Manda Mannford and her affiliation with Meredith should be the last thing on my mind. The Morellis and the motherfucking media are my biggest concerns at the moment. But there’s a nagging feeling that settles in my bones that I can’t ignore. Besides, if Manda becomes a problem, regarding her horrible fucking children, having anything I can against her will be necessary.
“Win?”
“What?”
“I saw my dad today.”
“Lovely.”
I can feel her smile against my chest at my smartass response. “He said my mom gave up her inheritance for him.”
“Don’t get any grandiose ideas, Cinderelliott. I quite like being rich. Your pussy isn’t that addictive.”
“But you do admit it’s a little addictive?”
“Always fishing.”
She laughs which I prefer over her tears. “I love my dad, but he sort of gave up on me. He chose her.”
I know exactly who her is.
Her evil stepmother.
“You gave him an ultimatum?”
“I told him everything…” She pauses. “Not what you did to the triplets, but everything else. How we met. Our relationship. Leo getting involved. Your mother and siblings. And I told him that had you not called the police that day, Scout would have raped me and his brothers would have watched.”
The crack in her voice has me grinding my teeth together. “And?”
“He said I need to just let you protect me.”
“Better yet, my money to protect you.”
“This is coming from the same man who walked away from money for the love of his life. Now, all these years later, he’s telling me to choose money. So I can protect myself.”
Irritation prickles through me like pinches on my skin. “Your father has proven himself time and time again of being a spineless bastard with his nose so far up Manda’s ass he can’t see the world around him.”
“The thing is, I don’t care about stupid money. I must be like Mom because if you were penniless, I’d still want you. We’re a match, Win. A great one. You’d protect me even if you were poor because that’s who you are. You care about me.”
I don’t ever want to imagine a scenario where money, and lots of it, isn’t at my fingertips.
“Go to sleep,” I grumble. “I’m not in the mood for heart-to-hearts.”
She obeys me and goes silent. For all of five minutes. Then, almost nervously, she runs her thumb over my nipple. It’s annoying, so I capture her hand in mine but don’t let go.
“Why is Nate so obsessed with you?”
The question comes so far out of left field, I get clobbered with it. Confusion sets in as I try to comprehend what she even means by this.
“I don’t follow.”
“Me, for instance,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. “He hates me.”
“Because he thinks you’re a gold-digging whore. But can you blame him? Have you seen the news?”
She huffs out a breath of frustration. I won’t admit it to her, because I’m not sure what goes on inside her head all the time and who she shares that with, but I know something is off with Nate. His desperation to separate me from her is…concerning. Which is why I’ll deal with it. It’s none of her business and I can handle my own shit.
“I don’t like him.”
“Why don’t you add that to your diary too, little girl?”
“I’m being serious.” She sits up, her hair bedraggled and wild. So fucking pretty. “He’s shady.”
“That’s all you’ve got? Just so we’re clear, you were shady, too. You got busted slumming it with a Morelli. If we’re comparing offenses, yours is much, much worse since you know how much I hate those fuckers.”
“I think he’s up to something,” she continues, undeterred. “Did you take your key back from him or was that a lie? What about the woman who’s his ‘baby.’ Did you even know he was dating someone?”
Interesting. But still not her problem. I’ll handle this. I always do. My way. The right way. Ash has proven her methods—as proven with the Morelli situation—are fucking terrible.
“I don’t care about Nate’s love life,” I lie. If he’s keeping secrets from me, I care. And I will unearth them.
“Really? Because he really cares about yours.”
“Again, it doesn’t matter. Nate’s always been that way. Ever since prep school.”
“Yeah,” she spits out, a flash of irritation on her features. “He said he gets all your leftovers.” She shudders, darting her eyes away from mine.
That one move makes my blood run cold.
“At least you have a pair of arms to land in when we’re done playing.”
Her pouty dick-sucking lips part as she sucks in a shocked gasp. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“I told you. That ship sailed a long time ago. Go to sleep.”
“I would never willingly touch him.” She cringes at the thought. “He’s no better than my stepbrothers.”
I hold her stare for a long beat and then I take my out. “If you’re going to spend all night trying to drive a wedge between me and my best friend, you can waste those efforts on someone else. I’m sure Shrimp would love to hear all your conspiracy theories.”