Page 68 of Reckless Seduction
I told my brother we shouldn’t go through with it. Sure, our plan to ruin the senator and see him behind bars will ultimately free her from her father’s control, but she will never forgive us for how we get there.
And I wouldn’t blame her.
Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I dial Bridgett.
“Yeah?”
“I need everything you can find on Toph Eriksen. His marriage, his family—everything. He’s got a daughter, and I want to know who the hell she is.”
“Well, hello to you too,” Bridgett sighs. “I’m doing good. How are you? Oh, I’m fine, thanks.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Hello, Bridgett.”
She snorts. “Well, that’s a start,” she sasses. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to find everything you can find on Toph Eriksen,” I tell her. “Apparently, Crowe is holding his daughter captive. I want to know who she is.”
“How long has he had her?”
Fuck.
“Since she was three.”
“Birthdate?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“That’s not a lot to go off.”
I let out a long breath. A headache is drilling its way through me. “I know this. But it’s all I have, Bridg. Find out everything you can about Eriksen. Do a deep dive. We never really did that.”
We should have.
“Okay.” She groans. “But I’m not making any promises.”
“Deal.”
I hang up the phone, dropping it to the seat next to me.
Something is coming.
I can feel it.
My gut is churning, and that is never a good thing. My gut is never wrong.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“The gala is onlya few days away,” Sarah points out petulantly. “You can’t expect to take her with you. She hasn’t been announced, and God knows she doesn’t have something appropriate to wear.”
I wonder if I can crawl under the table without being missed.
“I’ve already added her to the list,” my father tells her firmly. “She deserves a reward for coming to terms with her engagement to Drew, despite his indiscretions. Isn’t that right, dear?” His tone is deadly. Arsenic threaded with the lace of civility.
“Yes, Father.” I lower my eyes in submission. Fake as it is, he buys it, sending me a large smile.
“Good.” He turns back to Sarah. “Everything is settled, dear. Dalia didn’t want to attend in the first place, and Drew wants to show off his fiancée officially.” Something about the way he says officially makes my skin crawl.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a while,” Drew admits casually as he cuts into his steak. “It has been years in the making. A great buy, if you ask me.”
