Page 143 of Embracing the Change

“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.

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