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“That’s true…” She scowled and twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. “But my client doesn’t care about that as much as what’s happening withyou. She says I’m not doing enough.”
She.Tate’s client was a woman.The pit of dread in my stomach got heavier as my brain started running calculations in the background.“She?”I blinked at Tate. “You’re client is a she?”
Tate’s nostrils flared. “I didn’t say that. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
“What exactly does she want you to do?”
“Make your life a living hell. Embarrass you. Remind you that you’re nothing and that you could lose your spot at any moment. She’s—ugh,they’ve—been pissed at me ever since that party.” Her scowl deepened. “But I had to keep Colby happy, and you and Bryce were stuck to each other like glue, making goo-goo eyes all night…”
She groaned. “Olivia Jensen’s up my ass. She’s watching my every move! I can’t really do anything except stay on the island and have sex with Colby. You’re always with your brother or Daphne, just talking and hanging out. What does she want me todo, anyway? Get you so drunk you pass out, so I can take naked pictures of you and post them on the internet?”
“Sorry Tate, I don’t drink.”
“I freaking know it! This is impossible. I knew it was too good to be true, all the money she promised me…” She cursed under her breath. “The thing is, I like it here. Colby’s a nice guy. He’s good to me. I never had a guy be good to me before.”
I sighed, thinking of my father. “I understand. Colbyisa nice guy.”
“Right? Who the fuck knew they existed? And this”—Tate gestured to the island—“this is the nicest place I’ve ever been in my life. I don’t want to go back to my crappy apartment. One of my roommates does drugs and has aweasel. The apartmentreeks, and all sorts of randoms are always passed out in the living room. But it was all I could afford, you know? A few weeks before I found that place, I was living on the streets…”
Tate shuddered. “I never finished high school. I don’t have a family. I had a boyfriend who screwed me and took all my money—that’s why I started working as an escort. I havenothing, Chloe.Nothing.I don’t want to get fired! I don’t want to go back to either the druggies and the weasel or the streets. I don’t want to be an escort anymore. You, of all people, must understand.”
My heart twisted. “Of course I understand.” I’d only ever had one job—marrying Bryce—but my experience on the dating app SugarFinder and dealing with AccommoDating had opened my eyes to a realm of dark possibilities I’d never known about. I didn’t blame Tate one bit for not wanting to go back. Who the hell would?
“So, can you help me?” Tate asked.
“I don’t knowhowto help you. But I can tell you that my marriage is real. I love Bryce. Maybe there’s a chance for you and Colby…?”
She shook her head. “That’s not ever going to happen for me.”
“I understand—I felt the same way. But it did work out.”
Tate’s brow furrowed, a cloudy expression descending over her features. “Things don’t work out for girls like me. I’m not holding my breath for you, either.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She shrugged. “I’m just telling you the truth. Who else around here’s going to do that?”
My phone buzzed with a text, and I glanced at it: it was from an unknown number, which was Gene Windsor’s calling card of private-message death. “I have to go. I don’t feel like we really accomplished anything—”
“Hold on—I still need to do something bad to you.” Tate inspected me. “Unless you have some sort of other idea?”
“I don’t see myself volunteering to get drunk, naked, and posing for social media anytime soon. Sorry.” I felt my anxiety mounting—I needed to deal with Gene’s message, but I also needed to deal with whomever it was that hired Tate. My enemies were mounting their attacks against me. Gene Windsor, Mimi Jones, Felicia Jones, probably my freaking step-monster, Lydia…
But Gene was already busy blackmailing me, and Lydia couldn’t afford a high-end escort. That left Mimi and Felicia Jones.
Something clicked inside me.“I know where you came from and all about your little arrangement.”Mimi Jones’s slurred words from the party came back to me, landing with athudin my stomach right alongside the pit of dread.“Come near my daughter again, I’ll expose you for the whore you are.”
Tate’s employer was a she, and I knew exactly who it was.Fuck!
“Why don’t you just lie to her?” I blurted out, not even knowing where the thought was coming from. “Tell her Bryce and I got into a huge fight the other night after the party because I’m so jealous of Felicia, I can’t see straight. Say that he was all over me because we were in public, but he’s been very hands-off at home.”
A plan started forming in my mind. “Make her think I’m on the outs with Bryce and that our relationship is an act because he needs good press. Tell her you’re getting close to me. Tell her I’m falling apart. Promise you’ll keep feeding her information.”
Tate arched an eyebrow. “That… That might work.”
“It’ll at least buy you some time.” I shrugged, still not knowing where the inspiration had come from. Maybe being blackmailed by so many people had given me some ideas!
“By the way, Mimi Jones is pretty scary. If she fires you, it might be the best thing that ever happened to you.” I turned on my heel and hustled back toward the house, all the better to listen to Gene’s latest message in private.
