Page 54 of Lush

He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it, visibly fighting with himself. His eyes shifted, and for a split second, I saw it—the crack. But then he shut it down. “You don’t get to ask me that.”

“I’m going to be your wife?—”

“This is not a real marriage. Whoever I may or may not have fucked is not your business, and whoever you were with is not mine.” His gaze locked on to mine, intense. “Let’s focus on what’s coming for us, Laurene. We’ve got bigger problems.”

I took a breath. I guessed it was time to finally confess.

“She confronted me at the engagement party.”

Reese raised an eyebrow. “Confronted you? About what?”

I paused, thinking it over. It had been years, but the memory still stirred something in me that felt like mild shame mixed with justification.

“She wanted to talk about the pills I caught her taking.”

Reese’s eyes widened in surprise.

I never wanted to be that person—the manipulator. Like Mama who turned every moment of weakness into an opportunity. Blair left me no choice then. I mean, she’d do the same to me if we were in each other’s shoes.

“Right before my last pageant, a few months before the engagement party, I saw her in the bathroom. She was popping pills like they were candy. God knows what they were. For her to lose weight, maybe?” I swallowed, the bitterness rising in my throat. “I took a photo of it.”

Reese blinked, his expression now a mixture of disbelief and judgment. “That got leaked online. Everyone saw.”

“There’s a consequence for every action.” I shrugged.

I did not leak the photos. I just gave someone else the opportunity to.

“Holy shit, Laurene. You really think that makes it okay?” He pushed his plate slightly away.

“Blair isn’t some innocent victim. She don’t get to pick and choose when karma’s a problem.”

He wasn’t convinced, not fully.

“She had sent me a couple of threats after that, leading up to the engagement party, but I just brushed them off.”

Reese leaned back in his seat.

“If there’s someone who dislikes me more than anyone in town, it’s Blair. If we’re gonna accuse Toby, let’s put her on the list too.”

“What exactly did she threaten you with?”

“She threatened me with some photos.” I swallowed, not even wanting to think anything of it. “Blair had gotten her hands on photos of my father. They were taken during a trip he’d made to Miami.”

“Photos of your father doing what?”

That was my father’s business and his alone. “Partying. Daddy doesn’t do it often. But if the photos got out it would be bad press.”

Reese’s brow furrowed. “So, what did you do?”

“I paid her off,” I said flatly, my gaze shifting as I remembered it. “It was everything she asked for, and then some.”

Reese’s eyebrows lifted. “So you just…gave in?”

“Not exactly.” I didn’t look at him. “I hired a photographer to be there when I paid her. I mean, what would the town think if they caught photos of Blair extortingme?Well, gosh, if those photos got out it would be terrible for her family, wouldn’t it?”

“This is too much. Blair blackmailed you. You blackmailed her right back. Now she could have blackmailed you again? I mean…” Reese ran a hand through his hair. “You know what? I need to go.”

“Wait,” I said.

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