Page 89 of Extra Dirty

Though Jay’s next words are for my brother, his focus never leaves me. “This only works if you make that statement. If not, let’s rip up the contract. I’ll go to Sintac, get the deal myself, and move on. You all seem to forget that I don’t need you.Youneed me.”

As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. My brother’s stupid tweets last night made everything worse. It gave credence to the previews the news channel ran before Jay shut them down. All of Boston is probably speculating about what we’re trying to cover up.

Carter’s child, the identity of Chase’s mother, her age. And God forbid they find out about Chloe.

Cash won’t let it go, though. “Why are you doing this? I get why it makes sense for us. I fucked up with the tweets, yeah. But you’re right. You could just go to Landry and take the deal with him yourself. Why are you helping us? What doyouget out of this?”

I hold my breath, waiting for an answer that doesn’t come. Pleading that he’ll be the man I believed him to be years ago and tell us it’s because he loves me.

“Because Grace doesn’t deserve what you did. I may not be a man wholovesmany people,” he says with a glare in my direction, “but I love her.”

In that moment, the world around me goes fuzzy. The image of Jay and Grace on the magazine cover flashes in my mind. The memory of crying out for a man who never loved me as I gave birth to our daughter stabs me so sharply, I’m surprised I’m not bleeding out.

When my vision finally clears and I can breathe through the pain, I realize I’ve missed part of the conversation.

Jay is midsentence when I tune back in. “I won’t have her lose everything because of you.”

Cash slams his fists into his thighs. “Fine.”

I jump to my feet. “You can’t be serious! Both of you. You can’t be serious. Jay, I won’t stand by and let you do this. We can fix everything with our relationship. We don’t need to fix things for her.”

He barely looks at me. “Oh, you have a part too,” he spits. “Don’t you worry. After we leave this office with Cash’s signed statement, you and I have an appointment with Grace Kensington.”

The pain in my chest ratchets up another notch. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”

The sound of Jay’s palms landing on the table makes me jump. “This is the last time I am going to say this. I care about you, Cat, but don’t make me choose.”

I blink back the tears that threaten to fall at the threat in his words.Don’t make me choose between my family and yours. He’ll take Chloe if I don’t agree to his damn terms. He’ll let the world know what my grandfather did, what my father did, what my brothers have done, if I don’t agree to his damn terms. He’s got all the power, and we both know it. “No surprise there.” I take a deep breath and turn to Cash. “We good?”

My brother is silent, and he doesn’t bother to even glance in my direction as he stands and heads toward the door. But as he passes Jay, he moves in close and mutters in Jay’s ear. I can’t be sure, but it sounds like, “Does she know?”

My darling husband-to-be doesn’t even look at me. “Walk it off, Cash. Don’t ruin more than you already have today,” he warns.

“What’s he talking about?” I ask. Does Cash know about Jay and me all those years ago?

“Don’t worry, Kitten,” he says. He uses the once-sacred name in the cruelest way. He wants to show Cash that he has power over me. That he’s in control.

Dropping my shoulders, I resign myself to my future. As the woman Jonathan Hanson will use—over and over—for the rest of his life.

42

THE NIGHT WE MET BY LORD HURON

Cat

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper as we leave Grace’s office. Unsurprisingly, the meeting didn’t go great. Grace and I don’t get along. On that, we could agree. Anything else? Not gonna happen.

“Why am I doing what?” Jay asks, his eyebrows knitting together. He’s wearing a navy suit, and his blond hair is gelled perfectly in place. He looks like a robot. Not like my Jay. The one whose hair is always haphazardly styled so it falls over his eyes. The one who used to smile at me so easily. Who teased me constantly. Thisisn’tthat man.

And maybe he never was.

“Why do you want me to date other people?” I ask when we’re alone in the elevator and headed to the ground floor.

Jay asked Grace to take me on as her new client. Herfirstfemale client. But why? What’s his motive? Is it only to help Grace? Is he really willing to watch me date other people in order to save her career?

The man is a conundrum. One moment, he’s pledging his undying love, telling me he’s been trying to come back to me for thirteen years, and the next, he’s cold and detached, angry even.

I believed the lies he sold me once, and the scars from being burned then still hurt. I need to go into this marriage with open eyes.

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