I lingered in bed the next morning while Blake caught up on work in the living room so I could rest. I was ready to slip back to sleep when my phone rang. It was Daniel. We hadn't spoken in weeks, but I'd been waiting for him to reach out to me again.

"Hello," I answered.

"Erica."

"How are things?" I tried to sound cheerful, but my voice was still raw from a long night of partying and orgasms.

He was silent and my stomach tightened with anxiety.

"I need to know who's leaking this information. The press is up my ass. They're starting to ask about Patricia." Frustration and determination weighted his words, which worried me even more.

I swallowed over the dryness in my throat. "They've been hounding me too. But I told you before, I don't know."

"What does Blake say?"

I tensed, not liking my fiance's name anywhere in my conversations with Daniel. "He doesn't know either."

He was silent again.

"It's out now, Daniel. Don't you have enough on your plate without vengeance? What's the point of trying to hunt someone down?"

"Because I'd like to know who's costing me this campaign. I'd like a chance to look them in the eye."

He wanted the chance to put a bullet in them, more likely. I started to feel sick knowing that might very well be what he was after.

"Tell me."

"I told you, I don't know." I struggled to keep my voice steady. I desperately wanted him to believe me.

"I can only assume it's Blake then." The finality in his voice sobered me on an entirely new level. I sat up straight from the bed, my heart racing with fear.

"No!" I nearly shouted. "Blake has nothing to do with this." God, anything but having Blake back in his crosshairs.

"Then who?" he shouted back. I jumped, tensing the phone in my grasp.

"I don't know," I insisted. I couldn't tell him. How could I? I couldn't trust Daniel not to do something drastic. I hated what Richard had done to Marie and to me, but what if it cost him his life?

"I'm losing my patience, Erica. I have ways of getting information. The easiest option is for you to tell me."

Silence stretched between us, and I couldn't ignore the foreboding feeling that he was not going to let this go, possibly ever. I rubbed my forehead, willing away the headache that had resurfaced suddenly.

"I'm afraid," I admitted. "I'm afraid you'll do something terrible again, and I'll get caught in the middle of it. I don't want to lie to protect you anymore." The truth, finally. Words I'd wanted to say for a long time.

"Did the police talk to you again?" His voice was quieter now and tainted with a different kind of concern.

"No, but it's only a matter of time."

He paused again. "What if I assured you no one's life would be in danger?"

I wouldn't believe you.

"I don't know." They seemed to be the only words I knew. If I kept saying them, I wouldn't have to give him a real answer.

"You'll never be rid of me until you give a fucking name. It's Blake or it's someone else. You decide."

No, no, no. Tears formed in my eyes. Why was he doing this to me? Why was he so set on revenge?

"Erica!"

I stifled a whimper. "Richard Craven."

"Who?"

"His name is Richard Craven. He's a reporter for The Globe."

He exhaled audibly. "You told a fucking reporter?"

"No," I said, irritated that he would think that about me.

"Then how the fuck did he find out?"

"Stop yelling at me!" I shouted, unable to take this aggressive line of questioning with him any further.

I heard him breathing on the other end of the phone. "Explain to me, please, how the reporter Richard Craven knows that I am your biological father," he said more calmly, but with evident strain.

I brushed a tear away angrily and took a steeling breath of my own. I had no idea how to explain this without throwing Marie into harm's way too. That I wouldn't do. I wanted to believe he'd never hurt someone close to me, but I could never know for certain with him. His moral compass had proven to be calibrated quite differently from my own. Still, I knew he wouldn't let this go without some answers, and I didn't want him believing I'd leaked the information myself. As much as I didn't trust Daniel, I knew he didn't exactly trust me either.

"He's been dating an old friend of Mom's. She..." I closed my eyes, praying that I was doing the right thing. "She's been like a mother to me since Mom passed. She knows who you are. She didn't mean to hurt either of us. He's been manipulating her to get information about me to hurt you."

"Who is she?"

"I gave you what you asked for, and I expect you to keep your promise. I don't agree with what Richard's done any more than you do, but I don't want any more blood on my hands. Daniel, promise me. Promise me that no one's going to get hurt."

A second later, the line went dead. I stared at the phone, stunned by what had just happened. I replayed the conversation over in my head, second guessing everything I'd said. In the end, he'd left me with no reassurances.

Somewhere in the flurry of emotions, I felt relief that I'd spared Blake from Daniel's wrath. The relief quickly dissipated when I realized I could have put another man's life in grave danger.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Even after Daniel's disturbing call, I managed to sleep away most of the weekend. Monday morning came quickly, and I tried to ignore the niggling worry that I'd put Richard in danger. I toyed with the idea of meeting with him. I had plenty I wanted to say, but maybe I could somehow convince him to give up this interest in Daniel's world. Somehow...

I ducked into Mocha to dodge a reporter and grab my morning fuel. Simone let me sneak to the back and get to my side of the building undetected. Opening the door to the office, I stood frozen.

My heart pounded frantically, my palms damp at the sight before me.

At our conference table sat Sophia, and beside her, the man who'd been trying to nose his way into my business for months, Isaac Perry. Alli sat across from them, tensely silent.

"What's going on here?"

