You will agree to be my wife this evening at six o’clock sharp! I will neither accept any delays nor will I put up with you running away from me again. Now that I have your full and undivided attention you will do the following:
Cancel your airline ticket for San Francisco.
Explain to Renée you’ve changed your mind.
Call your parents and give them the good news.
Meet me at the Delmont to greet my constituents. This will be where we make our wonderful announcement.
Yours always,
—C
Damn the man! There was no use taking this note to the police. One, the threat was not spelled out. And two, half of the force was in cahoots with the senator. Well, crap! This was just one huge clusterfuck of epic proportions. Would he hurt someone I loved? More than likely. Not that I thought any of them were in physical danger, per se. But he could make their lives a living hell if he chose. Could he destroy my plans for the future? Without a doubt. Had I overlooked some obvious solution to this nightmare? That’d be a no. I groaned loudly and rubbed my face with my hands. Never in a million years did I want to be tied to such a horrid man. Why I ever got involved in the first place still baffled me. I knew why actually but was ashamed to admit it—even to myself. How stupid. I’d made my bed, so fate deciding I needed to lie in it really shouldn’t shock me. I couldn’t just sit here and sulk. Right now, I needed my best friend. Maybe she’d have some insight into this debacle. If you want to get down to the bare bones of the situation at hand, Renée was truly at the center of it all. No, in truth, that wasn’t quite fair—I’d made the decision. She was only responsible for offering me a solution to my financial woes. Ah, hell. I need out of my head for a few minutes. With any luck, together we could figure out a way for me to be free of Senator Caleb Reynolds. I threw the note in my purse and then walked out of my apartment with purpose. Come hell or high water, I was not marrying that man!
Renée opened the door, took one good hard look at me, blew out an exasperated breath and asked, “What’d he do now? I thought you told him to pound salt.”
I shook my head. “I’ve done everything I can think of to make it clear I don’t wanna marry him. Yet he still insists. And now this…” I handed her the note before I sat down heavily on her couch. “You tell me, what more I can do?”
“Shit.”
That truly did sum it up. “Got that right.” I buried my face in my hands. At this point, crying and/or screaming didn’t seem like enough. So when I began to laugh manically, it shouldn’t have surprised me.
Renée more than understood me. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and stated, “The man is freakin’ delusional.”
One of the things I loved most about my best friend was her ability to hit the nail right on the head. I was finally able to squelch the uncontrollable laughter. “I’m open to suggestions.”
She shrugged. “I don’t have any.”
“Great. So what’re you saying, I have to marry the asshole?”
She stood and began to pace. “What the hell is his game, anyway? I mean, you’ve told him no for the past three months now. Yet he continues. This little gem”—she held up the note for emphasis—“is just asinine.”
I couldn’t agree more. Still, there didn’t appear to be any solution. Sure, I could once again refuse; however, my gut told me he would make good on his warning. Not one single person I cared about was safe from his powerful reach, which meant he had me—there was not a damn thing I could foresee that’d stop him. My eyes began to burn with the tears I’d attempted to tamp down.
Renée looked over at me and comforted, “Oh, hey, none of that. The dickhead just isn’t worth it.”
I really did try to smile, but my mouth just wouldn’t cooperate.
She knelt in front of me and held my hands in hers. “Listen. Go ahead with this thing tonight.” I gasped as my eyes widened. She continued, “Shh, girlfriend. I didn’t say you were going through with it. I’m simply saying, for tonight appease him. In the mean time, I’ll do a little investigating. Maybe there’s something we can find on him, so you can flip the tables.”
I nodded. Because, at that moment, words just wouldn’t come.
She tried to make light of things. “Wear that awesome silver cocktail dress with the shimmer-y Jimmy Choo’s. At least that way, all eyes will be on you the entire night.”
While I rolled my eyes at her, I queried, “What good will that do?”
Her face was fierce when she replied, “He won’t be able to lay a finger on you.”