of her life.

  “But your name’s not Snyder.”

  “Like you, my mother was single when she had me, so

  she gave me her name. He never came back, and she did

  everything she could do to never make me think I was

  unwanted, so I’ve always considered him a sperm donor.

  He’s never been a father to me, and I never missed out

  since I had Malcom. Until today I had no clue where he was,

  and he’s got no clue who I am, much less where I am and

  what I do.”

  “That makes you Sawyer’s—”

  “Aunt,” she said, smiling. That one truth was the only

  happiness she’d experienced the whole time Tori was

  talking. “Genetics are an amazing thing, aren’t they?” She

  took a picture from her breast pocket and handed it over.

  They were different, but the family resemblance between

  her eight-year-old self and Sawyer was undeniable. “I

  would’ve never guessed, but she’s a part of me even

  beyond how I feel her to be a part of me.”

  “If Kyle finds out any of this, he’ll use Sawyer to exploit

  the situation. I’ll never be free of him because he’ll continue

  with these threats, thinking you’ll pay to keep Sawyer with

  us. You don’t know him, but I do, and believe me, he’ll be

  here with his hand out as soon as he hears about this.”

  “I thought about that, and I might have a solution.”

  Having Charlotte’s fingers combing her hair back was

  soothing, and she wished they were in bed with all this

  behind them.

  “Will you tell me?”

  “I will as soon as I find what the meaning of all this is. It’s

  the last missing piece, and my plan won’t work without that.

  Why go through all this elaborate scheme if not for some

  payout? The why isn’t clear yet.”

  “No hints?”

  “To get what we want means facing all the demons from

  my past. Once I’m free of them, the future for us is clear.

  And I do know what kind of guy Kyle is, so we might give

  him what you said he loves most to get what we love most.

  He’ll get a payout and we’ll get Sawyer. What we need to

  do, though, is get him to help us, and if he does, he’ll get his

  reward.”

  “Love is all we’ll need to make our future work.”

  Charlotte kissed the side of her neck before getting up and

  holding her hand out to her.

  “Then we should be fine.”

  * * *

  “So what exactly is going on?” Jennifer asked, her

  speakerphone on and Dalton standing right next to her

  listening.

  “She said the show is off and sent everyone back to New

  York. The sketches you sent threw her off her game and she

  disappeared, but not before blaming the new intern for

  stealing the new line. It was quite the scene, and the gossip

  about it has already reached epic proportions. Actually, I

  can’t believe that rag you gave the bible to hasn’t reported

  on it yet.”

  Dalton pointed at her and smiled. They hadn’t heard from

  their mole, who was working with them in New Orleans, in

  days and were starting to wonder if they’d been discovered.

  “She sent everyone home?”

  “Everyone but Opal and Amis.”

  “And you didn’t think that was strange?” The sensation of

  losing control of everything she’d methodically planned

  made her shiver. A cold sensation had blossomed in her

  stomach and made her nervous enough to cause her palms

  to sweat.

  “It’s classic Ellis, so it gets us closer to what we want.

  Relax and enjoy that we’re one step away from cashing in.”

  She ended the call and sat heavily on one of the kitchen

  stools. “What’s wrong?” Dalton asked, moving to her and

  putting his arms around her.

  “Do you honestly think Ellis gave up and sent everyone

  except the two people who basically run the shows away?

  Tell me you’re not that stupid.”

  “Fuck you, Jennifer. You can act like you’re carrying water

  for all of us, but this is as much about me as it is you. Shit,

  without me we wouldn’t be this close to getting this deal

  done. You and that other fucker wouldn’t have thought to

  use the intern once we found out exactly who she was.”

  “Take your fucking ego out of this and listen to me. Ellis is

  up to something, and if we don’t figure out what that is, all

  this is for nothing.” They’d set Ellis up for failure, but it

  suddenly felt like she’d figured that out and was planning

  the foolproof whammy to bring them down. Dalton and their

  partner, as well as Angelo, kept thinking Ellis was some

  simpleton, but an idiot didn’t accomplish half of what Ellis

  had. Failure in this case would come from not having

  enough time, but not because Ellis simply gave up.

  “How about you follow your own advice and ditch the

  ego. I’ve known Ellis a lot longer than you, and she’s done.

  The only option now is for her to sell to Angelo, so get with

  the program.” Dalton slammed his hand down on the

  granite countertop, and the sound made her flinch. “Your

  problem is you were creaming your panties over her, and

  she turned you down like you were some stupid groupie not

  worth her time. I’m not fucking stupid enough to think you

  would’ve given me a chance if Ellis hadn’t blown you off.”

  He lifted his hand, and for a moment she honestly

  thought he was going to hit her, but he just gripped the

  back of his neck and walked out. The slamming door made

  her jump, but just as fast she was relieved. She stood and

  slid the deadbolt and latch into place. She had no desire for

  Dalton to come back.

