Page 61 of Retribution

“How much is he offering you?” Gracie asks, suspicion in her tone.

“I didn’t get that far, I shut him down pretty quickly.” I confess.

“Well, I think that’s the first thing we need to find out, don’t we?” Lola agrees.

Why am I even considering this, wondering what he meant by a ‘large sum of money’. Are we walking like thousands? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?

“Give me your phone.” Gracie demands, surprise crosses my face.

“Why would you need my phone?” I retort, my anxiety beginning to rise.

“Relax, sis. I’m not going to post your nudes online. I literally just want to throw a casual text, see if he responds, simple.” She holds out her hand, beckoning for me to slip her my phone.

What if he doesn’t respond, isn’t that going to make me look desperate? I turned his offer down with the highest confidence and if I start sniffing around again, he’s going to know that I’m even considering it.

Oh, to hell with it.

Submitting to her, I hand over the phone, she quickly gets to work.

I look at Lola and she yawns, guilt rising for keeping her up this late. She told us about her rough sleep lately, the morning sickness keeping her up at all hours and how ginger biscuits one-hundred-percent do not work. My phone notification pings and we all turn our heads in sync as Gracie unlocks my phone again.

“Well shit, sis. I think you’re going to want to reconsider his offer.”

We all lean over the phone and my eyes bug out of my head. The zeroes blur my vision as I stumble upon what to say, my mouth becoming paralyzed and uncertain how to speak.

“One freaking million dollars!” Lola claps and leaps up from the sofa, shaking her ass and head banging.

I sit, still leaned over the phone and frozen in place. That is one heck of a lot of money. When he originally asked me, I assumed it would be a nice amount, maybe a few thousand.

Not one million. I feel sick. He really wasn’t lying when he said he was desperate.

“And what are the terms again?” Lola finally gives up her atrocious dancing and comes back down to earth.

“As far as I’m aware… fake dating. Get married. Prove the courts that we’re real and retain custody of his daughter Willow.”

“Willow as in, ballet Willow?” Gracie asks and I nod eagerly, my heart pulling at the fact I haven’t seen her in weeks, releasing a sigh.

The silence washes over the room as my sisters try and grasp the situation I’m in, every possible scenario playing out in my head.

“What about Scott? You could buy him out of his share of the business, giving you full control,” Lola murmurs, as she carefully scans my face.

That is certainly a positive. I haven’t had much time to process that he owns 50% of the business, let alone come up with a solution to fix my problem.

“And the scholarship program you always wanted to have? I mean, damn, you could move your studio further into the city instead of having it out on the outskirts.” Gracie wears a grin, desperately trying to convince me.

“Why do I feel like you both want me to take the deal?” Suspicion lines my words.

“It’s not everyday some hot millionaire offers you a million dollars in exchange for fake marrying him.” Gracie says.

“Is he at least hot?” Lola asks.

My mind flashes with pictures of him, the hold he has over my sanity.

I bite my lip and nod, feeling flushed.

“Take the damn deal, Indie.” Gracie speaks sternly.

I look between my two sisters and sit up straighter, filling myself with the confidence I didn’t know I had.

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