“So what is Blane not supposed to tell me? That you were just fucking him, too?” He put his lips by my ear and hissed, “So tell me, which brother’s better in bed?”

Kade always knew just where to aim his barbs and I sucked in a breath as they hit their mark with painful accuracy. I had to keep going, no matter what Kade said to me.

“So it seems your sights tonight are set on the guy who’s trying to get you drunk,” Kade continued, his lips twisting in a sneer. “You should know he’s a teacher. I hear they make shitty salaries.”

“No one wants to go home alone from a wedding,” I said, forcing a sweet smile.

A nerve pulsed in his cheek at that. “I can put in a good word for you, if you want.” He leaned forward to hiss in my ear. “Mention that you’re a damn good lay.”

The ice that had consumed me when Blane and I broke up now threatened to encase me again, only this time it was to protect myself from Kade.

I looked up at him. “Why, thank you,” I said with forced politeness. “And that wasn’t even my best work.”

Kade suddenly pulled me through the doorway into an empty hallway. He pushed me against the wall, imprisoning me there with his hold on my arms. “Tell me you didn’t mean what you said the other night,” he rasped. “Tell me we have something between us, that you feel something for me, something besides fucking gratitude.”

The fury and agony in his eyes was nearly my undoing. But I couldn’t let him have hope—there was no future for us. So I said the only thing I could think of that would guarantee his hatred.

“You’re nothing but a criminal,” I said. “A murderer and thief. Did you think I could forget that?”

Kade looked as though I’d hit him, his face etched with pain.

I pulled away, knowing I wouldn’t be able to hold on to my composure for much longer, nor could I bring myself to hurt Kade any more than I already had. He reached for me, but I evaded his grasp, hurrying down the hall and up the stairs.

The ladies’ room was on the third floor and I nearly collapsed with relief when I got there, tears already pouring down my face. The lounge area was blessedly empty. I sat in a chair and stared at the floor, not bothering to wipe my face.

I couldn’t believe what I’d said to Kade, my conscience screaming at me to go find him, apologize, tell him I didn’t mean a word of it. But then where would we be? Right back where we’d started, with me driving a wedge between Blane and Kade.

After a few minutes, I calmed down. I heard the hubbub of people and realized Clarice and Jack had left for their honeymoon. I’d missed their departure, but I doubted she’d noticed, not with all the people there.

I got up with a sigh, went to the sink, and washed the streaked makeup off my face. No sense worrying about it. I could go home now.

The door opened as I was touching up my hair and Charlotte walked in. I stiffened, immediately on my guard.

“Nice wedding,” she said.

“Yes,” I agreed. I didn’t offer anything else. I had nothing to say to her.

“Too bad yours was canceled,” she said, coming up beside me and setting her purse on the counter. “It must have been hard to see Blane here.”

Now she was just being a bitch. I smiled at her in the mirror. “Sweet of you to care.”

“Oh, I don’t,” she said. “I was just making an observation.” She smiled back and disappeared into a stall.

I spun around, determined to vent some of my frustration on her. My arm brushed her bag and sent it toppling to the floor, the contents spilling out.

“Shit,” I muttered, crouching down to pick up her things. I righted her bag and dropped a lipstick in when something caught my eye. It was a stun gun, like the one I’d used on James a few months ago in that hotel room. I couldn’t blame Charlotte for keeping something for protection handy on her. I should do the same.

Grabbing a few more things, I stuffed them into the bag, and something clicked inside my head. I froze, reaching in the bag to turn the stun gun so I could look at the prongs.

Kandi had been immobilized with a stun gun. The prongs on Charlotte’s weapon appeared to be the same length and width apart as the red marks on Kandi’s neck. We’d assumed a man had killed Kandi because of the rape, but a stun gun that stopped Kandi’s struggles would have made it easy for another woman to smother her.

“What are you doing?”

I jumped up, startled, to see Charlotte staring at me, her eyes narrowing.

“N-nothing,” I stammered, setting her purse back on the counter. “I accidentally spilled your purse—that’s all. Sorry about that.” I forced another fake-friendly smile, my heart racing inside my chest.

Charlotte said nothing, just studied me, and I held my breath. Then she smiled, too.

