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Tate raised her hand. “Why am I here, exactly?” Her gaze flicked to Chloe.
Bryce put his arm around me. “Because we’re having a family meeting, and you are currently dating a Windsor. If Colby wants you here on the island, you need to be in this meeting. Colby?”
“I’d like you to stay, Tate.” Colby smiled at her. “I mean, we’re basically living together.”
“Okay, babe.” But Tate sounded nervous.
“Bonus points if you stop saying ‘babe,’” Jake huffed.
Colby nudged him good-naturedly. “Whatever you say, babe.”
“Enough, guys.” Bryce turned to me. “Chloe and I have something to tell you. Several somethings. Chloe?”
“Oh… Okay. Wow, we’re doing this?” Chloe held onto me for dear life.
“Go ahead, honey. I’m right here.”
She took a deep breath. “I didn’t meet Bryce at Dunkin’ Donuts. We didn’t tell you the truth about how we got together. The story was much more complicated than that.”
“Oh.” Now it was my turn to hang ontoher. “This is what we’re telling them?”
“This is the first thing,” she said bravely. She faced my brothers and Tate. “The thing is, I worked for an agency. An escort agency. And Bryce found me through them—that’s how we met. Y-Your father knows the truth about me, and he isn’t happy. I mean, he wasn’t happy anyway. Hey.” She turned back to me. “Shouldn’t Daphne be here? She needs to hear this, and I don’t want to have to say it all again.”
I called Daphne and asked her to join us immediately. Then I poured myself a bourbon and one for my brothers.
“Are you old enough to drink?” I asked Tate.
“I’m pretty sure I need one, regardless.” She knocked it back in one shot, and I felt a little sorry for her.
Daphne bustled in, eyes bright. She glanced at Chloe. “Having a family meeting without me? I thought we had a deal!”
“We do,” Chloe assured her. “As soon as I realized we were doing this, I had Bryce call you. I told you that you can trust me, and I meant it.”
Jake and Colby watched this exchange with interest. “You two have a side deal?” Jake asked.
Chloe nodded. “I’ll explain everything in a minute.”
Tate poured herself another bourbon.
“Daphne, I was just telling everyone about my background. But first, Bryce let them know that he was voted in as full-term CEO of Windsor Enterprises earlier tonight.”
Daphne sat down and fanned herself. “Thank God I decided to accept your offer. Otherwise I’d be out pawning Gene’s original art on the internet as we speak.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” Chloe smiled at her, but then it faltered. “I have to bring you up to speed though, Daphne. I was just telling everyone about how Bryce and I met. It wasn’t the way that I told you.”
She hesitated before she continued. “I met Bryce through a…dating…agency. An escort agency, actually. And Gene knows about it, and so does Mimi Jones.”
Daphne’s mouth formed an ‘O.’ “Wow, I had no idea.”
My wife arched an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly the sort of thing you’d guess.”
“It’s likePretty Woman.” Daphne shook her head as if to clear it. “I feel so much better about thinking you were trash at first!”
“Gee Daphne, tell me how you really feel,” Chloe groaned.
Daphne’s eyes sparkled. “I like you now.”
“I like you, too—God help me.” Chloe shook her head. “The thing is, Gene’s been blackmailing me. He never wanted me to stay married to Bryce. He’s the reason I did that stupid morning talk show interview, got into that fight with Felicia Jones, and left in the middle of the night. He threatened me, he threatened my brother, and he’s threatened Bryce.”
