Page 101 of Filthy Rich

“Ah, ah,” I say. “I’m recording this call, too. Let’s keep it polite.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“No,” I say, “but I’m pretty sure you’ve lost your leverage. And in case you get any bizarre ideas, let me just tell you that with the help of your old friend Vincenzo, I emptied out your Cayman account. I’m happy to release that money, as I believe you’ll need it for your legal defense, but only if I find that you don’t make any public statements or try to make this worse in any way over the next month. You can take the money after that, and you can slink into a corner so deep and so far that I never hear from you again. And if you don’t do that, I’ll find a new way to deal with you. That’s a promise.”

“You think you can do this to me?” He snorts.

“I think you forgot who my real parents are,” I say. “They’re two very good people and two murderers, and I got something from each of them. You better not ever push me hard enough that you discover which set I favor more.”

He definitely doesn’t stay polite, so I go ahead and hang up.

Then I block his number.

He’ll find another way to reach me, but it might take him a few days, and I won’t release his money until I’m sure he hasn’t tried to sell a conflicting story to anyone. Ironically, he’s the one who taught me to always have a failsafe. Now that the police have the dossier of information on his past that I compiled, I doubt he’ll be brave enough to come after me publicly.

I actually feel a little guilty about how I forced my uncle into a corner—at least, I do until I see Octavia. She’s coming around the corner, and when she sees me, she smiles.

It’s my favorite thing in the entire world.

“Hey,” I say. “You weren’t supposed to be there.”

“Are you kidding me?” She shakes her head. “With as hot as you are, I needed you to say you loved me on air, or you’d be hounded for the next few months. Women love a man who’s willing to say he’s sorry. It’s like finding a unicorn.”

“Maybe not so much with the crying.”

She brushes my cheek with her thumb. “A good solid cry is fine, as long as you man back up and don’t make it a habit.”

I laugh. “I’ll try.”

“Good.” She stands on her tiptoes and kisses me then, and I stop caring about how things are going. Even if my career is over, at least I’m not standing in the shadow of any threats, and the truth is out there.

I didn’t realize until this moment what a freeing thing the truth can be. But as it turns out, I have nothing to worry about. People are overwhelmingly forgiving of my hiding who I was, and no one particularly seems to care about my birth parents.

Over the next few days, I hear from quite a few people who also want nothing to do with their parents. They may not be as bad as mine, but they’re close enough that they get it.

I actually have quite a few speaking requests for schools. I turn them down—I’d be a horrible role model for children—but it’s nice all the same. And when I get dressed up for my sister’s wedding, and I pick up my plus one, it feels really nice that I’m not going with a secret.

“You’re not wearing the dress,” I complain.

Octavia rolls her eyes. “I told you, that’s not a dress you wear on someone else’s wedding day.”

“But no matter what day it is, when you’re with me, it’s your day,” I say. She slaps me, but I grab her hand. “I mean that.”

“Yes, well, that can be true every day but today. I love Bea, and nothing’s going to happen today that’s going to take the attention off her.”

I can’t help my smile then, because poor Octavia doesn’t have a clue.

Chapter 24

Octavia

My dad has always been all the things my mom isn’t. The second he hears about Jake’s press release, he calls, but it’s a whirlwind for a few days, especially with my connection as both his girlfriend and a friend of his sister who did the soundtrack for his movie.

I finally make time for him the morning of Bea’s wedding.

“I brought bagels,” he says, when I open the door.

“Dad, I said I’d be making waffles.”

---