Page 58 of Lucky Star

“Do I even want to know how much did this place cost?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“It must have cost a fortune. Are you sure we can afford it?”

She stared at the ground, brushing her foot back and forth through fallen pine needles. “Um, so, about that.”

I raised her chin with my knuckle. “Spit it out.”

She exhaled and scrunched her face up. “Broderick paid for it,” she muttered sheepishly.

“Sarah,” I sighed. I didn’t want to be in any more debt to that man than I already was.

“It’s not what you think,” she rushed to assure me. Taking my hand, she tugged me toward the house. Finding the steps that led to the side door, she sat down and pulled me down next to her. “I didn’t tell you because I knew it looked bad. I should have said something sooner, but by the time I worked up the courage to, you’d already …”

“Abandoned you.”

She didn’t have to say what I’d done; I’d never forget it. And I’d never do it again, either.

“How did Broderick pay for this place?”

“Okay,” she sighed, and dropped her eyes to her knees. “When I got promoted, I got a massive raise.”

I squeezed her knee. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more supportive.”

She smiled at me, her eyes sad, and shook her head. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I realize now, I don’t really know anything about your new job.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Right away, something seemed off about the whole thing. Even though Broderick said he’d been planning to promote me, I don’t think he did it because I am as invaluable as he made out.”

“You are, Sarah. You do the work of three people.”

“Thanks, but I know my worth, and there’s no way I earned an Associate Producer title with what I’ve done at Grimalkin. I’ve checked with friends who work at other studios, and that’s way above my experience.” She shrugged. “Anyhow, when I realized that Broderick was actually trying to bribe me, I wouldn’t back down.”

“Go on.”

She snickered and pulled her hair back from her face, tying it up in a messy bun. “I think I shocked him when I accused him of trying to buy me off, and for so little. I basically threw his offer back at him and negotiated a better one.” Sarah pulled her knees up close and rested her cheek against them with her face turned my way. “In the end, he cut me a check for two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars.”

Holy shit. My beautiful, intelligent, wonderful girl.

I started laughing so hard my abs hurt. “You’re fucking brilliant.” I pulled her in against my side and realized why she hadn’t mentioned this before. “You didn’t want to tell me because you thought I would misconstrue how it looked, didn’t you?”

She nodded and chewed her lip. “You’d already accused me of betraying you, so I figured if you heard I’d taken his hush money, you’d be even more livid. That’s not what this was though. You know that, right?”

“Hush,” I said, easing her onto my lap and holding her close. “I know you wouldn’t do that.”

We sat in silence until the cold seeped into my clothes, and I felt Sarah begin to shiver. I moved to ease her out of my lap, when she spoke up again. “There’s more I need to tell you.”

“Do I even want to know?”

She nodded, her eyes lit with pleasure. “Yesterday, after you left my office, Shanna called me. Apparently, Broderick paid me out of their joint account, and when she confronted him about the withdrawal, he admitted what the money was for. She is so mad at him. She told me what he’d asked us to do was unconscionable, and that she’d do anything she could to make things easier on us.”

“That’s good.” I stood and extended my hand. When she clasped it, I pulled her up and we made our way back to the car. Taking our suitcases out of the back, I said, “I’m glad to hear Shanna has your back at least.”

“Oh, she does,” she chirped. “She told me she thought I didn’t get nearly enough out of Broderick. To make up for it, she paid for this rental. She also asked me to keep all of our receipts from the trip. This trip is as all-inclusive as you can get.”

I barked out a loud laugh that came straight from my gut, and soon she joined in. It felt good to let loose.

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