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‘Maybe. Maybe not.’
‘Think about what this will do to her.’
‘I am. Unlike you, I only ever think of her.’
‘I’ve given your mother – and you – everything!’ he hissed.
‘No. You took her – her body, her mind, her money – and you degraded her until she had nothing left. But not anymore. She has nothing left for you to control. No money, no house.’
‘Oh, but she still feels pain,’ Holden threatened.
Skye’s stomach sloshed with anxiety. But she didn’t show it. ‘I won’t know about it.’
Holden seemed to buy her bluff. ‘What do you want?’
‘I’ve taken a million out of the trust. If you leave Caroline – file for divorce – it’s yours. If you choose not to, you’ll never see another dime of MacDonald money.’
‘This is ridiculous.’
Skye laughed lightly. But when she said, ‘Bless your heart, Holden,’ her voice dripped Southern sugar. She leaned close, whispered, ‘This is the monster you created.’
Holden didn’t have anything to say to that. ‘I want three.’
‘You’d leave Caroline for three million dollars?’ Skye asked clearly.
‘She’s a means to an end to me, a woman who’s easy to keep in line and well-bred enough to impress at social functions. If she’s a bore in bed’ – he shrugged – ‘the young, dumb and impressionable certainly aren’t.’
His words were meant to hurt. And they did. But Skye didn’t show it. ‘Just for that, the offer is now seven-fifty. Take it or leave it, Holden.’
‘You little bitch.’
‘It’ll be gone in three, two—’
‘Fine. Deal.’ He held out one hand.
Skye looked down at it, but she refused to shake. She just stood, said, ‘Mr Simcock will send you the particulars shortly. He’ll also be representing Caroline in the divorce.’
‘I should have killed you when I had the chance.’
‘Probably,’ Skye agreed.
‘Your offer is made on one fatal assumption,’ he said.
Skye played ignorant. ‘Oh?’
‘You think your mother will agree to a divorce?’ he asked. His smile was cold and bitter. ‘She eats, like a starved dog, from the palm of my hand,’ he taunted.
Skye took her phone out of her pocket and put it on speaker. ‘Janey?’
‘We’re here, Skye. She heard it all.’
In the background, her mother’s sobs echoed. Each stuttered cry tore through Skye. In the back of her mind, she vaguely wondered if her mom would ever forgive her for this. Hell, she wondered if she’d ever forgive herself for it.
Holden paled. But he didn’t try to speak to Caroline.
Skye ended the call. ‘Whether or not she decides to go through with it isn’t up to me. I’ve done everything I can for her. The question is: how long will you stick to her once she has nothing?’
‘You bitch,’ he spat. ‘I might just take care of you anyway.’
