Page 81 of Miss Belief

Reid

“What the hell did you do? What won’t I like?” My brother was a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. If he said he didn’t have a hand in locking me in with Vanessa, I believed him. But there was something else he was hesitating about telling me.

“You may want to sit down for this.”

I crossed over to my suitcase and began to toss clothes in. “I’m not sitting down for anything. I need to find out where Teagan is heading.”

“You may not want to follow her, once I tell you what I discovered.”

I moved to the closet, ripping my clothes down from the hangers. While I was at it, I grabbed the expensive dresses Teagan had left behind. “Spit it out, Chance. I have no patience for the cryptic bullshit.”

“Fine. I found out Teagan is stripping at a club in Dubai.”

I paused, swallowing hard at the unexpected news. “And you know this how?”

“Because I’ve invested money in the place.”

Of course he had. Chance owned or was invested in dozens of ventures all over the world. “What did you do with that information?”

“I confronted her with it. Told her I wouldn’t disclose her moonlighting job to you or anyone else if she took twenty-five grand and left.”

My heart sank while my brain fought against the idea Teagan would take a payout. “What did she do?”

“Told me to fuck off. I later noticed her in the lobby with her suitcase and asked where she was going. She told me you were heading back to New Hampshire to work things out with Vanessa. I knew that couldn’t be true, so I found out where Vanessa’s room was, and you know what happened after that.”

“Shit. I don’t know if Teagan would have gone to LA or Dubai.”

“She went to LA. I gave her the use of my plane. Unfortunately, it took me longer than I expected to find out Vanessa’s room number, so it’s already taken off.”

I turned to face him. “Why would you offer her use of your plane?”

He suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Because she seemed upset, and I’m not a complete asshole all the time.”

That was the thing it was sometimes hard to remember about Chance. Despite his best attempts to act the contrary, I’d seen slivers of his decency our entire lives. “Did offering her the plane ease your guilty conscience about making her feel like shit?”

“I’m not the only one with that honor. You not only allowed Mom free run of your phone, but you also decided—what? You needed another dramatic scene with Vanessa up in her room?”

I hated that he had a point. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I wished I could go back in time and change that decision. “Vanessa wanted to return the ring. In hindsight, I should’ve told her to keep it. But I was trying to—I don’t know—give her some closure.”

“No, you were once again putting other people’s feelings above your own. See where it gets you?”

Chance had always been critical of what he called my bleeding heart. In this case, it turned out he wasn’t wrong.

“You’re truly over her, though, aren’t you?”

I closed the drawers and threw more clothes into my suitcase. “One hundred percent.”

“I can have another plane here in a few hours to fly us to LA.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Teagan had the right idea by telling you to fuck off.”

His jaw clenched. “She passed the test by not taking the money.”

My seldom-seen temper snapped. “There was no test she needed to pass, you prick. Not with me, and especially not with you.”

“So you’re okay with her stripping? In a country where it’s illegal, by the way. She may need the money, but will you be cool about bringing her to family functions if anyone finds out where she moonlights?”

“God, you’re such a judgmental prick. You can own and operate strip clubs, but the girls who work there aren’t worthy, is that it?”