Page 158 of The Paid Wife: A Lesbian Romance

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how Emily was able to talk you into this fake marriage scheme

to begin with.”

Dani wasn’t going to back down. She wasn’t going to cower

in front of this man or admit to anything.

“What other motivation would I have had?” she challenged.

She wanted to know how much more he knew about her. How

much more leverage he might have.

It turned out, as she feared, he knew so much more. “I know

all about how you grew up. How you bounced from foster

home to foster home after the age of ten, when your mother

died. There was no father in the picture, no living relatives to

claim you, so you went into the system. You aged out at

eighteen. You had no permanent address after that for over a

year. Lived on the streets, I imagine. I have no idea what you

did to survive, but then suddenly you did have an address and

several jobs. You saved up enough to buy this place. It must

mean a lot to you.”

Dani didn’t have to answer that. She heard the threat

implicit in Radcliffe’s words. She wasn’t afraid of the media

finding out about her background. She wouldn’t be

embarrassed by it. She was a heck of a lot tougher than that.

She found herself laughing softly.

“If my past came out, if that’s what you’re trying to threaten

me with, it would be much more embarrassing for you.” Some

of the wind went out of Radcliffe’s sails, but Dani could easily

see he was far from done fighting for whatever he’d come to

get.

“I’ll get right to it, then,” Radcliffe sighed. “I want my

daughter back. I want her unattached from someone who just

wants to be with her for her money. That was never something

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