“Wait!” Caroline steps forward, her knees hitting the front of my desk with a loud thud. She yelps, grimacing in pain, but I don’t move, staring at her as the flush in her cheeks deepens. After a moment, she tries again. “We need you to do something for us.”
I maintain my silence, enjoying every moment, watching as she grows visibly more flustered.
“Look, Grafton—can I call you that? It’s just that…my sister has blocked us. On everything. We know she’s hurt about her divorce, but Mom”—she flaps her hand at the woman behind her, who’s still carefully keeping her eyes away from mine—“made mistakes. We’re ready to let bygones be bygones.” Her smile is tight and insincere, too shaken to keep up the innocent act. “We can’t let the past ruin our futures, hm? Especially when there are children involved.”
I nod slowly. “And what is it that you need from me?”
That seems to be Johanna’s cue, because she steps forward, her hands shaking. “We know you’re with Lynley.” Her tone is accusing, her eyes watery as they finally lift to mine. “You broke up her family.”
Air hisses out between Caroline’s teeth. “Mom?—”
“No, no,” I interrupt. “Let her have her say.” I stare at Johanna, challenging her. “You were saying I broke up Lynley’s family. Carry on.”
Her brows knit together, lips going pinched. “Lynley is married, and her children need their father,” she starts, voice growing stronger with each word. “And you’ve come along and destroyed everything. She should never have gone through with the divorce!”
“That’s an interesting narrative,” I muse, crossing my arms over my chest. “And what part did Caroline play in all this?”
Johanna flinches, but Caroline scowls. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, voice vibrating with fury. “And it has nothing to do with you.”
“Hmm. So, let me just see if I have this straight. Lynley chose to get divorced and block you both, and it has nothing to do with me, but it’s also my fault?” I hum before snapping my fingers. “Oh! And you need something from me, but have yet to say what.”
Johanna snaps. “I want you to leave my daughter alone!”
“No!” Caroline shouts. “That’s not— It isn’t—” Shewhirls on her mother. “Will you shut up? I told you to let me do the talking!”
“As fun as this is…” I start, but Caroline focuses back on me, her face bleeding white.
“Wait, wait, wait.” She closes her eyes, shoulders lifting with her inhale. “We know the truth. Both of us.” She glares at her mother. “The fact is, we are Lynley’s family. We’re all she’s got, and she needs us. Mase and Ginny need us too.”
I give her a bored look. “Are you gonna get to the point sometime today? As I said, I have somewhere to be.”
“We need you to help us,” she blurts. “Make Lynley meet with us.”
I pretend to consider it before simply saying, “No.”
Johanna surges forward, hands coming up in front of her and curling into claws. I stare at her impassively, wondering how Lynley came from this.
“Well, then you need to pay us!” Johanna’s voice is shrill, and I finally let loose the smile that’s been hovering.
“And now we get to the truth of it,” I murmur.
Caroline seems to gather herself, face clearing of all emotion as she tells me, “My husband has left me for another woman—some rich older whore from the country club,” she tells me tonelessly. “It’s just Mom and me. Christopher has stopped supporting us since the divorce went through.”
“And you want me to take over,” I guess easily, my smile widening. Caroline’s mouth pinches as she jerks her head down in a nod. It’s obvious she doesn’t give a shit about losing her husband, but losing her cash cow is a whole other problem.
“If you do, we’ll stay away from Lynley and the kids,” she claims, silencing Johanna with a look when her mothermakes a noise of protest. “This is the best option for everyone.”
“Is it?”
Ignoring the lack of inflection in my tone, Caroline continues doggedly, “You do this, and we won’t make trouble for you and Lynley. We’ll stay out of her life. If that’s what she wants. If you don’t do this?—”
“We’ll go to the press!” her mother shouts, eyes flashing wildly, no longer the cowed woman who first walked in here. “We’ll tell them that you blackmailed Lynley into leaving Christopher, and that any videos that come out of him are doctored by you. Deep fakes, or whatever it is they’re called.”
“Oh, I see. You came here because Christopher is a cowardly, spineless fuck, and you thought I might be too?” I chuckle darkly. “So you thought you’d…what? Blackmail me? Maybe try to fuck me, and blackmail me with that too?”
Caroline falls back a step, a dramatic gasp leaving her. She presses a hand to her chest, but she can’t quite hide the flash of cunning slithering through her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she declares, tone the perfect amount of outrage.
I sigh. “I thought you came here with a better plan, but I guess you live to disappoint.” I slide my gaze from one woman to the other. “My answer is no. I will not tell Lynley to unblock or contact you. I will not be giving you any sum of money.” The corner of my mouth tugs up. “And you can bet your ass I would never touch you. You have absolutely nothing I want. I’ll give you a suggestion, though.” I plant my hands on my desk, leaning forward as I tell them both, “Go get a fucking job.”
