Page 23 of Heartless
I had yet to reveal to Madison that I occupied ?he Blue Diamond. Since she sneaked around and used the hot tub, I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know I lived there. I didn’t want her sniffing around my personal space.
The moment we entered the Pink Diamond, she whirled around and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re being rude.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You’re rude all the fucking time and you seem to get away with it.”
“Not to my clients, I am not,” she yelled at me with eyes blazing with anger. “What’s your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem,” I lied. “I just don’t like the idea of people ruining my property.”
“Ifyou want to keep it pristine, maybe you should close it off and let no one step in.”
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck, not wanting to admit it, but that would be my first choice indeed. But that want wasn’t compatible with the promise I had made four years ago.
“Look,” she started. “I don’t really care. Keep your secrets to yourself. But we have to come up with a solution. You can’t sabotage the weddings.”
“I know.” I tugged at the collar of my shirt. The truth was I wanted to scream at her, even though this time I was the one causing trouble. “Now that you mentioned secrets, are you ready to share what happened in New York?”
“Nothing happened in New York.”
“Annie Foster called and you just ditched everything?” I asked again. She opened her mouth to answer, but I lifted my hand up in the air, signaling her to shut up. “I’m not finished. How am I to know you won’t ditch Annie at the last minute?”
What I wanted to ask was how was I to know that she wouldn’t ditch me to deal with a Hollywood wedding, but her finding out that I was counting on her doing her job wasn’t in my interest.
“Why would I ditch Annie?”
“Why did you ditch everyone in New York?”
“I didn’t ditch anyone in New York,” she said through gritted teeth.
“What happened then?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is, actually. Since I’m your employer and I’m the one who will suffer the blow if you fuck anything up.”
“With the way you dragged me away from our meeting, I would say you’ll manage to do that all on your own.”
As much as it hurt my ego, I had to admit that she was right.
“So you won’t tell me about New York?”
“There’s nothing to tell,” she lied.
I decided to play along. For now, at least. “What do you suggest, then? For the gardens?”
“Not sure yet. I think it would be best to find a solution that could be used for all five weddings.” She paused. “Maybe talk to an architect and build something that would fit nicely amongst the villas.”
The idea of changing anything felt like someone was cutting me in half.
“You want to turn my hotel into a construction site?”
“You asked for my suggestion.”
“Well, you’ll have to work with what you’ve got.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“No. No problem at all. I’ve worked with delusional people before.”
Chapter Eight
