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The click of the lock signaled Jolette was here.
Two freaking days after I’d told her I needed to discuss something with her.
The sudden intrusion into what was supposed to be my private sanctuary grated on my nerves like it always did, like the screechy sound when nails met a chalkboard. I couldn’t remember her ever knocking before coming in, and the fact that she and Marco both had a key and could come and go as they pleased—under the guise of safety concerns, of course—had always made sure this place never felt like home.
It was just another way they constantly rubbed in my face how little control I had over my own life.
As she let herself in without a second thought, I fought the urge to lash out, knowing anything I did would be futile.
“Well, I’m here. Taking time from my busy schedule to deal with you. Once again,” she snapped.
Right…her busy schedule of spa treatments and private planes to the vineyard to get drunk with her vapid friends—all using my money.
Such a busy schedule.
I stared at her as she finished whatever she was doing on her phone.
Her long, perfectly coiffed hair cascaded down her back in a glossy, blonde waterfall. Her skin was flawless, but it had that telltale plastic sheen that came from too many cosmetic procedures. Her designer clothing clung to her figure, emphasizing her slender physique, carved by Dr. Rothingham on 5th Avenue himself. Diamonds flashed at me from her ears down to her hands.
A beautiful plastic exterior housing the poisonous snake inside.
“Harley’s getting married,” I said, cutting straight to the chase.
“And,” she drawled…still not looking at me.
“Maddie has asked me to be a bridesmaid for their wedding in two months…in Dallas.”
“Who’s Maddie?”
“His fiancée,” I said slowly, since that should be obvious.
“No,” she said simply, spinning around and heading back to the door, the click of her heels reverberating through the room.
“Wait…what do you mean no?” I called after her, jumping up from the couch where I’d sat to try and pretend nonchalance.
Obviously that plan was out the window.
"You've shown time and time again, Olivia, that you can’t be trusted around Harley. Wasn’t he the little reason for your temper tantrum the other morning?" she said with an unyielding tone,finallyglancing at me with a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised.
My hands were shaking, and I swallowed, trying to get control of my voice. "I've given you and Marcoeverything. What more do you want from me? What can I do to get this madness to stop? You can’t just keep me a prisoner until I die!"
It was more than I wanted to reveal, this desperation sitting in my chest. It was the weakness I had tried my best never to show her, and now here it was, splayed open for her to use.
And Jolette knew it too.
“I think you know what would help your ‘little situation’,” she purred, her eyes gleaming as she went in for the kill. “Your refusal to cooperate with our terms has been sooo…disappointing.”
I closed my eyes, trying to hold in the scream burning in my chest.
Oh, I knew exactly what she was talking about. The only thing they couldn’t get a court to force me to do.
Sing.
"I'll perform in Dallas the day after the wedding," I finally offered softly, feeling like I was losing something important even as I said it.
I’d vowed that I would never give them what they wanted like this—access to my voice.
I guess they’d finally, truly broken me.
