Daddy had a tendency to lose his temper around me, and when Tess confronted him with the blackmail tape that Amber had made… well, she didn’t need me there adding fuel to his fire.
But that meant she was going to be facing him alone.
And all I could do was sit here and wait.
“She’ll be okay,” Brandon said, his tone more solemn than I’d ever heard it. “Jack’s right. You have nothing to be afraid of anymore.”
I eyed Brandon as he glanced down at his phone for the millionth time.
Like me, he’d been on edge all morning as we’d packed our bags and headed to the airport. Maybe he was just as worried as I was. After all, he might not love Amber, but they went way back and she was putting herself on the line too.
My grip on Jack’s hand tightened. I still couldn’t believe that we owed our win against Daddy to Amber, of all people.
Not that she didn’t have something to gain. She’d come to me and Tess with a deal. She’d help us take him down by getting him to make a move on her and making sure it was caught on tape. In return, she was on our team. If Daddy’s power was gone, Tess would be in charge of the production company, my secrets would be safely buried, and Amber wanted to be on the winning side, with the power to decide her own fate—on the show and in the public eye.
She wanted to be on the winning team, which meant she was now officially a part of our team.
Ugh. I know. I hated the thought too. But from her point of view, I guess I got it. She wanted power; she wanted freedom from overbearing men. And while Tess and I definitely weren’t her favorite people, we all wanted the same thing when it came to Daddy.
Namely, we needed him out of the picture.
I wasn’t going to lie. I still shuddered at the thought of Amber and Daddy together, but Amber had rolled her eyes and informed me that she wasn’t really going to sleep with him, just get him to make a move on her and give him enough rope to hang himself.
I hadn’t been able to bring myself to watch or listen to the video file she’d sent two days ago, but Tess had, and she thought it was enough.
Maybe he’d be able to fight it in court against Vivien’s claims, but that would mean exposing a tape that showed him as the predatory piece of crap he was. Add in the fact that Amber wouldn’t turn eighteen for another couple weeks, and it meant more than embarrassment and harassment suits. Amber could claim that they slept together after the tape ended, and he’d be facing statutory rape charges.
I closed my eyes as my stomach churned. It was all too disgusting to think about. And no matter how much I hated Amber… I couldn’t deny that we owed her. I opened my eyes and glanced around. We all owed her.
With him out of the picture, we could all breathe again. He couldn’t force Brandon to stay in the closet, he couldn’t torture me or reveal the secret of my parentage, and he couldn’t mess with Jack or his father’s livelihood.
Brandon glanced at his phone again, and I felt a twinge of fear. I knew we were all on edge waiting for Tess to call and tell us how it went this morning when she confronted Daddy, but she was supposed to call me, not Brandon, and his quiet seriousness this morning seemed at odds with all the reassurances he’d been throwing my way.
“Hey, you doing okay?” I asked.
Brandon nodded. “Yeah, it’s just…” He looked to Jack. “Your dad.”
“Jack’s dad?” I asked. “What about him?”
Brandon shook his head and took a deep breath. “He’s been keeping an eye on my mom for me since Jack decided to stay.”
“And?” Jack prompted.
“When he went to visit her yesterday, she wasn’t there.”
Jack and I exchanged a frown. “Maybe she went to visit some friends or…”
He trailed off because I was pretty sure we all knew that Brandon’s mom didn’t have friends. And as far as I knew, she didn’t have much family either.
“It’s too soon to declare her missing,” Brandon said. “But your dad and some other townsfolk said they’d look for her. They’ll keep me updated.” He glanced down at his phone. So that was what had him on edge this morning.
“We’ll all look for her when we get there,” I promised.
Jack leaned forward as the plane began to taxi. “I’m sure there’s some explanation, man. We’ll find her.”
Brandon nodded, but we all jumped at the sound of my phone’s ringtone before he could reply.
Tess. The sight of her name on my phone brought with it a wave of relief. I mean, at least he hadn’t killed her, right?
My hands were still shaking though as I swiped the button to answer. “Tess,” I breathed with relief. “How did it go? How did he take the news?”
Did he agree to our terms? Was it over? Was I finally free?
I had a million questions, but I frowned as Tess’s voice cut in and out. There was some sort of static or…
Sniffling.
No… sobs.
“Tess?” I raised my voice as fear turned my blood to ice. I was distantly aware of Jack moving toward me, his arms holding me tight, of Brandon leaning forward with concern.
“Tess? What is it?”
“It’s Daddy,” she said, but her voice sounded different. It didn’t sound like her at all. “He’s dead, Lila.” The phone cut in and out as my heart lunged toward the ground.
Dead.
Dead?
The word was still ringing in my ear, refusing to register. My head was spinning, and words didn’t make sense anymore.
“Daddy’s dead,” she said again, shock and pain and fear… so many emotions in her voice that it brought me back to reality with a jolt.
Daddy was dead.
My stomach heaved. I was going to be sick. I clapped a hand over my mouth as Brandon shouted for a flight attendant to bring a barf bag.
Yup, I was totally going to hurl.
“Daddy?” I repeated, my voice little more than a whisper.
I couldn’t tell if Tess heard me because she was still talking, her voice broken and stilted. “Daddy’s dead and… I think… they think…” Her voice rose on a sob. “Lila, they think I killed him.”
Thank you for reading! Want to find out what happens next for Tess? Find out in the next installment, Heiress in Chains.
Looking for more YA romance? Check out Maggie Dallen’s free series starter, Striking Out with the Star Pitcher!
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About the Author
MAGGIE DALLEN writes romantic comedies in a range of genres including young adult, historical, contemporary, and fantasy. An unapologetic addict of all things romance, she loves to connect with fellow avid readers. Subscribe to her contemporary newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL
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