His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 183: Cole's Pov

William chuckled, low and knowing. "Smart boy. There's always a catch, isn't there? The catch is that I need something from you in return. Something that benefits both of us."

"Which is?"

"Information about my son's relationship with Olive Monroe," William said. "I need to know what he's planning, what he's told her, how serious their relationship actually is. And I need someone close to the situation who can provide me with regular updates about their interactions."

My jaw clenched because the last thing I wanted was to be anyone's spy, to reduce myself to following Olive and Zane around and reporting back like some pathetic private investigator.

But the alternative was staying exactly where I was, broke, disgraced, and watching from the sidelines as Zane took everything that should have been mine.

"I'm dating Sophia," I said slowly. "Your daughter. That puts me in a position to observe quite a bit of what's happening in your family."

"Exactly why I'm calling you," William said with satisfaction. "Sophia is... loyal to the family in ways that sometimes blind her to reality. But you, Cole, you have no such loyalty to cloud your judgment. You can see the situation clearly and report back to me without emotional complications."

Emotional complications.

As if my obsession with getting Olive back wasn't the most significant emotional complication of my entire life.

"And if I do this," I said carefully, "you'll get me back into the Quantum AI deal?"

"I'll do better than that," William promised. "I'll make sure you're given opportunities that my son can't sabotage. Endorsement deals with companies that are outside his sphere of influence. Contracts with teams that don't give a damn what Zane Mercer thinks. I have resources, Cole. Significant resources. And I'm prepared to use them to help you rebuild what my son destroyed."

I stood at my window looking out at the city lights, my reflection staring back at me in the glass, a man who'd lost everything and was being offered a chance to get some of it back, if only he was willing to sell out the woman he was dating and spy on his enemy.

It should have been a harder decision than it was.

"What kind of information are you looking for specifically?" I asked.

"Anything that suggests their relationship is more serious than a casual arrangement," William said.

A casual arrangement?

"Any indication that Zane is planning to make their relationship permanent. Any conversations about business dealings between the Mercer Company and Hopkins Enterprise. Any mention of family matters that Zane might have confided in her about."

"And if I find out that Zane has told her things he shouldn't have? Things about his past?"

William went quiet for a moment. "What do you know about my son's past, Cole?"

This was it—the moment where I had to decide how much to reveal, how much leverage to show.

"I know enough," I said carefully. "Enough to know that he's not the golden boy everyone thinks he is. Enough to know that there are things in his history that would destroy his reputation if they came to light."

"Then we definitely need to have a longer conversation," William said, and I could hear the interest in his voice now, sharp and focused. "But not over the phone. Can you meet me tomorrow? Say, one PM at the Regency Club downtown?"

The Regency Club was one of those exclusive places where rich men went to make deals and destroy people's lives over expensive scotch and imported cigars.

"I'll be there," I said.

"Excellent. And Cole? This conversation stays between us. Sophia doesn't need to know about our arrangement, and neither does anyone else. Can I trust you to be discreet?"

I smiled at my reflection in the window, at the man who was about to become a double agent in a war between a father and son who both deserved to destroy each other.

"You can trust me completely," I lied.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow."

William ended the call and I stood there holding my phone, my mind already racing through possibilities.

William Mercer wanted me to spy on his son and report back about Olive, wanted to use me as a weapon against Zane in whatever family war they were fighting.

But what William didn't understand was that I had my own agenda, my own reasons for wanting to destroy Zane Mercer that had nothing to do with helping William win some corporate power struggle.

I wanted Olive back—not because I loved her or missed her or any of that romantic bullshit, but because she was mine and Zane had taken her from me and I couldn't stomach the idea of him winning.

And I wanted Zane to suffer the way I'd suffered, wanted him to lose everything the way I'd lost everything, wanted him to feel what it was like to have the woman he cared about look at him with disgust instead of desire.

And I had exactly the weapon to make that happen, information about Zane's past that even William probably didn't know about, information I'd stumbled across during my own digging into the Mercer family history, information that would destroy whatever relationship Zane had with Olive the second she found out about it.

The only question was when to use it, how to deploy it for maximum damage.

Because I'd learned from my previous mistakes—acting impulsively, letting my rage control me, doing things that ended up making me look like the villain when I was supposed to be the victim.

This time I was going to be smart about it, was going to play the long game, was going to let William and Sophia and everyone else think they were using me while I quietly positioned myself to take everything I wanted.

My phone buzzed again and when I looked at the screen, I saw Sophia's name flashing there.

Perfect timing, as if the universe was conspiring to give me everything I needed all at once.

I let it ring three times before answering, because letting her wait always made her more desperate for my attention.

"Cole," Sophia's voice came through sharp and angry, that particular tone she used when something had gone wrong and she needed someone to take it out on. "We need to talk. Right now."

"What's wrong?" I asked, injecting just the right amount of concern into my voice even though I didn't give a shit what was bothering her beyond how I could use it to my advantage.

"Not over the phone," she snapped. "I'm coming over. We need to discuss what happened today with that bitch Olive Monroe, and I need you to tell me everything you know about her relationship with my brother."

I smiled at my reflection in the window, because this was even better than I'd hoped.

Sophia was coming here, angry and vulnerable and desperate to talk about Olive and Zane, which meant she was about to tell me everything I needed to know without even realizing she was doing it.

"I'll be here," I said. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

She ended the call without saying goodbye, and I finally allowed myself to feel the satisfaction that had been building since William's call.

Everything was falling into place finally, William offering me resources and opportunities, Sophia about to show up and spill family secrets, and me sitting in the middle of it all with information that could destroy Zane Mercer's entire world if I used it correctly.

I picked up my whiskey glass and raised it toward my reflection in a mock toast.

"To second chances," I said quietly. "And to making sure Zane Mercer regrets the day he decided to fuck with me."

I drank, and the whiskey didn't burn quite as much this time.

Maybe because the rage in my chest had finally found a direction, a purpose, a plan that would let me take back everything that had been stolen from me.

And if Olive got hurt in the process?

Well, maybe she'd finally learn that leaving me had been the biggest mistake of her life.