16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

Nora

I t was early the next week, and Dru and I had just finished meeting with the first of the three interior designers we were interviewing regarding the brownstone.

Not unusual for New York traffic, four blocks from my building, we encountered gridlock.

I took this opportunity to think back on the time I just spent with Dru, because gridlock was annoying (no matter how usual it was, you never got used to it), and the time I spent with Dru was absolutely not.

It was Dru who started it, asking if I wanted to pop somewhere for a coffee after the meeting.

Obviously, I said yes. Though, I was somewhat concerned about what this may be regarding, considering we’d just discussed new design schemes for the brownstone. I was worried, now that the project was becoming more real, she’d started to have issues with it.

I would find she had issues, but they were other issues, and just as heart wrenching.

I learned this once we were seated in the bustling café with our lattes, and she appeared uncomfortable.

That was when I started it.

“You know, you can talk to me about anything,” I told her carefully.

She ticked her head, her fabulous flame hair shifting across her shoulders, before she announced, “This is going to sound silly, or, I don’t know, disrespectful.”

Oh dear.

“Nothing is silly if it concerns you,” I replied. “And disrespectful to whom?”

I braced when I saw actual pain in her eyes before she admitted, “Mom.”

Oh dear wasn’t the half of it.

“What about your mom, darling?” I prompted gently.

Like she was confessing a dirty secret, she shared, “She wasn’t into clothes. I mean, she was. She liked getting all dolled up to go out on the town with Dad. But that wasn’t like… every night .”

“All right,” I murmured when she stopped speaking.

“And well, so…um, we didn’t really have any of those mother-daughter bonding experiences while shopping. Because she wasn’t like…into that. I mean, not really. She had her own style, but it was pretty laid back.” She smiled a soft smile. “She was more about Dad, me, and her practice. You know?”

Oh, I knew.

I knew that was something Dru wanted, but she didn’t get it, simply because it wasn’t Rosalind’s thing, but it would turn out it was Dru’s. She’d just not had the chance to grow old enough with her mother in her life so they could possibly explore it.

My heart bleeding, I replied, “I know.”

“And it’s just that…I guess, uh…”

When she seemed to be having difficulty, I repeated, “Again, you can tell me anything.”

“Well, you’re into fashion,” she said on a rush. “Designers. I mean, you knew the name of the Chloe bag that Heiress picked, not just the designer, but the name of the bag . And you always look more than put together. You’re always on the best-dressed lists. It seems to come so easy to you and, the thing is…” she trailed off.

“You’re into fashion too,” I stated.

Something animated came over her, so much of it, she bopped in her seat. “Yes, but more. I’m like into…the art of fashion. The beauty that designers create. Or how they push the envelope. How they style things. How they build a runway.”

“Would you like to go to a runway, or several, with me during Fashion Week?” I asked.

Her eyes turned into sea-green flames of excitement. “Seriously?”

“Of course,” I replied. “I’d love it, dear. Neither of my girls are particularly interested. Mika will go at a push, if she’s not busy with a project. You’ll be granting one of my greatest wishes.” I leaned toward her. “I’ve always wanted to share my love of fashion with someone.”

“I would really, really, really love that,” she whispered.

Yes, I could see she would.

She would also really, really, really love to share something with the woman in her father’s life. Something that was ours. Something that we’d have forever. Something she could have with a woman in her life who was older than her, who could mentor her, who could be there for her when a woman like that was needed.

It took everything (and I mean everything ) not to burst into tears that she was giving me this honor.

Once I locked that down, I declared, “Then, it’s done. Fashion Week is in September. I’ll start getting the invitations very soon. When I do, we’ll go over them and decide which ones we want to attend.”

“Oh my God, that would be awesome,” she breathed.

It would be.

It would be everything .

For both of us.

“And you also must come over and go through my closet with me. I’ll show you my favorite pieces and share why they’re that,” I invited.

“Oh man, I need to do that,” she stated. “I just…I don’t know. I can’t seem to get a lock on what’s me .”

