Chapter 29 Amber

Amber left Wade Ashford's office satisfied with how the meeting had gone. She had every expectation that he would follow through as she'd instructed. But the best part was the new information she'd gotten about Valene Mart. It seemed they were still interested in buying, which she would verify; if true, it meant Amber could safely use the diamond money to buy White Orchid stock with the assurance that she'd get her money back pretty quickly. And even better was the fact that Amber would make a nice profit on her investment with what Valene Mart would be willing to pay to buy the stock from her. That made sharing the money with Jackson more palatable. Once that was finished, she would leave Dallas for greener and more interesting pastures. She was sick and tired of others trying to make her feel less than. All her life, she'd been looked down upon. And then when she'd finally thought she'd secured her position in high society, Jackson had been arrested and she'd been the subject of gossip and ridicule once again. Now she had her own money, but it wasn't enough. She wasn't going to just run away and hide. This was a matter of pride, of reclaiming her dignity. Daisy Ann had humiliated her in front of all those people. Rich, influential people whose approval Amber had worked so hard to gain. The burning need to take Daisy Ann down, to prove that she could best her, to take away the one thing Daisy Ann prized in her heart—her mother's legacy—was all-consuming. She wouldn't rest until she had her retribution.

She sighed in contentment and leaned against the headrest of the back seat. The driver had wisely continued to refrain from speaking unless spoken to, so this afternoon she would call the car agency and request his services for the duration of her stay in Dallas. Now, as the SUV slowed and turned into Turtle Creek and the entrance to Rosewood Mansion, Amber peered out her window, smiling as the hotel came into view. She'd been staying here for a week now and loved every minute ofit.

Sunlight sparkled on the peachy pink stucco of the elegant building with its Palladian windows and canopied entrance. She'd read that it once had been a private estate built to copy early Italian renaissance style, and Amber nodded in approval. A valet wearing a plaid suede jacket and cap approached the car and opened her door. Before exiting she tapped on the front seat. "I won't need you until tomorrow. Pick me up at nine," she said to the driver in dismissal.

"Yes, ma'am" was all he said.

Amber walked briskly to the entrance and through the French doors to an airy reception area that resembled a rotunda. The domed ceiling must have been thirty feet high, she thought, and it was magnificently decorated with ornamental plasterwork that cascaded down the walls of the tall ceiling.

Once in her suite, she threw her handbag on the sofa and sat, tapping Jackson's contact on her phone. It rang twice before he pickedup.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"What, no hello? How are you?" she taunted, lifting her legs and pushing a high heel off each tired foot with the other.

"Oh, sorry. How are you, Amber? How is the weather, and how is your hotel room? How about we cut the shit and get to the point? How did the fucking meeting go?"

She smiled. It was such fun to get him riled up, especially when she was sixteen hundred miles away and out of reach. "Well, first of all, Wade Ashford is a pseudomacho misogynist piece of shit."

There was laughter on the other end of the line. "I'm sure you put him in his place. What about the shares?"

Amber recounted their conversation to Jackson. "If your paroled prison friend Hugo, who can't leave the state, does his job, we'll be able to convince Daisy Ann to sell. We need to dangle the idea that some of the royals will be wearing her designs. All she cares about is cachet. That's why she turned down all that money from Valene Mart. She's a rich bitch who doesn't need any more money. But prestige, that's her hot button. If we play this right, we'll come out of it with a tidy profit to share."

"You're confident Ashford will be able to get her to take the meeting?"

"He'll figure it out and make it happen to save his own ass. He's a weasel. And weasels are predators. Do you know that weasels do a little war dance when they've cornered their prey? I can just see that son of a bitch Ashford waving his damn shotgun and doing a war dance in his high-heeled cowboy boots."

There was silence on Jackson's end.

"Wade's going to come through, Jackson. I have no doubt."

"Okay. Everything's ready. I've taken care of every detail, and our company looks completely legitimate to anyone checking it out. The website's up, all the documents have been filed. It certainly passed Wade Ashford's scrutiny. Wade will be hearing from Hugo next week, but Hugo will be conveniently out of the country, so my attorney, Leonard Simms, will take the meeting in person and Hugo will be on Zoom. All this will go like clockwork, and as long as Daphne is here and you hold up your end, I'm with you. Once we've sold to Valene Mart and the transactions are completed, we'll split the money and dissolve the LLC," Jackson said.

"I've given Ashford two weeks. In the meantime, I'll have a little look around town and get myself set up here. And remember, don't try any funny business with the money; otherwise, I'll change my mind and fight you for custody of Jax. The courts still favor the mother, you know."

"Don't worry. As you'll see when you get the paperwork, the money can't be transferred without both our signatures and unique log-ons. That should give you some peace of mind."

"And how are things going with the lovely Daphne? Is she falling in love with you all over again?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Kind of you to ask about Daphne. I thought maybe you'd ask about your son. How foolish of me."

"Go to hell, Jackson," she said, and disconnected.

There was no one better than Jackson at stoking her fury. Amber turned off the phone so that she wouldn't be disturbed by him or anyone else. What was it about men that they needed to control everything? Jackson and his manipulations. Jake Crawford hiding his money from her. Wade Ashford killing big game so that he could hang their heads on his walls and show what a he-man he was. Show-offs, all of them, constantly having to prove what big balls they had, how smart and powerful they were. Well, she would show them. Amber was going to outsmart them all.

She rose from the sofa and padded barefoot to the bathroom off the bedroom. The sizable room contained a large walk-in shower and freestanding soaking tub. Amber turned on the water and picked up a crystal jar, pouring exotic-smelling bath salts from it into the tub. While it filled, she undressed, donning the complimentary white waffle robe, and looked around the suite in satisfaction. The rooms were large and gracefully furnished, the colors soft and muted, emitting a feeling of calm and sophistication. When she'd booked the three-thousand-dollar-a-night suite, an amount that was mere peanuts to her now, Amber had felt a flutter of delight in her stomach. As she studied the art on the walls and ran her hand across the fine bed linens, a powerful sense of autonomy swept over her. Yes, she'd been in more sumptuous surroundings before, had lived and stayed in more magnificent spaces, but none of those places had been hers alone. And even though she was only renting this suite, it was her money that had secured it. All hers. There was no one she had to please or answer to or pretend to love. She flopped onto the bed and stretched, laughing out loud.