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“He wanted world domination,” Tag grunts. “But he wanted your Dad’s company more. He’s obsessed with it. Which is why he was on board to be your potential husband when your old man first suggested it. He gets nothin’ if you don’t agree.”
“But he’d make CEO.”
“Still, you’d have a majority share, if anything were to happen to your pops.”
I shake my head, but he looks at me. “You’re in his will, Luna. You get it all. In some sick, fucked-up way, your dad always wanted control. Down to the bitter end, but he still isn’t willing to let Brian have his fortune.”
I go to open my mouth and close it again. “But my dad hates me.”
“I don’t think that’s true. You just didn’t want to be what he wanted you to be, Lu. It doesn’t comprehend in his brain how abhorrent it would be for you to marry Brian. He obviously thinks you would do anythin’ to get your inheritance, and Brian’s the son he always wanted. In his eyes, it’s win-win.”
I buckle up and turn to face him. “I can’t believe Brian was behind all of this.”
“That ain’t the half of it. We think Brian is just a cover for somethin’ even bigger. We don’t know what yet, but we do know he made that payment to Razor.”
I shudder at the idea of how much trouble Brian is in. He has absolutely no idea who he’s dealin’ with. After all the names he called me, and the way he sneered and said I was a whore, threatening me, I have no remorse for him. He’s made his bed and now he has to lie in it.
“Tag. Everything I thought I knew is a lie.”
“Not me,” he says. “I’m here, and I’m never gonna tell you lies.”
I bite my lip. “I have to tell you something.”
He glances at me as he pulls into the lunchtime traffic.
“It’s about what Brian said,” I go on. Silence accompanies me as I stare straight ahead.
“When my dad gave me that money, and I left…” I feel his eyes on me once more.
“…I… After Brian, I was messed up. I went on a dating app and met someone. We hooked up, and when he wanted more, I broke things off. Then he…” I swallow hard.
I look down as I feel Tag’s hand wrap around mine. “You can tell me,” he says, his voice hard. “No lies.”
“He… He filmed us…then he bribed me with it and said I had to pay him fifty thousand dollars or he’d send the tape to all myfriends and family and my boss…” I turn and look the other way. Shame blazes across my face.
Tag’s hand tightens in mine. “What the fuck?”
“I was scared, T. We had that big fight, and I had to get out of town, so I went to my dad and told him I was paying off my student loans and credit card debt. In return, he wanted me to work for him.”
“Fuckin’ asshole,” he mutters.
“I was scared. I was at an all-time low…”
“Because of me?” He grits his teeth.
“Not all you,” I whisper. “But I was terrified that he’d make good on his promise, and if I went to the police, it would all get dragged out in court. I didn’t want that. So I tucked my tail between my legs and went to my Dad. Now I’m paying handsomely for it.”
“You’ll never have to pay,” he says, his tone firm. “You hear me, Lu?”
I nod, my cheeks still hot.
Suddenly, we’re pulling over, and I turn to look at Tag, “What are you?—”
He cups my face, and I gasp when his lips almost touch mine. “There is nothin’ that you can’t tell me that would change the way I feel about you,” he growls. “You not tellin’ me shit is the same as lyin’, Lu, you got me?”
I nod, tears springing to my eyes. “How could I?” I sob. “This is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me, T. I could never tell anyone about it. Only Payden because she forced it out of me.”
His nostrils flair. “Don’t even think that I would be mad at you for tellin’ the truth,” he says. “This wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anythin’ wrong. He committed a felony, and if you’d have come to me, I could’ve fixed it. That’s on me because I wasan asshole and I thought I was protectin’ you, when all I really did was send you into the lion's den. That shit’s on me.”
