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“What made you change your mind? I know you were unsure.”
“I can’t risk him talking me around. I’m weak around Lincoln and I can’t afford to be with what Charles is holding over my head.”
“But we might have a case now.”
“I know but look at the mess it will cause. Linc will hate me for lying about Eric. Heather won’t be able to look at us and it will blow up in my face. Maybe not now, but one day he’ll get angry with me about something like he did this time, and he’ll use it against me and I can’t take that chance. I just can’t.”
“Okay. You know my feelings on this so, I’ll support you.”
“I know and I appreciate it more than you know.”
31: Linc
The first twodays without Lottie I’d been angry still, with myself, with her, with the world, intent on finding her and demanding answers. Indignant that she’d leave me but now, almost two weeks later, I’m sick with missing her. Nothing matters without her in my life. Not the company I’d spent my whole life wanting. Not my apartment that had reminders of her at every single turn, not food, nothing, and I couldn’t seem to snap myself out of this funk.
Time and reflection had held a mirror up to my actions and how I’d treated her. A part of me knew she was better off without a man who could be so cruel, but a bigger part missed her so much he was willing to forget his abhorrent behavior.
I was wearing sweats and a t-shirt with a stain, which I thought might be pizza sauce on it when I was alerted that I had a visitor. Personal hygiene, food, and anything not related to getting Lottie back have gone out the window. I’ve lived on a diet of cola and pizza since the night I got so blind drunk I imploded my marriage.
I groan, not wanting to see anyone. My friends had stepped up, even Beck had been by and called to check on me, but he didn’t get it. He’d never been in love and didn’t understand the deep grief losing her had thrown me into.
Ryker walked through my door a few minutes later with a hard look on his face and I felt my body tense. He’d been trying to find out what Hudson had meant about my father and so far he’d had no luck.
His nose wrinkled as he got closer to me.
“Fucking hell, when was the last time you showered?”
I shrugged. “Dunno.”
He walked past me on the couch and moved to my kitchen. “Get in the fucking shower while I make you some coffee and real food. We have serious shit to discuss and I’m not doing it while you look and smell like a sewer rat.”
I stand and prowl toward him suddenly my heart beating faster, as hope fills my belly. “Did you find her?”
Ryker cuts me a look that would freeze vodka. “Get in the shower, then we’ll talk.”
I knew arguing with him would be fruitless so I stalk off to my room to shower and change, feeling alive for the first time in days. Twenty minutes later, I’m showered and clean in jeans and a blue tee when I walked back into my living space and smell bacon. My stomach rumbles like I haven’t been fed in years, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I’d eaten.
“You eat, then I’ll talk.”
I shovel bacon and eggs in my mouth, swilling it down with hot coffee which seems to rejuvenate my body instead of dulling it like the endless junk food the last two weeks had done. “Talk.”
“You’re not going to like this.”
I sit forward, a feeling of dread moving over me. “Tell me anyway.”
“Your dad is a nasty piece of work.”
I snort. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“No, I mean he’s bad. I couldn’t find anything for a while and then I found two buried NDAs from women he’d paid half a million dollars to each.”
“What?”
“It gets worse. The NDA didn’t tell me a lot so I hacked Hudson’s files.”
I didn’t ask how, or if it was illegal because I suspected I knew the answers to that.
“I found something.”
