Threatening Blake isn’t the way to win this game. He’s a desperate man in a classic trope.If I can’t have you, no one else will.Youhere isn’t me. It’s my money.
Adriana sighs. “If you’re not a hundred percent certain he’s bluffing, the best option is to settle.”
“How much?”
Another sigh leaves her chest, and her lips purse. “He’s asking for forty percent.”
“Forty percent of what?”
“Everything.”
“Everything? What do you mean everything?”
“He said, and again, I quote, I made her. Every penny she’s ever made should be mine. She’s lucky I’ll let her have something after what she’s done to me. But I’ll be generous and only take forty percent of everything she’s earned and will earn from her author career in perpetuity.”
Blood rushes to my ears, drowning out the bunker’s hum. Forty percent. Of everything. Forever. A laugh bubbles up in my throat, high, unnatural. I swallow it down before it runs loose. “That’s... That’s insane. He can’t… Fuck this shit!”
“All blackmail claims aside, if this is a regular situation, and we go to court, the judge might see it differently,” Adriana cuts in. “Especially if Blake can prove he contributed significantly to your success. Story ideas, character development, plot suggestions...”
My fingers twitch on the desk. If only she knew where my stories really came from. Who really inspired them. “He’s a drug addict. He didn’t contribute anything,” I say, ice creeping into my voice before I can stop it. “Except fear. Except pain. That piece of—”
“Birdie, I understand your frustration, but I need you to calm down because the message isn’t finished.”
“What else does he want? The house, a kidney, my right eye!”
“No, but he said if anything happened to him, he had one of those appsAaronused. And everything he knew wouldn’t just be sent to his therapist. It’d be sent to the whole world.”
I am Jack’s cold sweat and raging bile duct.
CHAPTER 17
Tristan
Birdie ignores protocol and dashes out of the cabin.
“Brandon, guard the place and stay alert!” I command as I grab a gun and dart after myclient.
She’s bent in the driveway, her hands frantically rubbing her thighs, her eyes squeezed shut.
“You can’t just run off like that,” I say softly despite the need to reprimand her. I can sense her rage from here, crashing more violently than the waves against the cove behind. “How many times do I have to explain it to you?”
“I needed some air. I…” Her index finger jabs toward the cabin multiple times. “That fucking bastard can’t do this to me.”
“He won’t.”
She straightens and snaps her eyes open. “Were you not in the same room with me? Did you not hear his message? All this time, I’ve been banking on,” she glances at the cabin and drops her voice, “Butterfly Man taking Blake out of the picture so I can break free from my violent, disturbing marriage. Now, I can’t.” A laugh full of wrath bursts out of her. “Not just that. Ironically, I must protect my abusive husband who has made my life a living hell for eight years and ensure he stays alive or he’ll spread to the whole world the lies he’s spun to destroy my life.”
“No. I won’t let him hurt you, Birdie. I’ll find him, and I’ll deal with it.”
“Like you found my stalker? Like you stopped Butterfly Man from assaulting me in my bedroom? I mean, you told me you had eyes on Blake all the time. How the fuck did he get out of your sight? How did he go to Florida to see Shane in prison when you were supposed to monitor his every move?”
A sharp pang of guilt twists in my chest. She’s right. I failed her when she needed protection most. That night in her bedroom still haunts me, knowing I was too late to stop him, knowing what could have happened if...
“You’re right about my failures, and I’ll carry that responsibility.” But I push the guilt away. Now is not the time to fall for classic Birdie manipulation, whether conscious or not. I’ve taken my time learning her tells. I know when she uses a person’s weaknesses against them to deflect. I know when she’s hiding something. “But right now, you gotta tell me the truth.”
“What truth?”
The one she wouldn’t tell her lawyer. The one she’s terrified of coming out. “Why is your husband talking to your ex in prison a threat that could ruin you? What does Blake Abel really have on you, Birdie?”