  She pressed redial on her phone and was glad it was

  answered right away. “Why did you come back?” she asked,

  pinching the bridge of her nose while she waited for the

  answer that could possibly send her running.

  “She was gone, so why would I stay? When Ellis runs like

  this, it might be a while before she resurfaces.”

  “Do you think she’s up to something?”

  “All she was up to was trying to fuck the intern. Then she

  thought the little bitch screwed her, but not in the biblical

  sense, so she fired her. If you don’t believe me, have Kyle

  call her. She came home a day before us.”

  She hung up and called Kyle. “I need you to go by

  Charlotte’s place and make sure she’s home, and I need you

  to do it now.”

  “Why?” Kyle, as always, sounded suspicious.

  “Kyle, you realize you’ve got some money coming to you,

  so stop asking questions and follow orders.”

  “Okay. What do you want me to do once I find her?”

  “Apologize for blowing her dreams to shit, or whatever

  else comes to mind. All I care about knowing is if she’s

  here.”

  “What did you mean about the dream thing?”

  It finally hit her that Kyle still wanted Charlotte. The fight

  for the kid might’ve had some truth behind it, but only in

  the sense that he’d get Charlotte back as well. “The thing

  you asked her to deliver came with some consequences. You

  had to know someone had to take the fall. Just be glad it

  wasn’t you.”

  “So that someone had to be Charlotte?”

  “Don’t fold on me now. Call me as soon as you find her.”

  She hung up and looked around at everything she’d

  accumulated throughout her life. All the things that had

  made her happy and had been the trophies of her success

  would be the things Ellis would most enjoy taking away from

  her.

  “You can either wait for the kill shot or fight,” she said,

  and committed to finishing. “Only I’m going to do it on my

  own terms.”

  * * *

  Amis was reading a book next to the sofa where Sawyer

  was sleeping. She smiled as Ellis and Charlotte walked in

  holding hands. “Everything’s ready to go for tomorrow, so

  we’ll start around ten,” she said softly.

  “Thanks, Mama, but you need to get here a lot earlier

  than that.”

  “We don’t need any more fittings, do we?”

  “No. I need to fill you in on what Bill found, but if you

  don’t mind, I can’t go through it again tonight.”

  “Are you okay?” Amis stood and put her hands on both

  their cheeks.

  “We’re fine, and we’re going to be fine, Amis,” Charlotte

  said, letting Ellis go so she could hug Amis. “As long as

  we’re together we’ll always be okay.”

  “It’s a good thing you finally wised up,” her mom told her

  before kissing Charlotte’s forehead. “And of course, when I

  say that, I’m talking to you too, chéri.”

  “Between the two of you, I’m going to need therapy for

  my self-esteem,” she said, taking Charlotte’s hand. “See

  you in the morning, Mama, and thanks for everything. I love

  you for always being so good to me.”

  They changed for bed and had to turn the lamp back on

  when Charlotte’s phone started buzzing. “It’s Kyle,”

  Charlotte said, holding it up and showing it to her.

  “Let him leave you a message, and we’ll forward it to

  Bill,” she said, tired of this guy. She tried not to think about

  who he was to her, and more importantly, who he was to

  Charlotte and Sawyer.

  “Hey.” Charlotte dropped her phone and faced her. “You

  know he doesn’t mean anything to me. Kyle is so far in my

  personal past I barely remember him, and the only reason

  he’s still in my life is because of Sawyer.”

  “This really is my summer of enlightenment. Before you, I

  never knew what jealousy was, much less felt it, so I’m

  sorry. I don’t think you’re in love with Kyle, but I can’t

  believe he’s not still fixated on you.”

  “It doesn’t matter what Kyle wants or is fixated on. It’s

  beyond too late. Even if I’d never found you, I’d never want

  a future with him.”

  “It doesn’t freak you out any that he’s my half brother?”

  “Maybe this is going to sound weird, but if I had to make

  a big mistake, I’m glad it gave me a path to you. Obviously,

  I was picked because of who I am and who Sawyer is to you,

  but what a blessing. I found you, I love you, and Sawyer’s a

  part of you. Once she finds out, she’s going to be so

  excited.” Charlotte pressed against her and suddenly

  appeared terrified. “Is this too fast for you?”

  “Actually, you’re way late, so see what he wants so we

  can plan our next step. You and Sawyer are in my heart, and

  that’s settled. Kyle will have to accept that fact, and we’ll do

  whatever it takes to fight him for Sawyer to stay with us. But

  for now we have to deal with the business side of things.

  From now until all those clothes become public, we have to

  stay ahead of Kyle and everyone he’s working for.”

  Charlotte played the message and listened from the

  circle of her arms.

