“Maybe if you told the press what you intend to do with the money, they would let up,” Dani offered.
For all her money and power, Danielle Lodge-Taylor was still naïve about some things. Of course that’s probably what happened when one found oneself married to not one, but two overly protective men. She knew some people would find Dani’s personal life objectionable, but Vanessa was fascinated by how the trio worked. Julian, Dani, and their partner, Finn, had been married almost twenty years and had three lovable kiddos. Julian’s fierce reputation and ties to every powerful person in Dallas had kept them off the press’s radar. But that could change.
“They would never believe me. It would be just one more of my manipulations,” Vanessa replied.
“You are not manipulative.”
That was where Dani was wrong, and guilt wrenched through Vanessa. She had to give this woman an out. “I need you to think about what could happen…what will happen when the press eventually connects me to your business. They’ll look into you.”
Dani shrugged off that worry. “Let them. I don’t care.”
“What about Chloe? What about the boys? They’ll get dragged into it.”
“Chloe loves her family, and so do the boys. Do you think we haven’t had to have this conversation about a million times?” Dani’s voice had gone soft. “When you don’t conform to what the world considers normal, you’ll have trouble. And when you do conform there’s different trouble. I don’t care what the world thinks of us. I have the enormous privilege of my husbands’ money and power, and that makes it infinitely easier to not care. But Chloe goes to a private school, and she’s absolutely been teased about it. I sat her down once and asked her which dad she wanted to get rid of so we could be normal. She cried for a long time, and I cried with her, and the next day she explained to her friends and teachers that if they had a problem with her family, they could fuck themselves. And then we all got called into the office because she was thirteen.”
“I hope you didn’t punish her because they should go fuck themselves.” She hated the thought of that little girl having to defend herself.
Everyone has to go through it. Why should you be different? Suck it up or lose your place.
The words of her ex-agent ran through her head. The woman had previously been an actress and thought anyone who didn’t have to go through what she had didn’t deserve a career. Unfortunately, what she’d been through was harassment and borderline assault. A pretty nineteen-year-old was fair game in Hollywood.
Don’t get bitter, sweetheart. I’m an old man, and I’ve learned bitterness does nothing but make the world a colder place. You’ve been through bad things, so work to make sure the ones who come after you don’t have to go through the same.
She felt a tear hit her cheek. She often heard George’s words shortly after one of those negative voices hit her brain. Like he was still here, still telling her she was worthy. Telling her just because she’d been foolish for a while didn’t mean she couldn’t make a difference. Mistakes were how a person learned, and the person who never made mistakes would be hollow indeed because they would never learn empathy.
Using George’s logic, she should be the most empathetic person in the world.
“We all have our challenges to face, and her unique family is one of my daughter’s,” Dani admitted. “Luckily she’s got a lot of support on every level. I worry you think you don’t.”
She was alone in the world, and she couldn’t admit to Dani what she was really doing. She actually thought Dani would help her, but Dani would also talk to her husband—the ruthless one—and she couldn’t risk that. “Everyone’s gone. I have a couple of cousins, but they don’t want to have anything to do with me now that I don’t have access to tons of money.”
Her extended family had been perfectly happy to take her help but not to reciprocate. They didn’t answer her calls or invite her to visit.
“You have me. I was close to your sister. I know you reached out to her in the last year of her life. I also know that the house you’re living in was purchased by you,” Dani pointed out.
She and Nicki had never stopped talking. They might have gone months without calling, but they always got in touch in the end. Her sister hadn’t approved of her lifestyle, had thought she made poor choices, but Nicki had still loved her.
Which was why she had to do what she had to do.
“I did that years ago when my career was viable,” Vanessa admitted. “And I put the house in Nicki’s name, so until her will is through probate, they’ve got the right to ask me to leave. I think they’re hoping if I leave I’ll forget to pay the association fees and they can put a lien on the place. I won’t. I’ll have everything forwarded to wherever I end up next.”
“Why not stay at The Club?” Dani asked.
She needed to be inside that secret domain of the wealthy and powerful and kinky. It was the whole reason she’d taken the job in the first place. The Club was part dungeon and part luxury hotel and apartments. Several of the high-level members of The Club lived in the building that also housed the offices she was currently working in. Dani’s company had a big suite of offices attached to Lodge Corp. There was a secretive way down to the dungeon level. Anyone walking into the building would see nothing more than a private multi-use, elegant high-rise.
She needed to get into the dungeon.
“I don’t want to cause you any more trouble than I need to. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this job not only for the fact that it allows me to eat and put gas in my car, but because it makes me feel close to Nicki. She adored you. But if I move here, they will follow me. I’m surprised they haven’t shown up here yet, though I’ve been taking precautions. I’ve been parking in a lot down the street and going into that building before I sneak out the back and come here.” It was the stupidest thing, but she had to do it. She actually went into a bathroom on the lower level and changed clothes and put on a wig that she ditched when she made it to the building that Lodge owned.
“That’s ridiculous. I’ll send someone to pick you up,” Dani insisted.
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll lay low for a couple of weeks at a motel, and they’ll lose interest again. Ashton probably got enough off the interview to last her for six months or so. If she’s quiet, I might get lucky.”
“Laying low here would be perfect,” Dani pointed out. “You don’t even have to go out for groceries. You can have them delivered or eat with us.”
“Dani, Julian doesn’t like me.” She needed to put things plainly. “It’s best I stay off his radar.”
Dani’s head tilted slightly, and an amused expression crossed her face. “He hasn’t spent time with you, and he can be a suspicious bastard. I know that. It’s part of his charm, but I understand that he can be intimidating. You know going to The Club isn’t going to change that perception. If you think Julian is overwhelming in a suit, you should see him in leathers.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him being okay with me going into training.” She wasn’t sure about this part. The idea of bondage and submission and all the other kinky things… She wasn’t sure, but this lifestyle had called to her sister.