“Darling, that takes years,” I reassured her. “I’ll show you pictures when I was in my early twenties.” I shivered, largely and genuinely. “I wouldn’t admit this to just anyone, but I owned several”—I leaned in again and went on in a dire voice—“ tracksuits .”

Jamie’s beautiful girl burst out laughing.

Watching her, my work, in that moment, I knew was done.

But I also knew our conversation meant I had a job with Dru for the rest of my life.

And I couldn’t wait to dive in.

Once I went over this loveliness in my head two or three times, and after sitting in the gridlock without moving for twenty minutes, considering I was done for the day, it was sunny and lovely outside, I told my driver to head home, and I’d walk from there.

I’d gotten out, made my way to the sidewalk, and barely traversed a full block before I heard my phone vibrate in my bag.

I pulled it out, looked at the screen and took the call from my Allegra.

“Hello, dearest,” I greeted.

“Hey, Mom,” she replied.

“You’re well?”

“Um…kind of.”

My step slowed. “Kind of?”

“Okay, I know I shouldn’t tell you this, but I am because I think you should know, but I can’t unless you promise not to tell Val.”

“I can’t make promises about something I don’t know.”

“Mom—”

“Allegra, you know I’ll be appropriate, especially when it comes to you children. Out with it.”

“Damn,” she mumbled.

She knew I’d be appropriate.

I headed out of the thoroughfare to stand next to a building in order to focus on my girl.

“Allegra,” I prompted.

“Right, you know Darryn’s cousin who recently got divorced?”

Oh no.

I sensed I knew where this was going.

“Yes,” I said reluctantly.

“Well, um…Nico called Darryn and asked for her contact info so he could get a referral for her attorney.”

Yes, I knew where it was going.

“Damn,” I whispered.

“Yeah. And no. Felice is a pain in the ass, Mom.”

My ears perked up, because neither of my girls had ever given any indication about how they felt about Felice. They tended to support everything their brother did, love him unreservedly and act like he walked on water.

Of course, I encouraged that.

“Her holier than thou act gets on my nerves,” Allegra said. “I swear, a couple of months ago, you know, when Darryn gave me that Alhambra Van Cleef & Arpels watch, we went out to dinner with them, and I showed it off. She actually got her phone out, looked up the price of the watch, engaged the calculator and told me how many school lunches we could have paid for with that watch.”

I grimaced.

“I thought Darryn was going to throw her over the table,” Allegra carried on. “We’re lucky his parents have money, as do mine, so we don’t have student debt. But it isn’t like he sits around playing video games and mysterious forces stop by to give him money. He worked hard to buy that watch for me. And just to say, the hard work he does is stressful and saves lives.”

“It’s a beautiful watch, darling. I hope Felice saying that didn’t make it any less meaningful to you.”

“It didn’t, Mom,” she said on a sigh. “I’m just saying, she’s a pill, and it sucks, but I’m kinda glad Nico is thinking of scraping her off.”

I was “kinda” glad too, even if it broke my heart.

“Well, I won’t share this with Valentina,” I promised.

“That’s good, because even though I’m kind of glad Nico is seeing the light about her, if Valentina knows he is, she’ll wiggle in there and make it happen. And if she does that, it’s not gonna be pretty.”

“Valentina isn’t fond of Felice either?” I queried.

“She hates her, Mom. Do you know how she is with Archie?”

Oh no!

How could Felice be anything with Archie? He was as amiable as they come.

“How is she with Archie?” I asked with dread.

“Well, first, that whole ‘no one is invited to our commitment ceremony’ thing was all about Felice. Archie didn’t want her there, ruining it for them. So, the only way they thought they could do it, without Felice showing or making a big thing about not inviting Felice, was to do it on their own.”

At learning this news, I experienced a buzzing in my head so strong, I thought it might explode.

Although I understood why they made that decision, I was furious they felt forced to make it, and in so doing, they did not have the ones they loved close at hand to celebrate something so beautiful and important in their lives.

Allegra wasn’t done.

