“I don’t want to drag you into it.”
“Into what, Elodie?”
My lungs freeze and I can’t inhale. I went too far. “Nothing.” I squeeze my eyes closed. “No, it’s not nothing. He and Dwayne want their money back.”
“What money?”
“The stuff he put in an account with my name on it to hide. I paid his victims back and used the rest to buy my bakery.” My vision gets blurry as tears crowd my eyes. “It was mine too. I-I paid all the bills. They lived off me and I supported those selfish pricks. It wasn’t stealing.” I swallow hard and a hot tear rolls down my cheek.
He brushes it away with the rough pad of his thumb. “It wasn’t stealing,” he repeats softly.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you who he was the first time.” Another tear falls and he catches that too, and I sniffle. “I thought that I could deal with him, but he just keeps asking for more.”
Confusion dulls his eyes. “That’s why he’s in Huckleberry Springs? To bully money out of you?”
My heart pounds. I could leave it at that. If I can’t tell my boyfriend I’m getting blackmailed, who can I tell? But Damon’s starting to harass him. What if Damon goes after my family nextto milk more pennies out of me? “He’s...” Ugh. Do I have to do this?
“Yes?”
I lace my spine with steel. “He’s blackmailing me.”
The air gets sucked out of the room, and it’s like a thundercloud builds right in front of me. A mass of swirling, boiling anger. “He’s who you were on the phone with that one day?” His voice is cold, even. “When you were shouting about money? How long has he been harassing you?”
He’s too smart and caring for his own good. I don’t answer.
Cruz paces a few steps to each side before stopping in front of me. He props his hands on his hips. “What’re the terms of his blackmail?”
“I pay him each month,” I say hoarsely, “and he won’t spread the word about everything I did.”
“Everything you—” He tilts my face up to him. “You did nothing.”
“I was?—”
“Young. Scared. Getting conned.”
“I would pretend I lost my wallet so older people would buy me a coffee.” I wince at how absurd yet callous it sounds.
Incredulity screws up his face. “And if they’d heard what you were going through, they’d probably have bought you a coffee anyway.”
I grip his wrists. He has to see what’s at stake. “My family will learn what happened, and it’ll stress them. Their health isn’t the best. Huckleberry Springs is a small town. I’m asking the public to spend their money on me. They won’t do that if they don’t think they can trust me.”
“You’re underestimating just how highly everyone regards you.”
My heart expands until it hugs my ribs. “I can’t take the risk. If the bakery fails, I’ll have to move to get a job to support myself. My parents need me. I lost too much time with them and Clem.”
Some of the fury drains out of him. “Damn, Elodie. How many times have I told you that you don’t have to do it all alone? You’re worried about everyone but yourself, and trust me. I can handle that asshole.” He growls the last part.
I’m worried about him too. “I know, but you have to respect me on this. My worst fear is that I’ll drag my past into my present. You can’t interfere, you can’t call Callum, and you can’t engage with Damon if you see him again.”
He doesn’t agree, but he pulls me into him. My cheek is tucked against his broad chest as he wraps me in his arms. I hook my hands around him and soak up the strength.
Fucking Damon. Fucking Dwayne. Fucking Dee Palmer, who wanted to live on the wild side.
“They used to call me Dee,” I murmur against his shirt. “I hated it, but I named the bakery Dee’s Sweets as a small fuck-you to both of them. I just never thought I’d be worth their time again.”
I was once more a naive girl. It wasn’t like they didn’t know where I came from, but it’s easier to link an entire business to me when I name it after the nickname they used to call me.
“That man isn’t going to leave you alone,” he says, the words flinty.
