Page 45 of The Friend Zone Experiment

Jason was at least smart enough not to confirm this, or to attempt a denial that would be as good as confirmation.

“I haven’t sent him the images yet,” he said. “Part of me must have sensed he was shady.”

Renee stiffened, the back of her neck prickling. A chill ran down her spine. “He doesn’t have the photos? Are you telling the truth? You’re going to suffer if you lie to me now, Jason. I’m not kidding.”

Jason’s eyes skidded away from her. It took Renee a moment to clock that he was looking behind her.

At Ket Siong. Who was glaring at Jason, as much as to say,I will murder you if you make a single wrong move.

It wasn’t a face Renee had seen on Ket Siong before. Combinedwith the way he’d bulked up in the past decade, it was startlingly effective. She’d always been drawn to his gentleness, but seeing this side of him made him even more attractive. She turned back to Jason, unsettled.

“Where did you find that guy?” said Jason in a hushed voice. “You’ve never had security before.”

“I asked you a question,” said Renee.

Jason tore his gaze away from Ket Siong. “I, uh, I’m not lying. I agreed to think about it, but I haven’t done anything yet. It’s not like Iwantedto do it,” he added, aggrieved. “It’s not who I am. You should know that, Renee.”

Renee stared at him. Incredibly, he seemed serious.

“I don’t know who you are,” she said. “I don’t know anything about you. I would have said you would never do anything like this.”

Jason coloured.

“If it’s not who you are,” said Renee, “why even do it? If you’d thought about it for one second, it must have been obvious the risk wasn’t worth it.”

Jason muttered, “I need the money.” At her disbelieving look, he added, “It’s true. You know my parents manage my money.”

“I thought you had a good relationship with them.”

“I do,” said Jason, injured. “A great relationship. But I’ve had some expenses recently. They’re not a big deal. We could afford it, wouldn’t even make a dent. But Mom wouldn’t understand…”

“What was it? Gambling, hookers, drugs?” said Renee.

All of the above, probably. Renee had bought into Jason’s clean-shaven image, duped along with his fans. She’d been so charmed by the fact he was a mama’s boy, spoke to his parents every day, shared—Renee thought—everything with them.

“You know what, I don’t want to know,” she said, stuffing down her feelings about having been made a fool of at least three times over. She’d deal with them some other time. “How much does it come to?”

Jason hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”

He wasn’tthatdense. This was him pushing for an explicit assurance about where this was going.

That, Renee was happy to give him. “I’m going to make you an offer. How much do you need?”

She winced inwardly when he named the amount. Jason’s overall estate might not notice money like that, but Renee would. She didn’t have much spare liquidity. Everything went into the business. Extracting the sum Jason wanted would set back her plans for Virtu by years. So much for her dreams of a London store.

But if she beat Su Khoon at his game—if she won Chahaya—that would no longer matter. She’d be able to raise all the capital she needed for Virtu, then.

“I don’t have that much money,” she said. “But I can give you—” She named a figure that was around sixty percent of the sum.

Jason frowned. “Your brother…”

“Wouldn’t have offered more than that, because he’s not an idiot,” said Renee. Su Khoon wasn’t wholly in control of his own money, either—especially, she imagined, after his cryptocurrency losses. Dad would be keeping an eye on him. There was only so far he would’ve been able to go.

She had a flash of insight. “That’s why you haven’t sent him the photos yet. You’ve been trying to get more money out of him.”

Jason’s expression confirmed this. Renee moved on before he could start up with denials.

“I have something extra to sweeten the deal,” she said. “Give me the images, delete any copies you have, and I’ll delete my copies of our video. Your face is perfectly clear in it, if you don’t remember.”