Page 78 of How to Play the Player

I pause, slowly nodding. “Well, I hope it was worth it for you.” I turn to Nathan. “Are we still recording?”

“Yep, and we got every word of that confession,” Nathan replies, pulling out his tablet and stopping the recording.

I can’t help but smile a little as I turn my attention back to the backstabbing bitch. “The police are going to find this all very interesting.”

Her eyes widen as she realizes what’s happened. “You?—”

“You honestly thought you’d reveal your masterplan to us and we wouldn’t be wise enough to record? Adorable,” Nathan finishes, already typing on his phone. “I’m attaching the video evidence of you installing the spyware just now, the evidence matching the spyware from the original computer to the new one here, and the now enhanced café security footage of you last year at the time of the NorthStar leak as of five minutes ago. Safe to say the police are going to have a field day with you.”

Panic finally breaks through her smug exterior. “You can’t?—”

“We can and, as of right now”—Nathan cuts her off, presses one more button before putting his phone in his pocket—“I just did. My head of security just sent the evidence to his buddy in the police department.”

“Say, Nathan,” I ask with pretend nonchalance, “how soon will the police be here?”

“Imminently, especially since his buddy works at the police station just around the corner.” He answers my question with the same tone, turning his gaze to Bethany. “Hope you look good in orange. I hear it’s the new black.”

Bethany’s eyes darken as they flit between us, calculating her options. Her shoulders suddenly straighten again, a last attempt at control. “You think this changes anything? You think a little legal trouble scares me? Please.”

“Scaring you was never the idea,” I say, finding a calm certainty in my voice. “It’s about making sure you can’t hurt me or anyone else again.”

A knock at the threshold of my office door interrupts our confrontation a few moments later. Two police officers enter, responding to Nathan’s message with surprising promptness.

“Bethany Wilson?” one officer says. “We’d like to ask you some questions about unauthorized computer access and installation of surveillance software.”

As the officers read Bethany her rights, Nathan takes the USB drive from her, uninstalling the spyware from my computer. She turns to me; her cold fury is all over her face.

“Don’t think for one second this fixes anything or brings back everything you lost. This proves nothing except that you’re too weak, too trusting and undeserving.”

I slowly step closer to where I’m right in her face. “No, it proves that despite your best efforts to destroy me, I’m still standing. And now everyone will know exactly who you really are.”

As they lead her away in handcuffs, I feel a huge weight lifting off my shoulders.

I did it. I’ve proven my innocence. I’m finally free.

When the door to the building closes behind them, Nathan and I are left in silence. The tension of the past hour has dissolved completely, leaving behind an awkward uncertainty. I’m still processing what just happened when Nathan breaks the silence between us.

“You did it!” His voice is softer than I’ve heard it in a year.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He waves off my response with a shake of his head. “No. I just helped with the technical parts. What will you do now?”

“I’ll need some time to spread the word about what happened, try to undo the damage that Bethany has done. I’ll definitely be explaining all of this to my former clients she’d turned against me, which is going to be rather interesting.”

I pause, looking at him, really looking at him, and see the regret and relief etched in the lines around his eyes. The way his shoulders seem to carry an invisible weight.

“Quinn.” He says my name like a prayer on his lips. He takes a hesitant step toward me. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Nathan—”

“No. I have to say this.” His voice breaks slightly, raw with emotion. “I’ve spent a year blaming you, punishing you, when I should’ve trusted you. I should have listened.”

He caresses my face, then runs his hand gently through my hair, a gesture so achingly familiar it makes my heart clench. “I was so quick to believe the worst. Instead of standing by you, I abandoned you when you needed me most. I let my pride and my anger blind me to what should’ve been obvious—that you would never betray me like that.”

The sincerity in his voice, the naked vulnerability in his expression catch me off guard. This isn’t the controlled,confident Nathan I’ve known. This man before me is stripped bare, his defenses finally down.

“I threw away everything we had.” He lets go of me. He puts down his arm at his side as he continues, his voice rough. “I didn’t just fail to protect you—I became part of what hurt you. And then I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter, that I was better off without you, when the truth is I’ve been half alive since the day I walked away.

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