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She sighs. “I’m aware, asshole. My point is that I’m pregnant, and I need money. I—” She closes her eyes, as if this pains her to admit. “I don’t want to be like my mom. Or yours.” She looks past me, surveying the Boston skyline through the window behind me. “This baby deserves better than a fuckboy like Carter. But I can do this, Jay. This is my chance.”
I roll my tongue over my teeth. She isn’t necessarily wrong. And buying her silence isn’t the worst idea. But I don’t trust that I’ll ever have her complete loyalty. “How much?”
“Ten million,” she says without batting an eye.
I laugh. Fucking laugh. “You’ve lost your damn mind. Ten million dollars? That’s extortion, not help for you and your child.”
She shrugs. “You want the disk, and you want to protect her. You want tokeepher,” she reminds me. “Ten million, or I tell her the child is yours.”
I spin away from her. I can’t fucking look at her smug face. At this person I stupidly felt sympathy for only moments ago. She used my mommy issues to manipulate me. Remind me of our commonalities. And Ialmostfell for it.
“Go for it, Mia. Fucking tell her whatever you want. She won’t believe you. And when she finds out you slept with her brother—and she will find out—she’ll hate you. Is that what you want? You pretend to care about her. You pretend her safety means something to you, and then you pull this shit. My only priority is her. So if she can’t get over what I’ve done in the past, that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’m not putting her safety in your hands.”
Mia’s expression hardens, and her eyes go cold. “It’s the mob, Jay. Your father’s been funneling stolen money from the mob into the Jameses’ bank accounts.Allof them. You want to keep her safe? Pay me, and I’ll give you the information. I care about her safety, but I have to think about me and my child first.”
My heart stops, then drops into my gut. All this time, I knew my father was angry. And he’s vengeful, yes, but I’ve always assumed he was stealing trade secrets or pushing James Whiskey into bankruptcy. I could tolerate those deceits.
Edward James stole my mother—she killed herself after what he did to her—I’d never forgive that. But the mob? Icy fear rushes through my veins, and my skin prickles at the thought of what this means for Cat.
“The mob?” I croak, stunned. How did he even pull this off?
Even as I ask, I know it’s true. Dean. He’s managed to do things for my father and me over the years that I’d rather not know about.
Mia just lifts her chin. She knows she’s got the upper hand. There’s nothing left to say.
I rub at my forehead, at an absolute fucking loss. Obviously, I need a plan, but I’m too bewildered by her revelation to think. In the meantime, I need to buy Mia’s silence. “Fine. But if you so much as whisper Cat’s name, I swear to God, Mia, I will send the mob straight to your door, hear me? Forget she exists.Forget I exist.”
Mia nods, then she stands and slides a piece of paper across my desk. “As soon as the money hits the account, I’ll have the disk delivered to your office.” She shuffles to the door, but turns back, her hand on the knob. “For what it’s worth, I really did love her.”
I bark a humorless laugh. “Get the fuck out.” And when she retreats, I grab the first thing I find and throw it at the window. The stapler slams against it hard and crashes to the ground. With no idea what to do, I put my head in my hands and scream.
52
I LOVE YOU ALWAYS FOREVER BY DONNA LEWIS
CAT
“Choose any seat you want, Kitten,” Jay says, motioning around the plane with an outstretched hand.
I smile back at him and roll my eyes. “I’ve been on a private plane before.”
He laughs. “But you haven’t been on mine. And I’d bet money mine’s nicer than any James plane.”
Such a brat.
The damn things are practically identical. It’s almost like our fathers bought the same model. But I keep that to myself. I’m sure it would enrage him to think my father had anything like his.
And this weekend is about us. Not our fathers, not our families. It’s our own Christmas before he heads to London. The plan is for me to meet him in Paris the day after Christmas so we can spend the week together before my internship starts. But I’m dreading the time we’ll have to spend apart before then. And I have no idea how I’ll make it six months without him.
“Tell me again how often you’ll come visit me,” I beg as I settle into a seat. There are four chairs in our row: two here and two across the aisle, each with plenty of leg room. I groan when I sink into the soft leather. “I need the information on this leather.” Rubbing the seat on either side of my legs and luxuriating in the way my body melts at the contact, I peek at him through my lashes. “Designers should use nothing but this fabric anywhere. I want this on my body. I want it everywhere.”
Jay laughs and tugs at my hand, then waffles our fingers together. “I’ll fly out every other weekend. You’ll be sick of me. And I’ll have my assistant get you the information about the leather. I’ll have pants and a jacket made for you. Does that cover everything, Kitten?”
I smile as he presses a kiss to my knuckles. “I could never grow sick of you. You’re my favorite person.”
“Only you,” he whispers as he leans over and grabs my seat belt, pulling it across me and tightening it as his eyes hold mine.
“You don’t think I know how to buckle my own seat belt?” I tease.