“This came about because she can pretty much rattle off the name of any NFL, NBA or MLB player who’s been accused of raping a woman, can go on about how cities pay for arenas when team owners are billionaires, and I could continue. Val told me she practically went stalker with how many articles she sent him about those hockey guys who got busted for what they did to that poor woman. In the end, he had to block her. All this, like Archie having a job taping a game means he’s directly responsible for everything wrong with professional sports. Archie is so freaking over it, it isn’t funny. He almost didn’t come to lunch that Sunday when he found out she was going to be there.”

Oh dear.

I understood it was bad, I was learning it was very bad, but with that, I realized it was far worse than I thought.

“Just to say, I’m not a big sports person, and a lot of it has to do with all those things,” Allegra kept on. “But Darryn is really into football and basketball, and her yammering on about all that stuff ticks him off too. I mean, it’s like she doesn’t know, you know, of course Darryn isn’t down with sexual assault. But they’re just games , they’re entertainment , and how the players and the owners behave, and all that shit isn’t a reflection of fans of the game, but the individual owners or players. You know?”

“I know,” I murmured conciliatorily.

“And I don’t want to get into telling you how she lectured Darryn about how he should turn his back on the NFL because of that taking a knee thing. It’s none of her damned business how he feels about that, though, obviously, he felt a man should be free to express himself by taking a knee or any way he wishes. Bottom line, though, frankly, she’s in no place to lecture a Black man about how he feels about anything. Or, really, lecturing anybody .”

“No, she isn’t,” I stated flatly.

“You have to talk to Nico, Mom.”

I blinked at the pavement. “For goodness sakes, why?”

“Because, even if he doesn’t scrape her off, she has to stop this crap with, I don’t know, everything .”

“Allegra, you and your sister are grown women, and I’ll add, your men are grown men. You can speak up for yourselves.”

“You get in his shit about how she is with Alyona,” she pointed out.

“Yes, because that’s mine to ‘get in his shit’ about, as you put it. Now consider how you’d feel if I came to you with complaints from Nico and Valentina, Felice and Archie about Darryn’s behavior.”

First, she made a scoffing sound before she declared, “Darryn is a god.”

He might not expect anyone to treat him as such, but my daughter did it all the same.

It was adorable.

“Yes, Darryn is perfect.” He wasn’t, but it was close. “I said that as a for instance,” I explained.

I heard her heavy sigh.

“Though, I don’t think now is the time for either of you to confront Nico about his wife,” I advised.

“If he’s thinking of ending things with her, maybe now is the perfect time,” she replied.

“I can’t tell you what to do, I can only advise. Now, you can phone him, and he can get defensive, and dig in, which could delay him making an important choice about his future, which will shorten the time he has to find happiness after she’s gone. Or you and Darryn and Valentina and Archie can support him through this tough time. Perhaps, if he confides in you, gracefully share how her behavior upsets you. But otherwise, let your grown-ass brother make his own way through this morass.”

“Did you just say ‘grown-ass?’” she teased.

“Is he not that?” I asked archly.

“He is. But I’m loving how Jamie is wearing off on you.”

That wasn’t Jamie.

I wasn’t sure, but I thought it was Mika.

Or Cadence.

“To end, my dearest, we need to rally around your brother.”

“Yeah,” she muttered. Then she asked, “You okay about what Dad pulled?”

After that Sunday, she and I had a short conversation about it, during which, as I suspected, she’d admitted she let slip to her father we were having a blend-the-families lunch. After that day, I’d spoken to all my children to take their pulse and allow them to take mine.

I moved away from the building and continued walking while I assured, “As I’ve said. I’m fine.”

I wasn’t, knowing Roland was up to no good with Paloma and AJ, but if I could help it, none of my children would know about that.

“Dad’s been calling. I’m not answering. Darryn intervened, phoned him, and told him he needed to back off and give me time.”

Yes, Darryn was nearly perfect.

“Has he stopped calling?”

“Yeah,” she said.

She sounded sad.

She loved her father.

I just hated being able to fully feel that was difficult for her.

“Take your time to find the way you wish to share with him how that made you feel, then reach out when you’re ready,” I advised. “He’ll listen to you.”

“It sucked you guys got divorced, and why,” Allegra began. “But it was cool how neither of you ever badmouthed the other to us kids. So I honestly don’t get what his thing is with this. Why he suddenly changed.”

