Page 60 of Playboy Billionaire

“A week later I lost the baby. I was almost six months along. I thought I’d never recover. But the worst of it was the tiny speck of relief I’d felt—that nearly destroyed me. I was sure that it was karma…for being with a married man, for escorting men for money, that I’d somehow killed my baby…like I’d willed it because I really wasn’t ready for a child.”

Penelope reached for an envelope on the side table and handed it to Dolly. “I found these in my dressing room this morning.”

Dolly slowly pulled back the flap and reached inside the envelope. She pulled out the 5 x 7 photos and her jaw dropped. A very young Penelope Winters was in every shot, looking seductive and caught looking questionably intimate. In one shot she was laughing up at an older man while he stared leeringly at her breasts, in another photo she was sitting on the lap of a much older man wearing a tight skirt that rode up her thighs.

Penelope grabbed the pictures from Dolly and laid them out side by side on the glass coffee table. She went down the line, pointing, “This one married, this one married, this one a very powerful politician…” She got to the last one, an incredibly handsome man in his early to mid-thirties. She picked up the photograph, touching the image with her fingertip, “This is him, Graham Warren.”

Dolly gulped, “TheGraham Warren? The same one that just announced he’s running on the Republican ticket for president?”

“Same.”

“Oh my!” She studied the photograph. They were holding hands with the backdrop of Rodeo Drive behind them. They looked like any other beautiful couple. Stunning, happy, in love. “How many years ago was this?”

“Thirteen.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

“What are you going to do about this?”

“What can I do? Wait and see what’s coming next. I’m sure it’s going to be a real riot,” she said. “The funny thing is,” Penelope said, picking up the picture of her and Graham, “I’ve seen this photo before. This is the same one that Emily confronted me with all those years ago. I’d never forget it. It’s burned in my memory.”

“What the hell? Why would she be bringing this up now? You know what? Fuck it! Today, nobody is going to care what you did thirteen years ago.”

“I’m not so sure about that. An affair with a married man, especially one with three kids is still frowned upon. Plus, what about Graham? This would ruin him. Not to mention the other men in the photos. What about their wives? And children and grandchildren!”

“You have to take care of yourself. Don’t worry about those bastards.”

Penelope waved her hands up in the air, “Headlines,Penelope Winters…dark past revealed…she was once an escort for the rich and famous including the presidential hopeful, Graham Warren. The tabloids will devour me and him. It sheds a whole new light on the magazine cover that was left for me though. Where does Jack fit in, if he even does? Did someone hire him?”

Dolly’s eyes narrowed. “I wonder.”

“Is it a coincidence that they just announced Graham was running on the Republican ticket, and this resurfaces?”

“What a mess!” Dolly said.

“The more I think about it the more I’m thinking there is a connection between his run and these photos.”

“But why bother with you? If they’re blackmailing him why go after you? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know, but I think I should try to talk with Graham. Obviously, I no longer have his contact information. I’ll have to leave a message with his staff and hope he receives it.”

“Yes, I think you have to.”

“Dolly, I’ve been carrying this alone for so long, it’s a relief to finally talk about it. My mom knew some of it, but not all.”

“Make the call today.”

“I will.”

“Whatever happened to Camille?”

Grief danced across Penelope’s face, “She overdosed. Gone. She’d moved out of our apartment and moved in with some guy. About a year after she left…she was dead.”

“How sad.”

“Now that you know all of my dirty little secrets, do you think I’m a terrible person?”

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