Page 43 of Backlash

Pressing a hand to my chest, I take a deep breath and feel my heart rate drop. “You scared me!”

“Oops.” She shrugs her slender shoulders with a sheepish smile. “However, he did say to ask you to call him. Ellie is asking questions.”

Neither my heart nor my stomach takes this news particularly well. There’s only one reason to stay at Windfall: to protect Ellie. “I shouldn’t move out.”

“Nonsense. You can protect her without being there,” Poppy says. “She sees the way they treat you. Show her that a strong woman doesn’t stick around when she’s treated like that.”

“What if they turn on her?” I ask so quietly that I’m almost surprised they hear me.

“They won’t.” Kai sounds so sure. I wish I shared his optimism.

“We won’t let them,” Poppy says. “Felix is there ,and he’s in charge of her inheritance. He’ll make them toe the line. He already made Ginny attend dance lessons with her.”

“He did?” I ask hopefully. Ginny tended to skip out on little things like that, reserving her attention for charity functions and luncheons—whatever Malcolm would want.

Poppy nods her head. “He’s got them in check.”

“Are they that bad?” Kai asks.

“Worse,” Poppy says. “I never understood how a woman so desperate to have a baby could be so disinterested in her child.” It’s unlike Poppy to criticize someone, especially a family member. By her terms, this is the height of judgment.

“It’s part of the terms of their prenup,” I explain, gulping against the guilt surging in my throat. I was taught never to air family business that might reflect poorly. “My father told me once. If Malcolm divorces her before she gives him a child, she gets nothing. Having Ellie ensured she would be taken care of for life.”

“She had a baby to crack the terms of a prenup?” Kai asks. “Your lawyers are terrible. I would never sign that.”

“The lawyers can be a bit backwards when it comes to middle-class wives and billionaire husbands,” I say dryly.

“And middle-class men? Or, for that matter, poor guys?”

“We’re taught from a young age that they don’t exist,” Poppy says. “I’m not joking! You can marry into money if you’re a woman, but marry down and you’re out.”

“Really?” Kai turns to me for confirmation. “Is that where things went wrong for you and Sterling?” He winces when he realizes that he just brought up a painful topic.

Before he can apologize, I jump in, “I have no idea what happened with Sterling and me. I have no idea why he betrayed me.”

Kai opens his mouth again, another question in his eyes.

“Change of subject!” Poppy says. Her head tilts, and she grabs my hand. For an awkward minute, she studies it. I half expect her to start telling my fortune. When she finally looks up, she shakes her head with disapproval. “When do you start your new job?”

I bite my lip. So maybe Sterling isn’t the only call I’ve been avoiding. “I’m supposed to pop in to do paperwork, but after what Malcolm did…”

“Nope!” Kai interrupts loudly. “You aren’t letting your brother wreck this for you. She hired you. Do you think that offer is going to be around forever?”

“I doubt it’s around at all. I own the business. I’ll never be there because she wants me, not now,” I say, looking for some inkling of understanding. Instead, I’m met with tough love.

“I’m with Kai,” Poppy says in a firm voice. She pulls out her phone.

“Who are you calling?” I can’t help my suspicion. I can’t trust her not to intervene if she think’s she’s helping me.

“Elsi,” she says.

“No!” But I know it’s too late to stop her. She holds a finger and mouths: shush. “Are you available? It’s an absolute emergency.”

“Who’s Elsi?” Kai whispers.

But Poppy’s off the phone before I can answer. “She’s my miracle worker.”

“Her stylist,” I say to him.