AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s someone you could never understand. Someone you could never measure up to.”
“I understand that even if I couldn’t outrightly win custody of my daughter, I could at the very least fuck up the life you think you have—the life you think you want.”
And that was an outright threat to Heather and Collins, at least from what I understood. Josie was only here to ruin things, not to change things. Her sole purpose in this existence was to destroy, and I needed to plant myself between her and her targets as soon as I could figure everything out.
When we reached a stoplight, I took my opportunity and flung open the door.
“I am only going to say this once,” I growled. “Get the fuck out of my car, and stay the fuck away from my family.”
At the next block, I exited the car myself. I couldn’t trust my drivers, not right now. I would find my own way home to make sure my family was safe from Josie’s evil desires and clutches.
There wasn’t a taxi in sight, and I’d left my phone in the car in favor of fleeing, so all I could do now was walk.
My family needed me.
21
Heather
It felt like all of us were ready for battle. I’d met Josie only once, though Lauren had been feeding me horror stories about the woman ever since she temporarily moved into the manor to help keep an eye on Collins.
Lauren called it “essential background” in warding off what she called “the Josie curse.”
Jason was over more often than not, too, setting up a war room of sorts across the dining room table. He filled the expanse with folders and papers and thick law tomes, employing several paralegals to help him comb through the law and formulate an approach. Who he didn’t employ, he brought in on his credentials alone—it was my first indication that Jason drew on his own source of wealth.
Tonight, the three of us contributed to the security detail guarding Collins. Graham’s team members were all lurking outside and in the shadows of the house while we were inside here to raise the alarm should anything happen.
“She had my brother wrapped around her pinky,” Lauren said, drinking a glass of wine while I filled out some paperwork. “He had it bad for Josie from the—oh, I’m sorry, Heather.”
Lauren must have noticed the way my pen had stopped on the form for far too long. “You’re fine.”
“No, I’m being stupid.” She leaned back and sighed. “I put my foot in my mouth all the time. You know, I can literally do it. Well, not my whole foot, but I do a lot of yoga. You’d be surprised at just how flexible you can get.”
“Are we going to get a demonstration?” Jason asked from the dining room, where he was poring over legal documents.
“In your dreams,” Lauren called, laughing at him before turning serious again. “Really, Heather. I’ll stop. You don’t want to hear about all this.”
“Graham and I don’t have any secrets,” I said with a shrug. “I know the gist of what happened between them, about how she used him and also her neglect. I trust him with the rest. He doesn’t need every gory detail about my broken engagement, either.”
“You both were made for each other,” Lauren said, sighing. “Seriously. It must be so nice to have someone who understandsexactlywhat you went through.”
“Itisnice,” I allowed. “I still feel bad for Graham, though. My fiancé is never going to come charging back into my life, so it seems unfair that Graham has to deal with all this drama on his own.”
“He’s not on his own,” Lauren reminded me. “He has you, and he has us. He’s already in a much better position than he was the first time around.”
“I guess …” I trailed off, hesitating at my next words. “But could you tell me something?”
“Anything,” Lauren said immediately. “As you said, there shouldn’t be any secrets because it just gives her more power than she already has or thinks she has. If we share information and communicate, Josie’s going to lose.”
“If she’s so awful, what did he see in her in the first place?” I asked, feeling bad for even doing so. It felt like an unfair question—something I should’ve asked Graham directly. I’d been afraid to know too much, afraid of something about that past relationship getting beyond our defenses now and hurting us.
And the thought that Josie had manipulated Graham so completely and effectively gave me pause. He seemed impenetrable, invincible. How had she been able to wound him so thoroughly back then?
“I think he was lonely,” Lauren said. “Jason?”
“Sorry, ladies,” he said, not looking up from the dossier he was flipping through. “I have to adhere to the bro code of not divulging details G and I discuss in private.”
“Oh, please,” Lauren said with a snort. “Like you and my brother have heart-to-hearts. When does it happen? At sleepovers? Do you braid each other’s hair?”