I did.

Paloma.

“Maybe, when you’re ready to talk to him again, ask him,” I suggested.

“Yeah,” she muttered.

“I’d like that Sunday lunch to be a monthly thing. Would you like that?” I asked.

Her voice perked up. “That’d be awesome. Maybe we could do a ’round the houses. Every month at a different person’s place.”

“An excellent idea, dearest.”

I turned the corner, and halfway down the block, saw Arnold standing outside my building in his sharp gray uniform, and I was glad of it. I’d overestimated how far I could walk in my Louboutin heels.

“My house next. I’ll talk to Darryn,” Allegra said.

“That would be lovely.”

“Speak soon. Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, darling. Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

We hung up and I was about to drop my phone in my bag, smiling at Arnold, who had stepped toward the door in preparation for opening for me, when suddenly, I was slammed against the side of my building.

I opened my mouth to shout, but it died in my throat when I saw Chester “Chet” Lynch, Dru’s biological father, standing in front of me, shoving me against the stonework with a forearm against my chest.

“You think you can be her mom?” he snarled.

I stared in his enraged eyes.

Arnold’s whistle was going off frantically.

“He thought he could be her dad,” Lynch continued.

“Move away from me,” I demanded, shoving at his middle to push him off.

And Arnold was there, pulling violently at his shoulder. “Get away from her. Now!”

“You’re gonna learn, you fuckin’ bitch .”

His spittle landed on my face on the last word, and I feared he was loading his mouth to deliver more, but Arnold shoved him off and kept shoving him down the street.

Now Charlene was there, asking, “Mz. Ellington, are you okay?”

Lynch spat at Arnold’s feet, turned and jogged away.

“Mz. Ellington!” Charlene called urgently.

I looked to her. “Yes. I’m fine. I’m all right.”

“Do you want me to phone the police?” she asked.

On Drusilla’s biological father accosting and threatening me?

Not on my life.

Or…not until I talked with Jamie.

“No. I…not now. I think I just need to get upstairs,” I said.

Arnold returned. “She okay?”

“She wants to go upstairs,” Charlene told him.

“I’ll escort you Mz. Ellington,” he offered.

I nodded.

We all returned to the building with Arnold taking me all the way to my floor.

I knew Charlene shared because Alyona wasn’t at an opened door, she was standing in the vestibule.

I knew what I must look like when she rushed forward and took my arm. “Oh, my goodness.”

“You got her?” Arnold asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Get her to call the cops.”

At his words, Alyona’s face paled.

“Thank you, Arnold,” I said over my shoulder as Alyona led me inside.

“My job,” he replied.

“And you excel at it.”

He tipped his cap to me.

Alyona took me to the sofa in the living room and pushed me down.

“Charlene said you were attacked,” she accused, like I did it to myself.

I waved my hand in front of me. “It wasn’t an attack. More a confrontation that got a little physical.”

“Miss Nora!” she cried in distress. “We need to phone the police immediately.”

“It was Dru’s biological father, Alyona.”

Her eyes went huge.

“So first, I need to talk to Jamie,” I decreed. “He’ll be home in less than two hours. I can talk to him then.”

She looked dubious. “I think maybe you should call Mister Jamie now.”

“I think now I need to get my shoes off and my head together so I can help Jamie decide what to do about this.”

And whatever “this” was, was something we did not need when Jamie was trying to figure out what to do about the Roland/Paloma/AJ situation.

Fortunately, he had an ace investigator named Kateri True Arrow who had already uncovered Roland’s possible partners in the scheme to refinance the Oakley Texas ranch, and Jamie was hard at work scheduling meetings with them.

But we didn’t need another headache.

I was beginning to think I should call Chloe to ask after the company she hired that yacht from and whisk Jamie away myself.

Alyona shook her head like I was making a big mistake then she asked, “Do you want me to help with your shoes?”

“No. I can manage. I’m going to go change. Jamie and I are in for the night. I can get comfortable.”

Alyona continued to look reproving as I got up and went to my closet.

