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Dylan Green is suing us. For thirty million dollars.
61
Jonah
Callie’s face is pinched with worry when I see her the next morning. I get up to order, watching her move more slowly than usual. She looks tired and sick at heart.
“What’s wrong?”
Her head jerks up. Her eyes look haunted. “I’ll show you.”
She makes my coffee and meets me at the table. “Look at this.” She slides her phone over to me with a trembling hand. I scan the email and the attachment, rage coursing through my veins as the implication hits me. This is my fault. I convinced Sean to try hacking Green Media’s servers. Dylan is escalating.
“I’ll fucking kill him. He does not get to involve you in this. Again.”
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do. I read the complaint. He’s going to sue us.”
“I’ll fix it.” I cup her face briefly with my hand. “I promise you, Callie. You won’t suffer because of me.”
* * *
I call Dylan from my home office. It’s a mirror setup to my office on 57th Street. I rarely use it. I still have the prick’s cell phone number, and he picks up on the third ring.
“Jonah Crown. I thought I might be hearing from you.”
His smarmy tone is gas to the fire of my anger. I can picture him with his loafers up on his desk, ill-mannered ass that he is.
“Dylan,” I grate.
“How’s it hanging, man?”
I grind my teeth and inhale for patience. “What do you want from me? In exchange for not threatening Callie. Or her father.”
“I want you to stop coming after me.” His voice is deadly quiet. I know he’ll keep his promises to ruin Callie. He’s a douchebag, but a vicious one. “I know you’re behind all my employees quitting, and that little stunt with my COO. It’s done. Sign an agreement, or I’ll come after her, and I won’t stop until she’s homeless and penniless. Maybe even in prison.”
My blood turns to ice. He’ll do it. And I want to fight him, I do, but Callie. Her worried face swims in my mind. I can’t take the chance that she’ll be hurt.
“I’ll need to extract my own promises from you in exchange,” I grit out.
“I figured. You might have grown up poor, but you’re as ruthless as they come. I always admired you for that, Jonah.”
“Fuck you,” I say, and hang up the phone.
Am I really going to do this? Will I give up my revenge to keep her safe?
* * *
Christine meets me for lunch the next day before she meets Mia for a birthing class. I saw Callie again this morning, and the worry in her eyes made me sick at heart. I have to fix this.
“You look like shit,” Christine says bluntly, before seating herself across from me. We’re at the very back of Silvio’s, where he won’t let anyone disturb us.
“Thanks,” I mutter. “I didn’t sleep.” I tossed and turned and kept my phone at maximum volume just in case Callie needed me. I would kill to be the man she calls when she needs someone to rely on. And now with fucking Dylan interfering, it’s like the pictures leaking all over again, but worse, because this time, he’s coming for the woman I love.
“What’s eating you?” Christine pokes around in the breadbasket for the focaccia they serve at lunch.
“If I gave up my revenge against Dylan, how would you feel?”
Christine’s head jerks up and her mouth drops open. “Why?”
