A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [97]
“Not if you have anything to do with it.”
She lifted a brow. “What do you mean?”
He leaned back in his chair. “What I mean is that although the wedding has now been postponed, I want to make sure there will never be a wedding.”
Her gaze widened with curiosity. “Why?”
“I have my reasons and you shouldn’t concern yourself with them. All you need to do is deliver what I want.”
“And if I don’t?”
He chuckled as he took a sip of the drink he’d brought to the table with him. “And if you don’t, then everyone at the office will know what a slut you are. And I wouldn’t hesitate to post your secrets all over the internet.”
She sat up straight in her chair, her face flaming in anger. “I would not only sue you but I’d handle your case and win.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Sweetheart, there’s no way you could win with the amount of dirt I’ve got on you.” At her surprised blink he said, “Just do what you’re told.” He stood. “I’ll be in touch.” He then walked off, whistling as he exited the bar.
Later that night Jaye contacted Karen. Once again he had some good news and he had some bad news. The good news was the update he had to give her on his meeting with Donna Hardy. He was convinced the woman would do whatever they needed her to do.
However, the bad news was that his sources had reported that Griffin had purchased an engagement ring and the likely recipient was April North. Of course Karen was furious and said they would need to move up their timetable.
The more Jaye talked to Karen the more he was convinced that she would do anything to make sure both Griffin and Erica were free to eventually marry each other.
As he undressed for bed that night he shrugged, deciding if there was something else driving her obsession he was better off not knowing. Over the past three months he’d determined that his mother’s cousin wasn’t playing with a full deck…but she was paying him a lot of money and that meant he would do whatever she wanted him to do.
Little did she know he would do her dirty work, but in the long run it would cost her for him to keep quiet.
He smiled, thinking that in a few years he would be able to retire, and not only that, with the videos and photographs he had of Donna Hardy, she would want to keep him pretty happy, as well.
He chuckled. Life was good.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Guess who I talked to today?”
Erica glanced over at her mother. They had returned to the States and were now at the Sanders’s cabin on Lake Tahoe. As a child she’d always liked it here and this had always been one of her favorite pastimes, sitting in the backyard watching all the beautiful boats that went by.
“Who did you hear from today, Mom?” Erica figured it probably was too much to hope for that her father had called. Neither she nor her mother had heard from him since they’d left home and that had been almost two weeks ago. She figured he was probably too busy getting the divorce off the ground.
“Marnita. Surely you remember her.”
Erica searched her brain for a few moments before finally remembering. “Your friend from college who lives in Wyoming?”
“Yes, that’s the one. Her husband died a few years ago and she’s invited me to come visit her for a few days. I figured that would give you a break from me for a while. You might want to go visit April in California while I’m gone.”
She glanced over at her mother, trying to keep the happiness out of her face. Was she really suggesting she visit with April? Umm, at that moment an idea popped into her head. She would let her mother assume she was visiting April in L.A. but instead she would catch a plane to Dallas and see Brian.
God, she missed him. Although after purchasing another phone in Alexandria she had been able to talk to him more, she needed to see him.
“Well, what do you think?”
She smiled. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Mom, and I appreciate your thinking of it.”
“It’s the least I can do. You have been spending a lot