I switched my slacks, blouse and heels with a Brunello Cucinelli cotton-silk, zip-up felpa and matching pull-on pants (not exactly a tracksuit, I told myself as I donned it). Even if I normally would put on slippers, I left my feet bare.

After that, I went to the bathroom, cleaned my face of Lynch’s spittle and moisturized.

While seated at the vanity, applying powder and mascara to get me through the evening, abruptly, I felt an uncontrollable rage boil inside me. A delayed reaction to being manhandled by a wife beater and deadbeat father.

Unable (unwilling?) to get a lock on it, I went to my purse, pulled out my phone, and did the only thing I had the power to do in that moment.

I called my children’s father.

“I think we’ve said all we intend to say to each other,” Roland said by way of greeting.

“I do believe you’ve lost Nico forever,” I retorted. “But I don’t know. He’s a good man. And men need their fathers. And because life is life, eventually he will need you. Now, in those times, he can turn to Jamie, or you can get your fucking shit together and behave like a decent human being in an effort at making it easier in future to mend this rift with your son.”

I was a little miffed at myself I’d lost it a bit in the midst of delivering that, but only a little.

“Nora—”

“Valentina wasn’t a lost cause, and please make note of the past tense, Roland. She wasn’t . Until your antics that Sunday. You’re holding on to her by a thread. And by the way, the one you thought you’d never lose, the hold you have on her is unraveling too. In short, whatever nonsense you’re up to, stop it . Before it’s too late.”

“I was your first love,” he spat.

“You still are,” I pointed out. “It’s just that I don’t love you anymore.”

“What we had…the passion, the fire?—”

Oh my God!

Men!

“Roland, get over it . You poured a cold bucket of water over that fire then kicked dirt on it to make certain it was snuffed out. It’s done . How you can know who you were to me, what you gave me, what we had together, what you destroyed , and think you still have some right to do harm to me, I will never understand. Stop hurting me . For the love of God, please . Let me be happy .”

“Nora, bellisima ,” he said softly.

“Goodbye, Roland,” I said resolutely.

Then I hung up.

After that, I went to the bar cart and made myself a very stiff drink.

Heiress and I were on martini number two (well, Heiress wasn’t partaking, she was just keeping me company).

This one, like the first, I’d just waved the vermouth over it in an act of faith to the art of martini making. There was a silver toothpick shoved full of bleu-cheese-stuffed olives rolling around in it.

And this was as I was when the front door opened, then crashed shut.

I jumped.

Heiress leapt off the couch to investigate.

Jamie stalked in, murder in his eyes.

“Darling—” I didn’t really begin.

“First, are you okay?” he demanded.

Uh-oh.

“You know?”

Of course he knew. It was a stupid question. It was written all over his face.

It could be any culprit, Arnold, Charlene, but I was betting Alyona.

“Arnold told me,” Jamie bit out.

Oh.

I was wrong.

“The question is, why didn’t you?” he asked.

“I was waiting until you got home.”

“You were…? Nora—” He cut himself off, looked away, tore his hand through his hair, then leaned toward me and bellowed, “ Have you lost your mind? You were attacked! ”

“You say it like it is, Mister Jamie,” Alyona encouraged from where she now stood in the doorway that led to the dining room, her arms crossed on her chest, her glare settled on me.

Jamie glanced at her then scowled at me.

“I don’t need to be attacked by you too,” I snapped at Jamie. Then looked to Alyona. “Either of you.”

Alyona stuck her nose up in the air.

“I’m not attacking you.” Jamie brought my attention back to him. “I’m pissed as fuck, and not all of it is at you. Though, Nora, my beloved, part of it is at you. I can’t believe you fucking waited until I got home.”

Hmm.

“I’m also calling the police,” Jamie continued. “Which is a useless endeavor at the moment, since the motherfucker has had hours to get away.”

“I know who he was, which is another reason why I waited for you to get home.”

Jamie’s head ticked.

“It was Chester Lynch,” I announced.

Jamie’s entire body went still as a statue.

So his “The fuck?” was tight.

“He said something about me thinking I can be Drusilla’s mom, you thinking you’re her dad, then he made a threat. That’s all he got out before Arnold pulled him away.”

