Page 135 of The Liar's Reckoning

“Photos or videos?” Silas asks.

“A video,” I confirm.

He nods, taking this in, and to be honest, he’s handling it a lot better than I did. “So, Gibson is blackmailing you.”

“Yes.”

“What are the demands?”

“First, that I give Avery whatever she wants in the divorce.”

Silas laughs harshly. “Like what? She knows you’re not exactly rolling in it.”

“But my family is.” I slide a glance his way and wait for him to understand why I had to go to my father for help.

“I see,” he says, slowly.

“And my father has his own set of conditions for helping me.”

“I move out.”

I shut my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose, fighting the sob that wants to tear its way from my chest. “It’s not just that.” I swallow razor blades. “I can’t see you anymore, Silas.”

“Yeah, I figured that’s where this was headed. Look. I can find another place to go. You do whatever the asshole wants—Gibson, I mean. We’ll figure something out. I know it’s not ideal, but we can make it work.”

I shake my head. “He won’t—there’s nothing simple about this. There’s a man outside the door now. Waiting to take me back to the house.”

Silas looks over his shoulder like he can see through the wall. “Are you serious? Your dad hired someone to watch you?”

I nod. A shaky breath rattles from my chest. “The thing is—I’m not sure I can keep this from coming out. The other things Gibson wants—I might not be able to deliver.”

“Like what?”

“Political things. Favors. Votes. Statements that go directly against things I’ve said in the past.”

“Like?”

“Like liberal shit that would get me into a lot of trouble with my colleagues.”

Silas glares at me, and I guess I deserve it. “What kind of liberal shit?”

Frustrated, I rake my nails across my scalp. “It doesn’t matter because I can’t do it. Not all of it. The only hope I have of salvaging this whole situation is my dad. And if I take his help—I can’t be seen with you. Ever.”

Silas’s voice is low with barely contained rage. “Explain this to me like I’m a child because you’re not making any fucking sense.”

I can’t look at him. Shame is like a slime coating me. “If I do what my father says, he’ll be generous with Avery. If we can manage to make her happy, there’s a chance Marianne might back off. I got the impression Gibson wasn’t a hundred percent on board with the rest of it, but he’s hard to read. He notoriously loyal to that bitch. But if he tries to move against us, my father has the influence to push back.”

“Us?” Silas asks, his voice acidic.

“My family,” I say even as my stomach contents rise up my throat.

Silas shakes his head in frustrated disbelief. “I’m not connecting the dots on what the fuck this has to do with me and you.”

“It’s my father’s condition. And it’s—honestly—I have a hard time disagreeing with him about it. It protects us both.”

“By us this time, you mean me and you?”

“Yes,” I say with a heavy, miserable sigh.

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