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The fact that Lydia was calling me a skank was indeed the icing on the fucking cake. “How much do you want, Lydia?”
She sat back, smiling. “A lot. I want a lot.”
TWENTY
games people play
CHLOE
It wasall fun and games until the blackmail started.
Lydia had asked me forfive million dollars. And I saidyes.Gene had told her he was good for up to a million. She felt that Mimi Jones had lowballed her at seven-hundred-and-fifty thousand.
I needed to be the most generous so that I bought her loyalty. It definitely wasn’t worth five million, but it was worthsomething.I hoped.
No matter who ended up paying what, Lydia and my father were moving up a few tax brackets.
As to how she’d gotten our Beacon Hill address, she said Mimi Jones had texted it to her. “She wanted me to call WMUR and bring them with me to surprise you,” Lydia said. “But I figured your husband might pay more, so I wanted to talk first.”
“You were right.” She would never stop extorting us; I might as well accept that and pray they didn’t blow through all the money at once at another casino.
I didn’t know how Bryce was going to react to more blackmail. But at the moment, I had to make Lydia happy so she would leave us alone.
I sat alone for hours, reeling after Lydia had left. I was too upset to text Bryce and tell him what had happened. There were too many red flags to count, but this seemed a clear indication that Mimi Jones was completely out to get me. Tate wasn’t her only weapon.
Fuck!Like I needed more trouble!
And I still needed to deal with uploading Gene’s stupid form. What did he want from me, anyway? To sell my husband out? Deep down, I feared that wasexactlywhat he wanted…
My last face-to-face conversation with him echoed inside my head.
“The way I see it, I’m still saving my company. I have a new perspective on things. Like I said, desperation makes things very clear. I know what I want now. I want my company to go on the way it was intended. I want Bryce to run things the way he’s supposed to…
If Bryce was about to be voted in as full CEO, Gene wouldn’t feel his son was running the company as intended. He’d feel it was being stolen from him. I shivered, remembering the rest of what he’d said.
“You have a lot to lose. When I say that, I’m not just thinking of your marriage. I’m thinking of your brother.” Gene didn’t blink as he’d stared me down.
I called Dale, quickly checking in to make sure that Noah was okay. Dale said everything was fine: they’d been fishing that morning, and Chef was making chicken tenders for dinner along with hand-cut fries. Security was tight at the house because of the recent press situation.
But would security protect Noah against Gene Windsor?
I felt the walls closing in on me.Mimi, Gene, Lydia…oh my. I’d made a mess of things without even trying.
Before I could face filling out Gene’s form, I scrolled through my calls to find Tate’s number.
“Chloe?” She sounded wary. “Why’re you calling me?”
“Because I wanted to know how it’s going with Mimi. Did you tell her that Bryce and I were having problems?”
“Yeah, but she didn’t seem really happy with me.” Tate sighed. “She was pissed that you guys left. She’s mad that her daughter doesn’t seem to care too much, she’s obsessed with some rocker dude. But it seems like Old Mimi’s got all the time in the world, and she sure has an axe to grind.”
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” I needed to get Mimi managed somehow, some way.
“Why should I tell you anything, huh?” Tate asked. “She’s the one who’s paying me.”
Ding ding ding.My conversation with Lydia came back to me.I figured your husband might pay more…
“Maybe I’m going to outbid her,” I said, “but I’m not making any promises until I hear more.”
