want to hurt you, Robert, the way you hurt me. But don’t
worry. It will only be for six months. You have my word that
she won’t be harmed. She’ll be very well cared for. It will be
nothing but a change in her living accommodations. During
that time, you aren’t allowed to see her in person. You can call
her or even video chat with her to assure yourself that she’s
just fine, but that is the price I want you to pay for what you
did to me, and that includes explaining to your daughter
exactly what’s happening.”
Robert finally lost it. He slammed back the chair and stood
up. “You can’t have my daughter. You’re a sick person, Claire.
A monster.”
“Bitch, monster, whatever you want to call me. Fact is, you
did this to yourself. You did it eleven years ago and you did it
now. You have one thing I want. One thing. After six months
is over, we’ll call it even. Your restaurants will be back in line,
making money. I’ll find you a lender and I’ll sell you back the
fifty-one percent of your business for a good rate. An
appropriate rate, no gouging, I promise. You’ll be well on your
way to success, no thanks to yourself and your own shoddy
business practices, and your insatiable thirst for things that
don’t matter. Your greed got you here, not me. So.” Claire met
the man’s eyes, fire for fire. His eyes were blue. Just like
Haley’s. She remembered that well. How the girl looked so
much like him. She still did. Claire’s people had given her
photos when she’d dug into Robert and Haley’s lives. “It’s
your decision. You lose everything, including your houses and
your cars. Everything. Your daughter is forced to leave college
because you can’t afford her tuition. You live with that
humiliation for the rest of your life. Or, you take what I’m