Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Jada

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe you,” Tatum whispered.

“Believe it, girlfriend. Creed wants me to fake being in love with him to try to get crazy Candace to come out of the woodwork.”

Tatum sat back in her chair and shook her head in disbelief. “No.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I need you to get over the shock, Tatum, and help me figure out if I am going to do this. And if I do, what am I going to ask for I return.”

“How do they know that Candace is going to come after you? She could still come after me, Kitty, or even Greer, though I’ve heard that Candace would have to be crazy to go after Greer.”

“I’d like to meet this Greer one day,” I laughed. “Creed had said the same thing about her.”

“Murphy and I had lunch with her the other day. She’s fancy while being so down to earth. She’s kind of an anomaly. I really liked her.” Tatum flitted her hand in the air. “But that is beside the point. What are you going to do?”

“Do I really have a choice?” I asked. “If I don’t help Creed, Candace will never be caught, and then I will go down in history as the woman who was the downfall of the Banachis.”

Tatum blinked slowly. “Uh, okay. I think you might be slightly exaggerating. If you don’t want to do this, the guys will find another way.”

“Another woman, you mean?”

Tatum tipped her head to the side. “Are you more upset that Creed asked you to do this or that if you say no, someone else will take your place?”

“Take my place in a fake romance while running the risk of being murdered?” I countered. “It’s all fake, Tatum.”

“That is what is upsetting you.”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a stack of receipts I needed to enter into my ledger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You liked Creed before you found out who he was.”

“Yes, and then I also found out what I liked before was all a fa?ade, Tatum. I am aware that whatever happens between Creed and me will all be fake.”

“You sound like you’ve already made up your mind,” Tatum laughed.

I shuffled through the papers. “Yes, I have. I can’t very well say no and then sit by and worry that Candace will come after you again.”

“Oh, so you’re taking one for the team.”

I pointed to the door. “I think I heard the bell ding. Maybe you should go check on that.”

Tatum stood and tipped her head to the side. “Maybe you guys could go on a double date with me and Murphy.”

Yeah, that was not likely to happen. From the way Creed had made it sound, we were going to have to lay it on thick. I didn’t think I would be able to do that in front of Tatum. “Raincheck,” I sighed.

The bell above the door dinged.

Tatum rolled her eyes. “Darn it. I better go see if I can sell some books today. It’s been pretty dead.”

I flitted my fingers at her. “Yup, earn that paycheck.”

I sat back in my chair and sighed. I really hadn’t decided what I was going to do next.

One instant, I was ready to tell Creed about Candace, and then the next second, I was terrified that Candace would somehow find out I had told Creed, and I would be dead.

I had yet to figure out how she would know what I was up to without being around me, but something told me Candace had a reach that I didn’t comprehend.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up to see a text from an unknown number.

I see you’ve been keeping company with Creed. Good girl. I’ll be in touch.

I dropped my phone and scrambled back as if it had bitten me.

How on earth did Candace know about Creed? How was she watching me, but yet Creed and the Banachis could not find her?

If she could keep such a close eye on me, then why couldn’t she just get her information about the Banachis herself? It wasn’t as if Creed was going to tell me all of the Banachis secrets.

I had to tell Creed what was going on.

But then what if Candace found out I had told him?

She was watching me. Hell, maybe she was somehow listening to me.

I looked around my office. Had she somehow managed to bug my office or the bookstore and had heard me talking to Creed or Tatum?

Anything was possible.

And if she was watching me, I couldn’t very well go rushing off to Creed right after she texted me.

I glanced at my phone. Maybe she was somehow listening to me through that.

I felt like some quack conspiracy theorist.

All I needed was a tin foil hat.

Candace was watching, and I had to be very careful of my next move.