“I don’t know. Probably not. My guess is, he’ll force me out of my shop. Sometimes I don’t hear from him for months, sometimes a year.” I lift my shoulder. “But he never lets it go. I think I’ve become a game to him.”
Tully sits back down, looking shaken. “I’m listening.”
“His first threat was that he’d make sure my dad went to prison—and I didn’t know enough about what my dad had gotten involved in to know if that was even possible. But it scared me, and when I first left, that’s where I went—home to talk to my dad and find out. Daniel had already been there, acting like he was saving the day with my dad as an investor for his business. I realized that he’d been bluffing about my dad going to prison and called him on it, and he said the money he’d given him was dirty and there was now a paper trail with my dad’s name all over it.”
“What the fuck.” Tully runs both hands through his hair and looks like he wants to hit something.
“I still tried to go back to school to talk to you, and he left a message on my phone, doubling down on my dad going to prison. He wasn’t bluffing after all. And he said he’d tell you I’d taken money from him and disappeared…that he’d smear my name, whatever it took. I believed him.”
“What did your dad do? What did he think about all of this?”
“He doesn’t know the whole story. He knows that I had something to do with Daniel giving him money. Honestly? He doesn’twantto know the whole story, and that’s probably for the best.”
“I can’t believe this.” His eyes are wide, and he lets out a pained laugh. “I’m…speechless.”
“He pretended not to know that I live in New York tonight, but…he’s always known exactly where I am. Every now and then, he still reminds me it’s not over. Once, he saw me at one of your games, and the next morning, the rent to my shop tripled.”
“What thefuck? I’m sorry. I just…I’m freaking the fuck out.” He pauses. “So…in Nantucket, when you said your rent was going up…was that Daniel? Or just a coincidence?”
“He found out I’d been to Windhaven.”
“So,didyou know Windhaven was my family’s resort?”
“No. I didn’t. That was all Patrick.”
“My agent has been blackmailing you for years, while I’ve lined his pockets. I…don’t even know what to say.”
“It’s a lot, I know.”
“I’m afraid to let you out of my sight now. How have you lived like this? Are you always watching your back?” He leans in and takes my hands. “Has he ever physically hurt you?”
“No, he hasn’t. He has other ways of destroying people. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe he’s capable of it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
WHAT I THOUGHT I KNEW
TULLY
Age: 21
I wake up from a bad dream and sit up, clutching my racing heart. The water glass on the side of my bed teeters when I get up to go to the bathroom. I check my phone when I return to bed.
Nothing.
I got a text from Lola last night that was weird. I responded to it, but she didn’t say anything back. I look over the thread again.
Trouble
I’ve been rethinking my future. Need some time to figure it out.
What are we talking…different vocation? More school?
Or a break from school? A break from work?
A breakfrom me?
It’s five in the morning, but I text anyway.
