She lifted her chin. “I don’t give one good goddamn what you feel or don’t. My son needs you. He told me you write all his songs and that without you, he can’t be the rock star he wants to be. I’ve sacrificed everything to make my boy happy, and I’m not about to let some girl spreading her legs for a Riscoff ruin it.”

“You’re insane.”

Renee shook her head slowly. “No, I’m a mother. And when your mom left Roosevelt Riscoff to die in that river, she took my paycheck with her. If you don’t marry my son and make him into a goddamned rock star, you’ll leave me with only one choice.”

“What?”

That ugly smile twisted her lips again. “I’ll go public. I’ll destroy your little boyfriend’s family and tell them all exactly who my son is—the legitimate heir to the Riscoff fortune.”

My entire body tensed with shock. Ricky is Lincoln’s half brother. His older half brother.

The entire town knew about the Riscoff inheritance tradition. Everything went to the oldest male of the next generation. Which meant . . . if I don’t marry Ricky, Lincoln will get nothing.

“I see you get what I’m saying.”

My mind spun in a million different directions at the same time, and my heart clenched painfully. “But you could’ve done that already. Could do that at any time. Why should I believe that you wouldn’t anyway?”

Renee’s green eyes pierced me, and for the first time, I realized that she wasn’t all there. I didn’t know if it was what happened with Lincoln’s father that broke her, but Ricky’s mom was crazy.

“My boy doesn’t want to be a Riscoff. He wants to be a rock star. And Ricky always gets what he wants, which includes you. You’re going to marry him and help him live that dream of his . . . or I’ll make sure he takes every single penny that’s supposed to go to your boyfriend.”

The woman was unhinged. Absolutely, totally, and completely. But I knew with complete certainty that she was also deadly serious.

The other thing I knew with complete certainty? If Ricky were to inherit the Riscoff fortune, he’d piss away every penny chasing his rock star dream. He’d run the companies into the ground because he wouldn’t give a single damn about how many people relied on the Riscoff name for a paycheck.

Ricky would ruin this entire town. That was the reason I gave myself for the sickening realization that I had to do what Renee said. But the truth lay just beneath the surface, and even my pride wasn’t enough to keep it quiet.

I love Lincoln too much to let Ricky and Renee destroy everything that matters to him.

He’d never marry me, and I wouldn’t be his kept woman. But I can save his future.

Renee must have seen the decision on my face, because she smiled sweetly. “I knew you’d see it my way. Now, here comes my son. You better make it convincing.”