Nobody fucks with me.

I’ve been a recluse for a long time. I’ve been away from society, and I think people have forgotten what kind of man I am. Declan certainly forgot.

I’m not the kind of man people fuck with. When they come for me, I come for them twice as hard. I destroy anything in my path if it comes to that.

But most of all, you don’t fuck with my woman.

Declan firing Hazel was a low blow. He knew that wouldn’t stick. He did it just to piss me off and to hurt her, and it fucking worked. I hate that he was able to get at me like that, but it doesn’t matter.

I’m going to finish this now. No more bullshit, no more investigating. Declan is dead to me. He signed his own death certificate the moment he fired Hazel.

I lean back in my chair and wait. I can feel her hovering behind me, and my smile gets wider. She’s exactly what I’ve wanted, what I’ve needed. Everything about her makes my day brighter.

Everything is perfect when we’re together. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in a long, long time.

I’m ready to have it again. I’m ready to move on.

I’m ready to take a step in the right direction and finally embrace living all over again.

Rogers comes in, followed by Declan. The two men look at me, both of them grave. I nod at Rogers and he nods back, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

Declan stands in front of my desk. His eyes flit up to Hazel and there’s a moment of annoyance in his expression. I savor that, although it’s not enough, not nearly enough.

“The game’s over, Declan,” I say finally.

He cocks his head. “Game?” He laughs softly. “This is no game.”

“Of course it’s a game. You think you can spin your little webs in the shadows, that I won’t notice sooner or later. You got brazen, Declan.”

“You got soft,” he says, almost a growl. “You used to be a fucking king here, but look at you now. You’re bowing to this fucking girl.”

I clench my fists. I want to get up and pummel him but I control my emotions. He’s trying to provoke me.

It almost works. It would feel so sweet to destroy him with my bare hands.

“What I don’t understand is why you decided to turn against me? I gave you everything.”

He barks a laugh. “You gave me opportunity, that’s true. But then you locked yourself up in this fucking office and forced me to do all your real dirty work. While you got to make big, global deals over the fucking phone, I was spending my days making sure the office was running smoothly, that our trades were going through. I was the goddamn company while you pretended and got all the fucking credit.”

I laugh softly. “It’s about ego then.”

“It’s about justice.” He snarls, barely containing himself. “You left me, and even though I continued to grow your company, you never gave me the credit I deserved.”

“So you decided to stab me in the back and steal from me.”

“I decided to take what I deserve. But that doesn’t matter.”

“No?” I arch an eyebrow. “I think it matters a lot.”

“No, Mason, because you’re through here. The board’s voting right now to strip you of your power and place it all in my hands.” He smiles at me like he’s won some kind of victory. “Of course, I’ll let you keep your apartment up here. I wouldn’t want you to have to face the real world.”

I stare at him for a moment before laughing softly. I glance up at Hazel and I can see the worry in her eyes, and I can’t blame her. What Declan just said sounds very bad for me.

Except it’s completely wrong.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” he snaps. “I’ve been courting the board for years while you never bothered to speak with them. They’re on my side, completely.”

“Declan, you’re fired.”

He frowns a little. “You’re joking, right? The board is voting to fire you, Mason. They wouldn’t sign off on that.”

“They already did.” I pick up a piece of paper from my desk and hand it to Hazel. “Take that over to him, Hazel.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she says with a sly little smile. A thrill runs through me.

Declan looks horrified. “What the fuck?”

Hazel walks over and hands him the paper. He snaps it from her hand and reads it as she returns to her position behind me.

His eyes stare into mine. “This has to be fake.”

“It’s not fake, Declan. You realize that the board was hand-picked by me years ago, right? I chose them for one single trait: undying loyalty to me, no matter what.”

“Why would they lie to me?” he asks softly.

“Because you’re a stupid piece of shit and I told them to.” I grin wickedly. “I wanted this to be a surprise. It’s better this way.”

He stares at me, hands trembling. I can tell he’s trying to make a choice. He knows he’s through, but he can do one more thing. He’s thinking about attacking me, coming at me, trying to kill me.

I welcome it. I really, really do.

Instead, he turns away. “You bastard. You fucking piece of shit.”

“Get out of here, Declan. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Lucky?” He shakes his head. “Fuck you.”

“I’m not pressing charges, but if I hear anything about you ever again, I will. I have plenty of evidence to make sure you rot in prison for a long, long time.”

He glances at me and sighs. “Go to hell, Mason.” Without another word, he leaves my office.

Silence descends on the office. Hazel comes around to the front of my desk and sits down.

“He’s gone,” she says.

I nod. “He’s gone.”

“And now you have full control again.”

“Some people loyal to him may leave, but yes, I have full control again.”

She smiles huge. “I’m so happy for you.”

I take a deep breath and let it out. “There’s one more thing I need to do.” I stand and come around the desk, kneeling down in front of her. I take her hands in mine and look into her eyes. “Five years ago, my pregnant wife died in a plane crash.”

She doesn’t react. That’s public knowledge. I’m sure she did a cursory Google search for me, and found that little tidbit out.

“After she died, I couldn’t face the world,” I say softly. “The truth is, I blamed myself.”

“Why?” she asks. “It was an accident.”

“I was supposed to be on that flight.”

She looks confused. “You were? I mean, I didn’t know that.”

“Nobody does,” I whisper, barely able to choke it out. “We were going to Ibiza for vacation. A last hurrah, I guess, before the baby. But something at work came up, and I told her to get on the plane, don’t wait for me, I’d meet her there the following evening. She said she didn’t feel like flying alone, but I convinced her to go anyway.” My voice is choked in my throat as the words spill out.

“She got on the plane. She never wanted to. She wanted to wait, to be with me, but work was more important to me back then. I pushed her away… to her death. She died, along with the baby she was carrying. After that, I came here, and I haven’t left since.”

Hazel stares at me. I can’t read her expression. I don’t want to read it. I’m a horrible man for what I did to Marla and my baby. I’m a horrible man for what I did to my brother. I’ve broken everything in my life. I’m a cancer, and Hazel should run away.

Instead, she cradles my head and pulls me against her. She hugs me tight. “It wasn’t your fault,” she says softly. “You poor, poor man.”

I hug her, and part of me thinks I should be crying, but I don’t have any more tears for the past. I feel light as she hugs me close and I realize that I’ve been holding on to that story for a long time now.

It’s been keeping me down, locked in this place. It’s the reason I can’t see the world beyond my own desk, my own bed. I can’t see the world past my own nose, because I’m too afraid I’ll kill someone else.

“It’s not your fault, Daddy,” she whispers. “I promise, it’s not your fault.”

I take a deep breath. I pull back and kiss her.

She kisses me back. It’s a sweet moment, nearly a perfect one. I feel all of my energy, my dismay, my horror, my fear, all of it evaporate into the air. It floats away, leaving me lighter, leaving me free.

Marla is gone. Her ghost is gone. I finally feel free.

I kiss Hazel one more time. “I love you,” I whisper to her. “I won’t ever leave you.”

“I love you too,” she whispers back.

My heart leaps in my chest. Joy slowly floods back into me.

I haven’t heard those words in a long time. I haven’t said those words, either. But now, it’s right.

I never felt like this with Marla. I never felt like this in my entire life.

Hazel is bringing me back from the edge, back from the dead.

“I love you,” I whisper again, kissing her. She laughs and kisses me back, and now the moment is complete.

Now, the moment is perfect.