Page 70 of Shy Girl
Mom, however, shouldn't have to pay the price.
“And you are a-a-able to s-sleep at n-n-night?” I asked with a snap of pain I couldn't hide anymore. “Y-you c-can look at your l-l-lovely wife in the eyes and kn-now what y-you've done?”
I wanted you to love me,I thought. But the words would forever remain behind sealed lips.
A gaunt expression covered his face for a moment. He ran a tongue over his teeth and, for a moment, seemed to consider something. Then he pulled up a phone and typed something out.
“I'll never give you what you want from me, Dagny. But I can give you one thing. Give yourself a moment to think this out while I make a call.”
My chest shook like an earthquake as Anthony pressed the phone to his ear and walked just out of hearing range. He kept me within his eyesight and blocked the only exit with his body.
Shakily, I looked down at the contract. The words blurred together at first, and I had to read the first line several times before it came into focus.
The contract seemed meticulous, although I had no expertise in this world. Most of the words went over my head, and I thought of Kinoshi, the town lawyer in Pineville. He'd have plenty to say, I would bet. Even Maverick would be better to judge this than me. But there was no help. I had to figure this out and move forward.
By the time I read through all five pages, my mind had turned to slush. A monetary figure stood out amongst the sea of letters at the bottom, near the wordconsideration.
$500,000.
I blinked and stared at it.
Half a million dollars. To him, I had a feeling it wasn't much. Perhaps he had a way to act as if it were a tax write off, or something. But to me, that could be the start of my new life. The life I hadn't been able to visualize without the goal of tracking down my biological father and finding a way to talk to him. With it I could buy a house, start making some investments, and pay off debts. Whatever I wanted, and wherever I wanted it. Money mixed with plans and sound financial sense meant power and choice.
Anthony returned a heartbeat later. I glanced up, startled to see him there. He slid back into the seat with what could have been called a warm smile, but I knew better. Anthony wasn't warmanything.
“Forgive me,” he said pleasantly, “I had a call to make about something. This, in fact. Before you hesitate to go home, I thought you might like to see this. Taken just before I arrived here, in fact.”
He slid his phone across the table. A black and white video was paused on the screen, and my heart gave a littlethudwhen I recognized Jayson. Then, next to him, stood Victoria.
Something cold trickled through my body.
“Go ahead,” Anthony said, with the tone of voice I would imagine a cat had before it caught a mouse. “Play it. Let's see what happens.”
Although loath to play into the trap, I couldn't help but tap the triangular button in the middle of the screen. A security tape, clearly, of the inside of an elevator. A date and time stamp across the top recorded it as only a little while ago. No sound came with it, but I didn't need sound to understand the way Victoria had a possessive hold on Jayson. Anthony stood next to them, and even I could feel the tension in the air.
“I-it's an elev-vator ride,” I murmured.
“Keep watching.”
The video ended with them stepping off the elevator and onto another floor. Immediately after, another video popped onto the screen. This one covered the hallway outside the elevator, but from a different angle. It had panned back, but gave a clear view of the two of them as Victoria hauled Jayson into a kiss. My stomach caught painfully, but I kept my expression neutral. Jayson looked tense. The kiss wasn't longorsoft. More forceful and . . . forced.
“This is—”
“Keep watching,” Anthony sang.
Then Jayson reached down and kissed Victoria.
This was slow, a little lingering, before he pulled away. They were only a few inches apart as they spoke about something, but I couldn't read the signs. Was Jayson passionate or upset? The angle was bad from the side. They didn't stay there long, eventually parting in different ways.
“That,” Anthony said quietly, “is the man you're waiting around for, isn't it? Better just to let him go on with his life, don't you think? Sometimes, we have to let paths go to embrace what truly waits for us. Just like your mother did.”
Just like your mother did.
Is that the path that truly waited for her? Or was it the path that Anthony Dunkin shoved her onto through his inability to keep his pants zipped?
A bubbling emotion I could only identify as rage built within me. Or maybe it was thwarted, feminine power directed at Jayson. At Anthony. At Victoria for speaking down to me because of my stutter and kissing the man I had hoped for for so long. But waiting and hoping were just a waste of time.
“So,” Anthony drawled and pulled my mind back to the moment. “The contract. Have you had a chance to review it?”
