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Bill’s face filled my mind. His smug fucking expression was all I saw.

“Yes,” I gritted out.

“It looks like this guy offered Stacey a hell of a lot of money to sue you,” she continued, her voice sharper now. “By agreeing, she was guaranteed that amount from Bill, no matter what. And if she won the case against you? She’d get a hell of a lot more. It would set her up for life.”

The room seemed to shrink around me.

I exhaled sharply, shoving a hand through my hair. My heart pounded, anger threatening to boil over.

That son of a bitch.

He was willing to burn through his own money just to watch me fall. His vendetta ran deeper than I’d realized—deeper than I could even begin to understand.

I dropped my head into my hands, forcing slow, deep breaths.

Because if I didn’t, I’d drive straight to Bill Griess’s house and burn his entire world to the ground.

“Who is he?” she asked, her head tilting slightly as she took me in. She must’ve seen the change in my face, the anger that seeped from every pore.

“He’s on the board of executives. Bill has had it out for me since the beginning. I never knew why, never asked questions,” I replied.

I’d always assumed it was because of who I was, where I came from. Once again, my family name. I thought it was him just not liking that a poor man like me was making decent money, involved in his elite space. But to do this? To risk everything to bring me down?

There had to be more.

Eleanor stood tall beside me, arms crossing over her chest. “That doesn’t sound like you,” she said. “You don’t let people walk all over you without saying something. I know.”

She was right—I wasn’t one to let people get out of things or make me feel like a fool, but this had been different.

I let out a sigh. “The woman who helped me, who made this all possible, her name was Winnie. I don’t care to get into anything more about her or the past, but…”

Fuck.

I didn’t want to talk about any of this. Not now—hell, I didn’t know if I ever could. It’s been years since I thought about Winnie, and I wasn’t ready to do that now with everything else going on.

So, I shut it down. Shut my mental doors and moved past the topic of her.

“She told me he wouldn’t be a problem, and well, here we are. Bill is a problem. He was the one who suggested Marcus for the job.”

Eleanor’s eyes softened, picking up on the tell in my tone that I wasn’t willing to expand any further.

Over the last few weeks, I may have started to feel things I hadn’t in a while, maybe even started to smile a bit more, but that didn’t mean I was mentally ready or mature enough to dive headfirst into my emotional whirlpool.

“How did you find all this out?” I asked, my voice rough as I lifted my gaze to hers.

Moving past the conversation of me, pushing the attention of my past and my shortcomings because I knew I should’ve been stronger, been more headstrong back then and trusted my gut.

Eleanor shifted, picking up on the change and a victorious smirk curved on her lips.

“Let’s just say I cashed in a favor with a friend who has a very specific skill set.”

I stared at her, completely stunned. I’d want more details on that later, but right now? Right now, I was in awe.

“And you chose to use that favor on me?” My voice softened as I searched her face, watching as her smirk melted into something lighter, something…vulnerable.

Her shoulders lifted in a small shrug, but her eyes told a different story. “And to prove your lawyer wrong,” she teased, making me let out a quiet scoff. Then, her tone softened, coming off less playful. “But yes, for you, Colton.”

Before I could reply, she reached me, her hands cradling my face, thumbs sweeping softly across my skin.