"Huh?" he said when he answered the phone.
"It's Chase. Don't hang up."
"I know who it is. But…seriously?" He went quiet for a second and I heard some muffled moving around.
"What do you want?" he finally asked, his voice low. "I just went out back. If Jess hears me on the phone with you…"
"Oh, trust me—I know. Bitches be crazy," I said.
He laughed and then, remembering who he was talking to, stopped himself. "What do you want?"
"I want to talk to Lila."
"Why?" Pax asked.
"Because I want to take her off your hands. I'll let her blackmail me instead. You won't have to give her the fuck-ton of money I know she's looking for."
He sighed. "I don't think Jess'll let me do that."
"So don't tell her. It's not like she's planning on using her money, anyway. Am I right?"
"She wants me to give Lila a million dollars so she'll do an exclusive interview with us," he admitted. "I told her it's not a good time, with the trade and all…"
"Don't do it," I said. "I'm not even saying that to screw you or to protect myself. I'm serious. It's the man code. Jess is taking so much of my money—trust me, she could afford to pay Lila herself. But she doesn't want to use her money. She wants to use your money."
Pax groaned. "You know, it doesn't matter. Even if you give the sister what she wants. Jess knows the truth now about your girl. And trust me, she's not going to let it go."
"You let me worry about that. And dude…"
"What?"
"Get a pre-nup."
Pax grunted. "We never had this conversation."
"Fine. Just put the sister on the phone."
* * *
I was working my way down the list.
"Elena, it's Chase Layne."
The madam cleared her throat. "Mr. Layne. It's so nice to hear from you. Is everything okay?" I could hear the strain in her voice. I didn't want to imagine what sort of calls she was used to getting from clients.
"Everything's fine. Avery's great. That's actually what I was going to talk to you about. I'd like to buy out her contract."
"I'm sorry?" Elena asked. She sounded stupefied, as if I'd suddenly slipped into a foreign tongue.
Now it was my turn to clear my throat. "I said, I'd like to buy out Avery's contract."
"Are you firing her?"
"It's more like I'm retiring her. She won't be coming back to work for you. Ever."
"I see. Congratulations. Avery is a very good girl. You know she was only doing this because she was trying to take care of that sister of hers."
"I appreciate you keeping this confidential."