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“It’s not about the money.”
Mrs. Stewart nodded. “It won’t be. Like I said, Brandon’s got a way of avoiding pregnancy scares. I assume at some point he’s paid women to go away.”
I reached for the key from Tiffany’s around my neck. That wasn’t possible. I couldn’t just be a stupid girl he’d tricked, could I? “He’d never do that to me.”
“Do you want to stick around? Work for some sugar daddy money, you tramp?” Mrs. Stewart’s voice was glacially cold. “How is this going to work? Are you going to be the new stepmom for Tammy? Are you going to raise her baby brother or sister like everything you’ve done isn’t a slap in all of our faces?”
“I don’t know.”
She shook her head. “I think you do. Tammy means everything to me, and if you’re even a fraction of the friend you’ve pretended to be all this time, you’ll get lost. I’ll write you a check. A nice amount that my current husband will never miss, not with my shopping record. You take it, you disappear, and you never bother Brandon or Tammy again.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I don’t care what you want,” Melanie said as she leaned in closer to me. “Do you not get it? What you want doesn’t matter anymore, you child. I don’t care about Brandon. I’ve been used to his stunts for years, and that’s why I left him. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself, but I do care about Tammy, and I hope you do too. You’re going to take the money, and you’re going to disappear like you never darkened NYU’s doorstep or lived with her. I don’t give a shit what excuse you have to make, but you are not going to break her heart.”
“I…”
Icy blue eyes met mine, something reptilian and devoid of emotion simmering in them. “I’m not the one who was fucking around, Selena. You’re the one who made this choice, who was so damn irresponsible. I’m just presenting you with a way out so that yo
u can avoid destroying an innocent girl, someone caught up in all of this bullshit. Do you understand me? Unless you have a couple million stashed around, which is what it can cost to get a child from infancy to eighteen.”
I swallowed, hard. “I don’t want your blood money.”
She laughed; a cold, barking sound. “You only want Brandon’s. Trust me, you aren’t the first person to do this, to drag yourself to him. And you won’t be the last. Your mistake, Selena, is thinking you’re special, but you’re not. All I’m asking you is to be a decent friend—a friend at all—and get the hell out of here. Seriously, child, do you think he’ll still want you when you’re dragging him down with a family?”
“I don’t want to ruin anyone’s life. I’d never want to be that person.”
“You’re a homewrecker. You’ve betrayed my daughter’s trust. The best you can do, Selena, is run far away and hope you’re never discovered. After all, even the other bimbos who seduced Brandon over the years were smart enough to do that. Honey, you think you’re special, but you don’t get it.”
“I don’t?” I asked, my voice hoarse and barely recognizable as my own.
“No one’s special to Brandon. Now, are you taking the deal or not?”
Chapter Thirteen
Brandon
Two months later…
I didn’t understand any of it. The Monday after Tammy’s party everything changed. Selena quit her internship a couple weeks shy of it ending naturally because of the school year starting back. She informed Tammy that she was moving and changing schools from NYU, and by early September was just gone. I’d gone to the apartment on the guise of offering to help her move her few belongings. I’d tried to get her to listen to me to stay, to just talk out what had happened. She’d refused. Every day, I still emailed and called her, but I was screened every damn time. Even Tammy hadn’t heard from her. That both confused and scared me. They’d gone from being so close that they were almost sisters to now Selena not being able to be in the same city as her best friend.
None of it made one goddamn ounce of sense, and I couldn’t even get her to so much as shoot me back an email. It angered and frustrated me, but mostly it scared me. This wasn’t like the tiger I knew, and something was happening.
I just couldn’t stand being shut out of her life. I knew where she was; she’d moved back home to a tiny shit town in West Virginia. She wasn’t living at her home, seemed to be renting an apartment and going to a local state school, but I had no idea what had caused the drastic flight from New York and from me. I was planning to go down there soon. I’d only held off this long because I didn’t want to seem like some kind of in-person creepy stalker. But I couldn’t live without her.
I’d suspected that since the day I’d taken her to Tiffany’s, and I’d first defended our relationship to my CFO, Jonathan. I needed Selena, and whatever was wrong with her, we’d figure it out together. Fuck, if she was sick, I had all the money she’d ever need for treatment. I could convince Tammy to come around. Now that the Orbit merger was over, even Jonathan didn’t have leverage over me. There were no rules for me to follow. Whatever was going on, I was going to get to the fucking bottom of it.
I was sick of the empty side of the bed, the cool sheets under my hand. I missed the hint of strawberry shampoo in my nostrils. I missed the softness of Selena’s ample curves. Hell, I missed ramming into her wet pussy and feeling more complete than I ever had in my life.
I needed her.
But first I had one fundraiser I was obligated to go to. It was a charity that continued to fund those who, even five years later, were struggling with rebuilding from Superstorm Sandy. Most of the currently collected money went to helping children with whatever school needs or college funding the needed. It was a group near and dear to my heart. I’d promised to be the emcee, so I couldn’t get out of it. Tomorrow though I’d be flying out to whatever passed for an airport in West Virginia, and then I’d be tracking Selena down.
I schmoozed the room like normal, then eased my way onto the balcony. The view of New York City rose before me, and I had to admire her beauty. I had a killer view from my penthouse, but I often took the vantage point for granted. Somehow, thinking of Selena brought the wonder out in me too, made me see the city I’d lived most of my life in with the same eyes I had decades ago when I’d gotten off a bus from Ohio.
I wanted her beside me on the veranda so that she could enjoy what I was seeing. Damn it, I wanted—no needed—her in my life permanently.
“You look contemplative tonight.” Mel’s voice was playful.