“What threat did he make?”

I shook my head. “Something like, ‘you’ll learn.’”

“You’ll learn what?”

I shook my head again. “I don’t know. He said very little. Arnold was there in a flash. And I was surprised to even see him, so much so, I was paying scant attention to what he was saying.”

“Are we phoning the police?” Alyona asked.

Jamie looked to her. “Yes. Can you take care of that?”

“Right away,” Alyona said, and dashed off.

“Jamie,” I snapped.

He looked down at me. “What?”

“It was Dru’s biological father.”

“And…he attacked you. Arnold said he threw you up against a building, which, sweetheart,”—he came to sit next to me and took my hand—“you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay?”

“I was just shocked. He didn’t hurt me.”

“Fucking fucker,” he bit off, but lifted my hand and kissed the back of it.

He then put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side as he settled us both back into the couch.

“I’ll handle Dru,” he declared. “But we have to make a complaint. It needs to be on file in case he intends any more of his bullshit.”

That possibility didn’t thrill me, not making the complaint, not Lynch having more antics up his sleeve.

But I couldn’t dwell on it when there were other priorities.

“How are you going to handle Dru?”

He looked down at me. “Tell her what happened.”

I stared up at him. “Won’t that upset her?”

“She hasn’t seen him since she was five,” he shared. “She calls me Dad because I’m her dad.”

“But—”

“Nora, honey,”—he pulled me closer—“she knows what kind of man he is, and if she was here, she’d be right with me, telling you to report it to the police.”

“It will still upset her.”

“He’s skilled at upsetting people, as you’ve personally experienced, but welcome to my world where you’re powerless against anything but damage control when it comes to that guy.” He took my martini glass out of my hand, threw back a sip, then handed it to me while murmuring, “Now I need to sic Kateri on that clown’s ass, see if she can find out what he’s up to.”

“I think we need to talk about Dru some more,” I suggested.

“I think I’m going to have a chat with Arnold. I want him to escort you to and from your cars. I’ll also chat with your hire company. I want your drivers escorting you in and out of wherever you’re going.”

“Although he didn’t approach to invite me to breakfast at the Plaza, maybe we can brainstorm why he might suddenly have returned.”

“The police are coming,” Alyona announced.

Jamie peered over my head at her. “Thank you, Alyona.”

“Would you like a drink?” she asked Jamie.

“I can get it,” he told her.

I felt her leave us, and Jamie turned back to me.

“That’s what Kateri is going to find out,” he said.

“Jamie, he seemed very angry.”

Jamie studied me.

“If we’re going through with reporting this, I think you might want to call Dru now, to warn her, in case he goes to her,” I suggested.

“Fuck,” Jamie clipped, then he pulled out his phone.

He got up and went to the bar cart, putting his cell to his ear.

I then listened to his side of the conversation, which was fraught, mostly around Dru’s concern for me.

I took in a deep breath, and let it go.

He ended it by assuring her that Kateri would be on it by morning, I would be looked after, and she needed to be vigilant, and if she was concerned, he’d get her security. It was clear she declined this, which didn’t make me happy.

He then completed the call and brought his bourbon back to sit next to me.

When he was settled, Heiress had come up to get a belated greeting from her daddy, and he was scratching her ears, I remarked, “I’m not sure Dru should make the call about security.”

“I’m sure. She shouldn’t. Once I stop saying hello to Heiress, I’m contacting my team. She’ll never know she’s being followed.”

That made me feel better.

“Do you know what’s become of him? Lynch?” I asked.

In hindsight, I realized, Chet looked rough. Not downtrodden and, say, homeless or anything. Just like he’d done quite a bit of hard living in his years on Earth, and it showed on his face.

Jamie stopped scratching Heiress, which earned him a nasty look and her walking over Jamie’s lap to get to me, so I took over as he alternately sipped, texted, and answered me.

“He’s rattled around. Pennsylvania. Connecticut. New Hampshire. New Jersey.” Sip. Type. “He tried to be a rambling man with Lindy. Once she had a baby, she wanted roots.” More sipping. More typing. “It was one of the things they argued about.” Still more typing, but no sipping. “He remarried. Twice. Divorced. Twice. No other children.” I heard the whoosh and he looked to me. “How did you get him to leave Lindy’s memorial reception?”

