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“Dad, you have until tomorrow afternoon at two to get my accounts thawed or give me the money. I have to get the money to them by four. Please decide faster than that. Gotta go.” I hang up, because I’m done talking to him. If I had my druthers, I’d never speak to him again.
-
Chapter 51
ANDERSON
I almost don’t want to face her after all of that. How do you say, “My father thinks you’re after me for my money and also you’re not worth four hundred thousand dollars?” But I’m not holding anything back from her. Not ever.
I open the sliding door and she looks up at me with expectant eyes. “So. How did it go?”
“Not as well as I’d hoped. But not terribly.”
“How so?”
I strip off her robe and get under the covers next to her. I want to be close to June and being in bed with her feels so right. “Told him I’d just heard from the kidnappers, and they want four hundred thousand dollars for you. He’s acting like that’s too much money?—"
“I don’t blame him.”
I laugh, but she’s serious. “June, I’d pay anything to have you by my side. Safe, I mean. All that. Anyway, he said some unflattering things about you, and?—"
“Like what?”
I do not want to tell her. “He thinks you’re with me for the money?—"
“But I told him I’d sign a prenup.” She frowns. “That makes no sense.”
“Huh. In the moment, I’d forgotten about that, but you’re right, it doesn’t. Maybe he thinks I’m too emotional to realize that, and fair play to him, he was right. Why would he say that, then?”
“Maybe he’s playing on your insecurities?”
I sigh, thinking. “Maybe. Hard to know with him, I guess. Anyway, I didn’t outright say I was blackmailing him, but I clarified that if he doesn’t get off his ass, I will happily see the firm burn down around me by calling the police and the press in on this. I gave him until two tomorrow afternoon to move the needle on things.”
“That’s what you wanted. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why do you look so dejected, Anderson?” She knows me well. Too well.
“I hate this.”
“Well, I don’t think you’re supposed to enjoy blackmailing your own father?—"
I laugh. “No, not that part. Actually, I sort of get a kick out of doing that part. But it’s all the secrets I didn’t know we had. All the lies. The backroom deals … the man is no saint, I know that. I’m not naïve. But I never thought it was anything this seedy.”
“How do you mean?” She takes my hand in hers, and it’s nice to feel that kind of support. Especially after never having it.
“We’re in the media. We help people in entertainment law. It’s supposed to be fun and light and breezy. Parties and meeting celebrities. Yachts and award shows. And I find out my father is doing things that, evidently, warrant kidnapping.”
She shrugs. “Okay, I can see how that would be jarring.”
“And there’s nothing I can do about it. He won’t tell me shit, so I can’t help him get out of the situation. It’s … it’s a lot. To be honest, I’m not sure I would help him get out of it. Not after the way he’s been about you.”
“It’s a shit ton of money, Anderson. I don’t like his attitude either, but I get it.”
I shake my head. “Yes, it’s a lot of money. A life-changing amount of money for someone without money. For us? He could drop that kind of cash on a vacation and not think twice. I’ve seen him do it.” My jaw tightens in anger. “For him to all of a sudden be worried about money means there is something even bigger going on. I aim to find out what the fuck it is.”
She sighs and rubs my arm. “Do you think you might be more angry about the fact you feel your father is a stranger than about the money?”
