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“Frounshot fired directly at the bulb over our heads I spoke with a security guard at the nearest bar He didn’t notice what happened, and he didn’t see anything else” Rylan kept his gaze fixed on her face “It seeets”

“Could the bulb simply have shattered?” Bree asked

He shook his head “We both knoas a shot”

“I just hoped”

“This has gone beyond hoping, Bree” His expression was serious “He won’t stop here”

“Thank you for your professional opinion Be sure to add it as an extra on the bill you give my parents”

There was a flash of hurt in the depths of his eyes, and his fists clenched on his thighs as he took afor my services Blaine is my friend”

“How noble” Her lip curled “Arateful that you came out of retirement and made me a charity case?”

She’d said she wasn’t going to talk about it She shouldn’t talk about it But her hurt pride wouldn’t let it go She wanted to prod Rylan, to goad him, to wound him To make him feel a fraction of the pain he’d caused her

“What about the artists you are representing?” Rylan was looking down, and she flung the angry words at the top of his head “Don’t they deserve to know you are a fraud?”

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and withdrew his cell phone “From the day I took this job, Ito wasteartists” Flicking through web pages, he held up the screen “I’ve made sure they all have websites, that they pro, and they share each other’s posts We’ve been involved in charitable and coroup have been into schools to help the children with art lessons, we’re publishing an ebook of African A into your gallery every day to watch over you, but I’ve also been keeping my promise to them”

Bree felt a flicker of guilt She quickly buried it This wasn’t hoorked She wasn’t the bad guy She hadn’t told lies or deceived anyone There was no point at which she deserved to have him walk into her life and make her fall for him