Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich Page A

And with that thought, the numbers in her bank account flashed across
her mind as she accepted the fact that she could afford blackmail—at least for a
while. But, she wouldn’t make it easy for him.
    Looking him straight in the eye and gathering strength into her voice, she responded,
“So, you took some good pictures. What do you want me to do about it? I’m not in
the photo-judging business.”
    “Well, now.” He grinned wickedly. “I thought you just might be in the photo-buying
business.”
    Anger welled up inside of her. “All right, Mr. Davidson, I’ll bite. What the hell
do you want?”
    A wicked smile encompassed his entire face. “Several things, Ms. Simpson. And each
one of these pictures will be traded in turn.”
    Suzanne’s throat went dry as she scanned the stack of pictures. Her mind immediately
went back to the numbers in her bank account as well as her savings and investments.
She had built a nice nest egg, but if the price per picture was too high, she could
be broke halfway through the stack.
    Turning away from Jeff, Suzanne noticed the bedroom and adjoining bathroom for the
first time. It was nice, but nothing like the large, luxurious condo she had. Suzanne
knew what Jeff made because she gave him his raises and bonuses. She knew he could
afford more than this and quickly calculated that he must be spending his money on
something other than a place to live. Her mind circled with possibilities—maybe he
gambled or had some addiction that needed cash.
    As she stood inches away from his naked body and leering face, Suzanne took as much
control over the situation as she could, deciding that she would play this cool,
not get flustered, and stay in control. She knew she could think her way out of this
the way she had everything else in her life. Having a quick mind was what had gotten
her to where she was. It was her mind she relied on, never allowing herself to get
caught up in having feelings about things, but just thinking about them and working
them out. And once more she returned to the strategy that had always helped her step
above situations that had tried to destroy her over the years. She had learned many
years ago to stuff her feelings about her life or experiences deep inside of her
so they didn’t come out, at least not until she was drunk, when they didn’t hurt
so much.
    “Okay, how much money do you want?”
    “Oh, it’s not just money.” The leer on his face was menacing.
    “What do you mean?” Large, invisible hands of panic tightened around Suzanne’s throat.
    Jeff stepped toward her and ran a finger down her cheek. “Last night was pretty good.
I could go for a lot more of that.”
    Suzanne stepped back as though she had been hit, and her stomach lurched toward her
throat. Her voice sounded like a vulnerable, little girl. “I’ll give you money, but
leave me alone.”
    Jeff ran his finger down her chest and inside her blouse, tickling the crevice between
her breasts as he quietly spit out the words, “Sorry, boss, I’m in charge here. I
make the rules of this game. First of all, I want you to get off my case at work.
No more threats or playing big mama boss. Then, you’ll give me a considerable raise.
Some you can take care of with a raise at work, the rest will come out of your bank
account.”
    “I won’t do it. Forget it.” Her strength was trying to surface.
    “Then I guess I’ll just have to send a few of these pictures to your boss, a few
to the CEO, etcetera, and down, down, down goes your career. Who do you think will
hire you after that? And the rumors will fly. You’ll be known as a slut and a drunk.
You’ll be dead in the water, Ms. Corporate Ladder Climber.”
    Suzanne tried to fight her fear, stay cool, and think her way out of this, but she
was drowning. Her stomach seemed to be permanently stuck in her throat, and her mind
was clawing at a myriad of ideas and thoughts, desperately trying to come up with
a solution, a way out of this problem. At