Page 139 of Sweet Surrender

My next call is to my brother.

Nathaniel picks up on the first ring. “Jase?”

“Why were you at my house the other day? Talking to Hendrix?”

“I came to get her thoughts on how to dissolve the marriage once the court date comes and goes.”

I think of the words I heard Hendrix say. The denial of how she feels for me. And . . . then I think of the look in her eyes last night.

How could I have believed she really felt what she told Nathaniel?

She was protecting me. Making me look better in the eyes of my brother. Right?

“And what did she say?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. She said she’d only talk about it after the judge ruled. That she didn’t want to jinx anything.”

“And that was all you came to talk about?”

“What are you getting at?” Nathaniel asks.

Just making sure you’re not sabotaging what I have. But the words don’t come out. Years of animosity have me thinking them while a newfound attempt to fix what the two of us have broken makes me bite them back.

“Jase?”

I shake my head to clear it. Get my mind back on task. “I need a favor,” I say, no nonsense. “I don’t want an ‘I told you so.’ I don’t want a damn word.”

“Is it illegal?” Nathaniel asks, always the lawyer first.

“No.” I sigh. “I need you to draft up a letter. A contract with a payment in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars.”

Nathaniel swears under his breath. “Please tell me you’re not hiding a dead body.”

I bite back the snark. “I need it presented to Paul the Fucktard. Not sure of his last name but Josie at Josie’s Java will know it.”

“That’s a lot of specifics,” he jokes but then his laugh dies when I don’t laugh too. “For?”

“It has to be in exchange for the release of any and all claim of ownership of Cookie Cutter as well as the sale of any information to the media—”

“What’s going on, Jase?”

“Hendrix’s ex is trying to blackmail her. He put money into the company but is trying to extort her by leveraging ruining my reputation. And of course, in true Hendrix fashion, she’s willing to pay to protect me, to protect the world tour.”

“And so you want to pay him off instead?”

“He’s asking for half a mil. I’ll give him less than half that along with the resignation of all his rights. He’ll take it. He’s a greedy fuck. And then regardless of what happens between Hendrix and me, he’ll be out of her life.”

“Regardless of what happens? That sounds like I should know something.”

“I love her, Nathaniel.” Christ, I said it again and it doesn’t hit any easier a second time. “I love her and need to make this right.”

“You already screwed up?”

I chuckle. “Yes. And I probably will several more times, but I’m trying. I’ll get it right. She’s too damned incredible to lose.”

His silence is dramatic and unnerving, and I’m just about to say fuck it and hang up. “I’ll take care of the ex. I’ll make sure you’re both covered. And . . . fuck, man, good for you. She’s a great woman. I’m . . . proud of you.”

I end the call with a lump stuck in my throat and emotions I’ve never really had before racing through me. I love her. I treated her like absolute shit, and she still put me first.