“Not a problem. Thanks for picking everything up.”

“Sure.” I turned away, relieved, and headed toward the door. I had to get out of there, find Blane, and tell him what I suspected. I glanced in the mirror at Charlotte. Our eyes caught. And that’s when I realized… she knew.

I flung myself out the door just as Charlotte reached me. The restroom led into a wider seating area that led onto a terrace open to the warm summer evening. No one was there and I could hear the music drifting up from below.

Charlotte tackled me and we went down with a thud. I flipped over and backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling. I clambered to my feet as she grabbed for her purse.

“Don’t try it,” she warned, blocking my path. She held the stun gun.

I swallowed hard. I was sure that if she touched me with the weapon, I wouldn’t wake up.

“What are you doing, Charlotte?” I asked, backing away as she slowly advanced.

“You know what I did,” she said. “I can’t let you tell Blane.”

“Why would you kill Kandi?”

“I didn’t mean to kill her,” Charlotte protested. “It just… happened.”

“How do you just happen to kill somebody?” I retorted.

“I went over there that night because I knew she was sleeping with James,” she said. “I also knew she’d been talking with Blane. The last thing he needed was to hook up with a woman who was already cheating on him. How do you think that would look in the press?”

“So, what, you decided to try and get her to stop? But ran into James there instead.” I can imagine how that had gone over.

“James was never there,” she scoffed. “I thought he was, that it was his semen I smeared on her. Turns out it was Blane’s. I didn’t know he’d already been screwing her.

“You know, this is all your fault,” Charlotte continued, her eyes flashing with anger as she advanced. I continued my retreat, slowly backing away from her while eyeing the stun gun.

“How is that?” I asked.

“All I had to do was get you to go to Xtreme,” Charlotte said. “Summers was supposed to take care of the rest.”

My gaze flew to hers in shock. “Oh my God,” I breathed. “You were the one who had me go there from the very beginning.” When Charlotte had started at the firm, the first assignment she’d given me had been to check into the case of Julie Vale, a young woman who’d been attacked while working at Xtreme.

“If it hadn’t been for Blane’s obsession with you, you’d no doubt be dead by now and with no one the wiser.”

“Who told you to do that?” I asked. “Who wanted me gone?”

“Unfortunately for Kandi,” Charlotte continued, ignoring my question, “she knew a lot of people in Washington, and she never forgot a face. She recognized me, realized I interned with her father, and figured out I’d been sent to… help Blane.”

“And did helping Blane include getting me out of the picture?”

Charlotte smiled. “Bingo.”

My back pressed up against the terrace railing. I could go no farther.

“She threatened to out you to Blane,” I guessed. “So you killed her, thinking James would take the fall—only Blane nearly did.”

“Luckily, James is an idiot who can’t see past besting Blane,” she said. “And you turned out to be useful after all. Though I would have thought Blane would kick you to the curb himself after you slept with his brother. You are such a white-trash slut. I have no idea what he sees in you.” She motioned behind me. “Get up on the railing.”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

“You can either take a swan dive off here yourself, or I’ll stun you and throw you over. Either way, you’re so distraught over Blane dumping you—again—that you’re going to end it all right here, right now, at Clarice’s wedding.”

“No one’s dying tonight.”

Charlotte whirled around to see Blane and Kade standing just inside the doorway. Kade had his gun in his hand. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Put down the stun gun, Charlotte,” Blane continued, taking a couple of steps toward her.

“How long have you been there?” Charlotte asked.

“Long enough,” he said.

I’d spotted them but had kept Charlotte talking, needing her to confess everything so Blane could hear it.

Charlotte smiled. “You may have me, but you’re not having her.”

Before I could react, she spun around and shoved me backward over the railing. I heard Kade shout as my hands scrabbled for a hold on anything as I toppled over, catching hold of the bottom edge of the terrace.

A gunshot rang out and the stun gun Charlotte held fell to the ground with a clatter. A moment later, her body hit the floor.

I grunted from the effort of holding on, terror pounding through my veins. The muscles in my arms screamed in protest and I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer.

Blane and Kade appeared over the railing. My eyes locked with Kade’s.