Jackson
House of Amery
Jackson followed Dominique into the depths of the House of Amery. He hadn’t known what to expect from a fashion designer’s studio. Strangely, it reminded him of a chop shop. There were different workstations, dresses lay in pieces, and the workers would glance up, but no one wanted to chat. Headless dress dummies stood at every table and gave him the urge to run shooting target drills in the room.
He had been hoping to get a few minutes alone to talk to Dominique about Max. However, a week after Evan’s engagement, she seemed to be avoiding all of her relatives and throwing herself into helping Olivia with wedding planning. The first priority was finding Olivia a wedding dress. Since Olivia hated thinking about clothes, Dominique was taking point on the dress and interviewing multiple designers for the gig. So far, the designers had been uniformly obsequious and excited about the project. Today’s designer was Victor Amery, and he was less of a suck-up, more enthusiastic, and definitely had avision.Jackson did not care about the vision. He cared about hurrying Dominique up. They were already late for a meeting with Evan and Eleanor’s campaign strategist, and wedging in a heart-to-heart was going to be challenging enough.
He looked around the room and realized that one of the mannequins was an actual person. She was surrounded bythree different seamstresses, one of who was minutely stitching something onto the girl’s boobs. The model was in fantastic shape. Jackson wouldn’t mind getting that up close and personal with her boobs. Unlike most models who seemed gangly and bony, this one had curves in all the right places and long beautiful legs. Not that the seamstress appeared to notice as she stitched with tiny, delicate precision along the breast. It was bizarrely intimate and also impersonal at the same time.
He glanced up at the model and realized that it wasn’t just her body that was amazing. Her dark hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head, showing off a long slender neck and high-cheek bones. She also was making faces at the sewers, who were oblivious. He began to laugh, and then the model caught his eye and abruptly stopped, going straight-faced.
Her serious expression was what triggered his memory. The model was the girl from the alley, and he felt triumphant. He couldn’t believe he’d randomly managed to find her. Of course she was a model with a face and body like that. He should have started his search for her on the nearest catwalk. He wanted to make her laugh again, so he stuck out his tongue at her and watched as she tried to keep a giggle from escaping.
“You’re jiggling,” complained one of the stitchers near her ass.
“Sorry,” said the model and shot a glare at him. He tried to figure out how he was going to talk to her with all the fashion people around. Maybe this time, he could at least get her name.
His phone rang, and he reluctantly walked a few paces further away from both the model and Dominique.
“Jackson,” his grandmother said without preamble, “there has been a very unusual occurrence.”
“Did Theo make a joke again?” asked Jackson.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Eleanor. “The apocalypse isn’tthatnigh. No, Zoe has just received a call—a direct call—from Ralph Taggert’s Chief of Staff.”
“Are we sure the apocalypse isn’t nigh? Perhaps we should ask Theo.”
“Amusing,” said Eleanor, not sounding in the least entertained.
“OK, what did he want?”
“He wanted to arrange a meeting between myself and Ralph.”
“Why?” demanded Jackson. Olivia’s grandfather was pompous, conniving, and consistently referred to Senator Deveraux asEvil Eleanor. Even with the détente Olivia negotiated, Jackson didn’t think Ralph had actually stopped hating any of them. If anything, Jackson thought he probably hated the Deveraux family even more.
“That is unclear, but he offered a suggested date, time, and location and requested no staffers be present. It appears to be serious.”
“Do you want to go?” asked Jackson.
“When one’s sworn enemy calls up and asks for a meeting for the first time ever, it pays to take it. So yes.”
“All right,” said Jackson. “Text me the details. I’ll get started.”
“Started?” repeated Eleanor.
“Well,onemay wish to take the meeting, butoneshould not take it without scouting the location or assessing the threat risk.”
“That seems excessive,” said Eleanor, and he could hear the frown in her voice. “I was simply going to have you go with me as you are not a staffer.”
“No problem, but I don’t go places without scouting the location and assessing the threat risk.”
Eleanor sighed gustily.
“Fine. I’ll send you a text momentarily. Goodbye.”
“Bye,” said Jackson, although the line had already clicked off.
He hesitated for a moment and then texted Olivia. Meeting with Ralph Taggert might be only about Eleanor, but he didn’t want Olivia to be blindsided, and there was always thepossibility that she might have some insight. Moments later, his phone rang, and he saw it was Evan.