“I asked him to leave, and when he refused, I called security, and they made him leave.”

“That’s it?”

I nodded.

He seemed bemused. “We haven’t heard from him since then.”

“Well, the reason why had nothing to do with me. I’m sure his ego took a hit at being escorted out, but it wasn’t that dramatic. Eventually, they were less escorting and more simply following since he just left.” I tipped my head to the side. “Did you hear from him frequently before?”

“He came to me on a regular basis, demanding money.”

“Oh Jamie,” I whispered. “Did you give it to him?”

“In the beginning,”— he took another sip—“yes. It would buy him leaving us alone, particularly Lindy. Eventually, when he tried to extort five million dollars from me so I could adopt Dru, no. After that, the number of demands decreased, but they continued until Lindy got sick. And surprise, he never sued for custody, even if he threatened it repeatedly.”

I could add Chester Lynch to my hate list, and I did, at a position very close to the top, sandwiched between AJ Oakley and Paloma Friedrichsen.

Jamie kept speaking. “Dru was seventeen when her mom died. Less than a year away from reaching her majority, which meant he had nothing to hold over us anymore. With Lindy gone, this is maybe why he fucked off for the last five years.”

He was staring into his bourbon, and he’d been speaking, but I sensed I lost him.

“Jamie?”

He turned to me. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“What?”

“Ned learns Roland is making moves. You find out Paloma is attempting to interfere with us. Pop’s over a barrel. And suddenly, Chet shows up?”

“Oh my God,” I breathed as what he was saying struck me.

“Pop said he’d play dirty, and this is as dirty as you can get, unleashing that asshole on you, maybe on Dru, thus on me.”

“He wouldn’t,” I whispered. “Dru is for all intents and purposes his grandchild.”

He swirled his bourbon. “So was Judge, and he fucked him over his entire life in an effort to steal him from me, and in the meantime, keep him from me.”

“That’s…it’s…it’s… diabolical ,” I stammered.

He lifted his glass to me. “Say hello to AJ Oakley.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “That was a long text.”

“It was.”

“Am I going to have security?”

He looked steadily into my eyes. “Yes.”

I blew out a sigh and buried my fingers in Heiress’s ruff. “This is outrageous.”

“What it is, is all they’ve got. If I can shut Chet down, and I can shut Roland down, then I can shut Pop down. And in a few months, it’ll be over.”

“Until you hand the ranch to your real father. Which will make AJ lose his mind, and it’ll be an emotional juggernaut for you.”

“Until that,” he muttered into his drink, before taking another sip.

I was definitely looking into hiring that yacht.

I wasn’t sure I could afford it.

But I was looking into it.

“Before the police get here, you should know, Allegra called.”

At my declaration, Jamie’s attention returned to me.

“She told me that Nico contacted Darryn to get the number of his cousin’s divorce attorney.”

“Surprised at how fast this is, but not that it’s happening,” he murmured.

“Yes. And Allegra also shared that none of them, my girls or their men, like Felice.”

“Hmm.”

“Did you read that?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. But I’m not surprised. She isn’t very likeable.”

Indeed.

“Oh, and I called and told off Roland.”

His focus narrowed on me. “You did what?”

“I called and told Roland, if he didn’t desist in harming me, he’d lose them forever. I have no idea if it sunk in.” At Jamie’s look of concern, I brought my shoulders forward and released them. “It was an out-of-control moment after the situation with Chester Lynch. Delayed reaction. I got angry, and he was the one I wanted to take it out on.”

Carefully, Jamie said, “You do know, sweetheart, that if this is AJ, Roland might know about unleashing Chet.”

I scoffed. “That is not Roland’s style. He’s acting like an ass, but he’d lose his mind if he knew someone put their hands on me. And there’s no way he’d make Dru collateral damage.”

“You know him better than me,” he muttered.

I hoped I did, because, if Roland had anything to do with bringing Chester Lynch back in Jamie and Dru’s life…

All bets were off .