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“Dad! Enough. Don’t talk about Jenny like that.” I tried to keep my voice low. “I told you, it’s nothing—I hired her back for the wedding.” I was so glad Jenny couldn’t hear me right now because what I said wasn’t true.ButI wanted to keep my father out of my business. He was dangerous when angry, and I didn’t want him to take it out on Jenny. “She’s just for appearances. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“We’ll see. But I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not taking care of you unless you’re taking care of me,” my father said. “Call Ramos, dammit. I want that approval by the end of the day.”
He hung up.
I blew out a deep breath. I hated doing my father’s bidding. But it was worth it if it got him off my back for the moment and gave me some breathing room. I hadn’t meant what I said about Jenny, not at all. After the past twenty-four hours, I was more certain than ever that she was the love of my life.
The situation with my father was delicate. He wasn’t open-minded, but he wasn’t a fool, either. I would have to work on him to get him to see that Jenny was a real person, and if I chose to be with her, that wasmychoice. He would have to respect it and understand that the Bryson family legacy would remain intact. When the time was right, my father would see things from my point of view. He had to. Sighing, I picked up the phone and called Ramos. I was doing something that I didn’t want to do. But I was going to do it anyway.
For Jenny.
That’s when I knew for sure.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
jenny
I finished dryingmy hair and was busy packing when my phone beeped. I lunged for it, praying it wasn’t my auntie Theresa again. Ten thousand dollars had to last longer than one day!
But in an unfortunate turn of events, it wasn’t Auntie Theresa—it was Lewis Bryson, the devil himself.Fuck.If Cole saw his number on my phone, he would lose his shit.
I locked myself in the bathroom and read the messages.
You need to do something for me.
Cole is supposed to follow up with a contact. His name is Ramos.
Find out what you can and report back to me.
And in case you are as stupid as I suspect, delete these messages ASAP.
I’ll be waiting to hear from you.
I longed to text him back and tell him to go die in a hole. But our earlier conversation echoed in my head.It’ll be trouble for your friends. Bad trouble, the kind you don’t bounce back from.Fucker.
I can’t promise you anything, I wrote back.
He responded immediately.I don’t want promises. I want results.
I felt so trapped. Any peace I’d experienced during the past several days evaporated. My enemies surrounded Cole and me; he didn’t even know it. He didn’t know that my aunt was threatening me, that she’d tried to get inside Fifty Liberty and blackmailed me into sending her ten thousand dollars. He didn’t know that his father had me on speed dial, harassing me to spy for him. He didn’t know his father had also threatened Audrey and Elena. Cole didn’t know how fucked I was. I intended to keep it that way.
It wasn’t because I wanted to hide things from him—I didn’t. It was because I wanted to protect him. I’d be free after finishing the contract and doing Cole’s father’s bidding. More importantly,Colewould be free. He wouldn’t have to worry about Daddy’s disapproval or being bombarded and blackmailed by my sole living relative. He’d be free of me and all my dirty, dirty laundry.
Of course, I loved him. He’d told me yesterday that he loved me, too. But I didn’t want to think about that. I had to protect him. That was what was important. Even if it broke my fucking heart, I’d do it. That was how much I loved him.
I deleted the Lewis’s messages. I splashed cold water on my wrists to try to calm my anxiety. And then I refused to meet my own eyes in the mirror because if I hated anything, it was liars.
When I returned to the room, I heard Cole on the phone. It sounded like a business call—the very business call Lewis Bryson had just told me about.Great.Cole’s father was like a manifester from hell; his wishes were coming true in record time.
“Listen, Ramos, I understand he’s been difficult,” Cole said. “He usually is until he gets what he wants.”
He was quiet for a minute, listening. Then, “I’m not comfortable with that. That’s not something I’d ask him to do.”
There were another few minutes of silence, punctuated by Cole cursing. “Are you serious? Are you really asking me to do that? I know state agencies don’t pay much, but you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
He didn’t speak again for another full minute. Then he said, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but that’s not how I do business. If something ever happened with the project, we’d be screwed. There could be massive safety violations, and I’m not comfortable with that. We have to do this the right way.”
Cole was quiet again while he listened. Finally, he said, “I’m not going to do that. No, I’m not accusing you of anything; I’m just responding directly to what you’re saying.”