  “Hey, I need to know where you are. I haven’t heard from

  you or Sawyer, so call me when you get this.”

  “What in the world does he want now?” Charlotte asked.

  “Usually he’s doing his best to ditch my calls since he says

  all I do is ask for money.”

  “Nothing about all this makes sense, but it does to

  someone. I think the most important thing and their goal is

  to keep us both off balance.” The information Tori and Bill

  had shown her didn’t really narrow that part of the scheme

  down. A piece was still missing, and it was something

  Jennifer and Dalton had kept well hidden.

  Her phone rang next and it was Tori, so she answered it.

  “Hey, did you find something else?”

  “Jennifer met with Angelo Bollio today, so we might’ve

  found the person they were dealing with if you end up being

  forced to sell.”

  “Hmm,” she said as she sat on the bed and lay back. The

  introduction of Bollio meant the group conniving against her

  had gone out of their way to find everyone in her life who

  had in turn gone out of their way to cause her problems in

  the past. “Is there any way to know what they talked

  about?”

  “No. We could only see who she met with, but not why

  they met.” Ellis heard papers flipping on Tori’s end. “The guy

  we’ve got on Kyle, though, followed him to Charlotte

  Hamner’s address, and he tried to get in. He pressed that

  buzzer for half an hour before he gave up and called

  Charlotte’s number.”

  “He left a message right before you called,” she said, and

  put her arm out so Charlotte could join her on the bed.

  “We were able to catch that, and his side of the next call.

  When he finished with Charlotte, he called Jennifer and

  reported that he couldn’t find her. You might want to keep

  an eye on Charlotte until all this is resolved.”

  She tightened her hold on Charlotte and laughed. “That’s

  not going to be a problem.” She kissed the top of Charlotte’s

  head. “I wonder why they want to find Charlotte. I’d think

  her part in all this is done.”

  “I can’t be sure, but from his conversation, Jennifer really

  needs to know.”

  “Thanks, Tori, and please keep at it. There’s a missing

  player, and I need you to find them.” Her phone buzzed, and

  she saw it was her mother. “I’ve got another call, so keep in

  touch.”

  “You got it.”

  She switched to take her mom’s call and drew a few deep

  breaths, knowing her mom wouldn’t be calling unless it was

  important. “Hey, you okay?”

  “I hate to bother you, but you got another package and

  another set of sketches.”

  “Was there a note?” she asked, closing her mouth harder

  than she thought, causing her teeth to mash together.

  “There sure was. It says, ‘No matter what you try, I’ll be

  one step ahead, showing the world what a fraud you are.

  Think about that the next time you screw someone over.’”

  “That’s pretty straightforward. Thanks, Mama.”

  She told Charlotte everything about both calls while

  Charlotte methodically removed everything she was

  wearing. Once Charlotte had her naked, she took off her

  own clothing and joined her. The way Charlotte pressed

  against her and basically draped herself over her made her

  anger disappear.

  “Do you want me to call Kyle back?”

  “Where do your parents live?”

  “You ask the strangest questions, but if you need to

  know, they lived in Jersey until last year, when my dad

  retired. They moved to upstate New York after that.” The

  way Charlotte circled her finger around her bellybutton as

  she spoke was making her shiver.

  “Good. Call Kyle back and tell him you’re visiting your

  folks. He doesn’t have their number, does he?”

  “He and my father don’t agree on the basics, so no. My

  dad thinks Kyle should drop dead, and Kyle disagrees with

  that, so they’ve barely spoken in ages.”

  “Give him a call, followed by getting in touch with your

  parents just in case.”

  Charlotte moved to what seemed to be her favorite

  position and straddled Ellis’s waist to make the calls. “What

  do you want, Kyle?” She put it on speaker so Ellis could hear.

  “Where are you?”

  “Why would you care?” She put the phone on Ellis’s chest

  and moved Ellis’s hands to her waist.

  “I need to know you’re okay,” Kyle said softly, as if that

  tone would make him sound more caring and believable.

  “There’s no reason in the world I’d want to call you about

  anything after the last time we talked. I did what you

  wanted, got fired for it, and then you double-crossed me

  anyway.” Ellis squeezed her and nodded like she agreed

  with what she was saying. “Once I get back from my

  parents’ place, even if I have to borrow money, I’ll see you

  in court.”

  “I’ve got enough money to take care of us now, so we

  can work it all out. We’ve got Sawyer to think about, so we

  should get back together. You want me to come to you and

  talk about it?”

  “What I want, Kyle, and all I want, is you out of my life. I

  don’t want you anywhere near me. You ruined everything

  for me, so there’s no coming back from that.” She kissed

  her fingers and pressed them to Ellis’s lips. “Don’t call me

  again. I won’t keep Sawyer from you if she wants to talk to