Relief washed over Alli's countenance when our eyes met, quickly followed by concern. She got up and walked to me.

"They've been here since I opened up this morning. They wouldn't tell me why. Said they had business to discuss and you needed to be here."

I stepped around her, glaring at them. "What are you doing here? Get out."

Isaac rose, looking far more tentative than Sophia. "Erica, have a seat so we can talk."

I stood by the table, ignoring his request. "Out." I pointed toward the door, glaring at Sophia.

She sat back casually in the chair she occupied next to Isaac. She wore a tight black paneled dress, her long legs crossed over each other. A pen pressed to her curved lips. "Have a seat," she said flatly.

Fine. I dropped down at the head of the table. "Talk. Quickly."

Isaac drew in a breath. "First of all, congratulations on the sale of the business."

I stilled. "How did you know about that?" I asked quietly.

"Alex Hutchinson and I have been working on our own deal for quite some time. We came into town last week to finalize everything."

He averted his eyes but I continued to stare, trying to penetrate him with a look designed to kill.

"What deal?"

Sophia leaned in, spreading her manicured fingers over the table. "The deal where Perry Media Group acquired Clozpin, along with several other entities under Alex's domain."

My stomach fell to the floor. Sickness tore through me.

Alli let out a sound of pure shock. "Why would you do that?"

Isaac cleared his throat. "I know this comes as a shock, but this deal has been in the works for a long time with Alex. Acquiring Clozpin was a new development, but one that made sense for us."

"Who's us?" I asked.

"My company, and Sophia. She holds an interest in Clozpin and will be taking an active role in the business. Remotely, of course, but we're here often so we can meet as frequently as you need."

I let out a caustic laugh. Isaac was talking like Alex. Like this was all business as usual. Except I had no business relationship with Isaac. Blake had wanted it that way, and ultimately I had supported his position. And I sure as hell wasn't doing business with Sophia.

"We'll be making some changes over the next few weeks." Sophia's smug look met Alli's still stunned expression. "Alli, regretfully, we won't be able to keep you on through this transition. Under normal circumstances we would give you two weeks, but due to the nature of this acquisition, we feel it's best if you leave the company, effective today."

Alli's eyes grew wider, her jaw dropping farther. "What?"

"Isaac already has a full marketing team. Your services are no longer needed."

I stood up, my hands flat on the table. "You can't do that. We had an agreement. The staff stays."

Sophia's gaze darted up to mine. "Sorry," she quipped, without a trace of regret. "That clause doesn't hold in the case of a third-party acquisition. Perry Media Group, in this case, is the third party. Did you read the agreement closely, Erica?"

Her words punched the breath from me. I went to war with the tremors of anger coursing through me.

She'd fucked me. She, and Alex, and Isaac. They had all royally fucked me. I tried to collect myself, tried to pick my dignity and my jaw off the floor, though I was certain she noticed my reaction.

If Alli was out, I was probably going to be right behind her. No one hated me more than Sophia, and it was obvious that Sophia-not Isaac-was running this show.

"So I guess that means I'm next," I said, hoping to beat her to the punch.

A smile twisted up the side of her face. She tapped her nails on the table. "Oh, no. We want you to stay. We have plans, and you're just the one we want to see them through."

I sat back down. Not out of defeat, but because in that moment I couldn't have held myself up for the world.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Tension hung in the air between us. I didn't want to show weakness, but I silently pleaded with Isaac. The look he returned was almost pained, as if Sophia were literally twisting his arm up behind his back, forcing him into a situation that was only pleasurable for her. I wasn't entirely convinced in that moment that Sophia wasn't a sadist in her own right. For all her wanting to be Blake's submissive, she really seemed to get off on hurting others.

"We'll be bringing on new staff, of course. People from my agency and Isaac's team. You'll work directly under them to carry out the new vision for the site," Sophia said, smug authority dripping from her voice.

Under them. Under her.

I leveled a glare at her, but I was growing numb. The air was thick, and the silence in the room was deafening. Blood hummed in my ears. I vaguely noticed James and Chris hovering on the sidelines of our conversation, waiting. They were all looking to me, waiting on me to make the next move.

"You can't do this." My voice was thin, not my own.

They couldn't make me do this.

"You have no ownership stake, Erica. You're now an employee of the company, and what we say goes."

Something had snapped. It wasn't a punch in the gut or even a slap in the face. I sat there, stripped. Gutted. The pain and the shock of what she was saying gave way to something else. Reality, the choices I'd made, and the choice I was now facing.

Sophia wanted to run me into the ground. She couldn't have Blake, so instead she was aiming for the singular pleasure of ruining the thing I'd worked so hard for, and forcing my hand to help her do it.

"You're not going to top me, Sophia."

Recognition shadowed her eyes. "Well, someone needs to. Unfortunately, Blake left me in a somewhat precarious position when he pulled out from the agency. I was forced to diversify. Isaac and I were both surprised when Alex told us how receptive you were to selling. But don't worry, the business is in good hands now. You'll get to see firsthand."

No fucking way.

I shoved out the chair and stood. "I won't be a part of this. I'm not going to watch you ruin what I spent years building."

For the first time since she'd entered the office, Sophia showed an inkling of displeasure, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You'll lose everything if you leave now."