Page 164 of Divorced from Number Thirty-Eight
“Damn right you do,” she tosses back with a wink.
Which means that when I open the door to confront Courtney, I’m laughing.
“You’re a real bastard, you know that, right?” she snaps.
I lean against the doorframe, lift my eyebrows in question, chuckles still emerging from my throat as I ask, “Why am I an asshole this time?”
“You know exactly why!” she snaps. “Winston is angry at me and he may not go through with the wedding.”
I smirk. “I think you mean your aging fiancée is finally aware of your crap.”
“I mean that Winston said if I don’t smooth things over with you and get you to recall those bulldogs who are fucking with his businesses then he’s going to leave me.”
I keep my face neutral.
But inside I’m putting the pieces together.
A year ago, Luna inherited a huge chunk of her family’s company…and used that leverage to get into business with a pair of powerful businessmen, Jean-Michel Dubois and Jace Henderson.
Apparently she’s been using her leverage with them on my behalf.
I guess that’s what she meant about stepping things up.
I fight to keep the satisfied smirk off my face. “Why should I care about Winston’s business?”
“Because if I don’t have Winston then I’ll have to come back here.” She pauses and I wait for her to say more, to expand on the threat.
She doesn’t.
So, I shrug, say, “It’s not like that stopped you before.”
“Gray,” she snaps.
I just stare at her and wait.
“Ugh!” She stomps her foot. “You want me to promise to go away and never come back? Fine. I promise. Now call off your dogs.”
More staring. More waiting.
Just to give her a bit of the torture she gave me.
“You keep that promise—and stop talking about Faye and me to the media?—”
She winces, which is all the confirmation I needed.
She planted the stories.
Fucking hell.
But instinct tell me to ask, “The chapter too?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says haughtily.
“Faye?” I call.
“Yeah, honey?”
“Will you ask Luna to ask Jean-Michel if lying to the press about us and your book is defamation?”
