? That''s not our style.


    "And I never mentioned this whole search to anyone at home."


    Sebastian leaned back, closing his eyes.


    Neal wasn''t wrong. That kind of dirty trick was beneath their families-only some second-rate family would stoop that low.


    Seven years ago, at his own birthday party, only Dylon had managed to show up, riding the wave of Reese''s new MIT eptance and her connection to the Ratcliff family.


    Sebastian''s eyes snapped open.


    Reese would never do something like that—but Dylon? That was another story.


    Ever since Reese married Sebastian, Dylon had been cashing in on herst name, squeezing every advantage he could.


    And that day in the hospital, right when Sebastian was telling Reese about the investigation, Dylon had just left the room. Who''s to say he hadnt overheard something important?


    Sebastian used to think Dylon truly cared about Reese, since he raised her after


    all. But now it was obvious. Dylon only saw Reese as a tool.


    Sebastian sat up straighter, leaned over, and spoke low into Neal''s ear. "Dig into Dylon."


    Neal nodded, his face serious. "Give me a few days. I''ll keep it quiet."


    Sebastian wasn''t nning to just sit back and wait. Now that he a


    lead he wasn''t going to waste another second. He stood, grabbed his coat, and started for the door.


    Neal called after him, "Hey, the drinks are already open. Stay for one?"


    "They''re for you," Sebastian said, fixing his cuffs. "I''ve got things to do."


    Neal clicked his tongue, getting up as well. "You get more boring every day, you know that? Seriously, I don''t get what Reese ever saw in you."


    Sebastian paused, shot him a cold look, and walked out without another word. Neither of them noticed the man sitting in the shadows nearby.


    Zach lounged on a sofa, nursing a ss of whiskey. The amber liquid glinted in the light, looking almost dangerous.


    He took a slow sip, Adam''s apple bobbing, corbones sharp under the neon. He''d heard every single word.


    His mind shed back to the Ratcliff estate, to the way Reese had looked at Sebastian and said, "Marrying you was never my choice."


    His heart hammered in his chest.


    Setting his ss aside, he picked up his phone and texted his assistant: "Find out everything about what happened to Reese at Sebastian''s birthday party seven years ago. I


    mean everything."


    If Reese really hadn''t wanted to marry Sebastian, then Zach would risk everything


    to make sure she left him for good.


    Across from him, Tara looked pale as a ghost.


    She hadn''t caught the whole conversation, but it was clear. Sebastian was digging into the past.


    Even though Dylon had silenced the man who drugged Reese years ago, if Sebastian was suspicious now, it was only a matter of time before the Ramos family got dragged in.


    And when that happened, it wouldn''t matter if there was proof or not. The Ratcliffs'' fury was something the Ramos family would never survive.