Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(82)

“What did he say?” Dread tightened Luc’s chest.

“He smiled at me the way he does when he knows he’s won, and said I didn’t have to talk you into anything. It was already decided.” Anguish filled her voice. “Apparently he knows someone in the Historical Commission. I don’t know if he used blackmail or a bribe or both, but he said that tomorrow morning, I’m going to get a call letting me know that the commission has decided to reject your claim.”

Luc clenched his teeth against the urge to call her grandfather a tyrannical bastard.

“It gets worse.” Her voice tightened. “Since your testimony proves that the necklace didn’t come from the shipwreck, the state can no longer claim it as part of the salvage. So, the commission is going to give the necklace to me. No conditions this time. They’re just going to give it to me.” Her voice broke. “John expects me to go straight back to New Orleans and hand it over to him.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know!” she said. “I told him I wouldn’t, that the necklace belongs to your grandmother. That’s when he got angry. He tossed out his usual threats at first, saying he’d take away my trust fund. I’m so sick of him using money as a leash to get Diane and me to do as we’re told. I don’t want to lose that money because it means I’d have to get a job that will interfere with working for Allison, but this time, I told him I didn’t care. I told him to go ahead and do it.”

“Why would losing your trust fund interfere with your job on Pearl Island?”

“The gift shop doesn’t generate enough money to support a wage, so I basically work in exchange for free rent. It was a perfect situation for both Allison and me, but it won’t work without my trust fund.”

“Then move here,” he insisted. “It’s the obvious solution. Live with me. Get a job here in New Orleans.”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because if I don’t give the necklace to John, he’ll make sure life in New Orleans is miserable for me.”

“Jesus.” He pinched his brow.

“It didn’t end there,” she said growing more upset. “Luc, he was so furious, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He told me that if I gave the necklace to your grandmother, he’d disown me and forbid Diane and DeeDee from ever having any contact with me. Diane started to object, so he turned on her. He made such awful threats, he sounded insane.”

“Maybe he is insane.” Luc shook his head. “Chloe, you can’t let a crazy person tell you what to do with your life.”

“Worst of all, he said he’d go after you. He said he’d make sure you and your entire family suffered.”

Fury filled Luc. “Don’t you dare give in to him to save me.”

“I can’t let him do that, Luc,” she pleaded. “You don’t know what he’s capable of. So, I guess I don’t have a choice. Oh God.” He heard her gulp for air. “Please forgive me, but I have to give John the necklace. I can’t let him hurt you. Even if it sounds like I’m choosing them, I’m really choosing you.”

“That’s bullshit! John can’t touch me. He has no power or connections in my world.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Chloe, your choice isn’t them or me. It’s them or you. Are you going to live your life with John’s leash around your neck, or are you going to break free?”

“My mother will never speak to me again.”

“You don’t know that,” he said, feeling his world spin out of control. “Your mother might tell John to go to hell.”

“She won’t choose me.” Chloe’s voice grew weak. “She’s never chosen me.”

“Then she’s not worth you throwing away what we could have together.”

“She’s my mother, Luc.”

“God!” He balled his hand into a fist. “Okay, you know what? Give John the godamned necklace. When you do, tell him to shove it up his ass. Then come live with me.”

“I can’t! I’d never be able to face your grandmother. Or your family when they find out.”

“I’ll make them understand.”

“What about you?” she asked, her voice forlorn. “Could you forgive me? Honestly?”

“Honestly?” He paced, thinking about it. “Actually, no. Not because of the necklace, but because if you give in to John on this, you are not the warrior I thought you were.”

“Sometimes warriors lose.”

“Warriors never surrender without giving everything they have to the fight.”

“I love you, Luc. I wish things could be different, but there’s nothing else I can do.”

“Yes, there is!” He waited for her to respond, but heard only silence. Pulling the phone from his ear, he saw the call had ended. She’d hung up on him.

“Godamn it!” On a surge of fury, he flung the phone against the wall where it shattered. Dropping into a recliner, he put his head in his hands as pain ripped through him. He couldn’t believe Chloe had just thrown their future away.

~ ~ ~

Chloe collapsed sideways onto the sofa and gave in to grief. Her anguish made no sound since she couldn’t take in enough air to even form a sob.