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What the hell was going on? And who was this woman beside me? I’d never heard Chloe so commanding—or paranoid—in my life.
I could hear Daphne squawking on the other end of the line, probably complaining about using a maid’s phone and being so thoroughly bossed around.
“Daphne, listen to me,” Chloe interrupted. “I need to know something.”
She hesitated for a moment. Her gaze skittered to me and away again. “How much is Gene paying you?”
Her brow furrowed as she listened. “Don’t play dumb—I know you called security tonight.”
Daphne squawked some more. Chloe took a deep breath and switched the phone to her opposite ear.
She grabbed my hand as she said, “We can do better than that. We can domuchbetter than that. But I’m going to need you to switch teams.”
TWENTY-THREE
the best defense
CHLOE
Once I madeDaphne an offer she couldn’t refuse, I gave her a caveat. “There’s just one thing,” I told her. “You can’t go back to Gene for a counteroffer. If you do that, I’ll make sure you don’t see a dime from either of us, and I’ll blow up your deal with Michael Jones, too. Don’t screw me, Daphne. Believe me when I tell you that Bryce and I will be much better bosses than your evil husband.”
She moaned. “He’s going to lose it when I tell him I didn’t do what he asked—”
“So don’t tell him,” I said firmly. “As far as Gene’s concerned, everything’s going forward as planned. I’m going to take care of everything, I promise. Just go to bed. We’ll be back tomorrow, I’ll wire you the money as soon as you set up a new bank account.”
“Do you mean it?” she asked. “I’m taking a big risk if I do this.”
“You can trust me—unlike your husband. You definitely can’t trust him.”
“True,” she sighed. “What am I going to do, huh?”
“Pray he gets convicted, and then count your blessings. We’re giving you so much money you’ll be set for life. It won’t matter if he stays in prison or not—you and the baby will be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
After hanging up, I turned back to my husband. “I just promised her a crap ton of money.”
He nodded. “I heard.”
“And that’s not the only deal I’ve made in the past twenty-four hours.”
Bryce arched an eyebrow, and I sighed. “I’ve made a lot of commitments with your money—big ones. I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Why don’t you start by telling me what’s happened?”
When I winced, he squeezed my hand. “I don’t understand what’s going on. And when I don’t understand something, I’m afraid of it.”
“Maybe youshouldbe afraid.” I wouldn’t look at him, I couldn’t. If his father knew we were having this conversation right now, all hell would break loose.My brother, my husband…I was going to ruin everything. I didn’t want that—I didn’t want any of this. But what could I do?
“Is that because you want out?” Bryce stared straight ahead.
“What?No!” I squeezed his hand. “Bryce, look at me. That’s the last thing that I want. All I want is to be with you, for us to be together.”
His jaw was set; he looked like he was steeling himself against me, waiting for the final blow.
“This isn’t about us—of course I don’t want to leave. I love you. I will always love you.” I clutched my stomach, feeling sick. “But I’m worried that I’m going to be the thing that ruins you.”
He shook his head. “Not this again, Chloe—”
“No, listen.” My voice was hoarse. “Your father hates me. That’s why I left the first time. He wanted me gone. He’ll never think I’m worthy of being a Windsor.”
