“Oh? Will I be cleaning manure? Will that better redeem my image?”
“Actually, no. Alistair Whent wants to know that you’re okay. He feels terrible about how the night went.”
I sigh, frustrated. I’ve been playing phone tag with Alistair for some months. As an heir to several hotel chains and an airline, he has no shortage of women vying for his attention.
I’ve dated plenty of rich men. The kind that look great on paper, but ends up treating the waitstaff like crap and their dates even worse. Alistair was different, though. He courted me, researching my interests, and after months of small talk over the phone and through texts, he invited me out.
And I ruined it.
I give Caleb a tight smile. “Tell him I said thanks for his concern.”
“He has a lot of 0s in his bank account. If I were you, I’d call him myself and say that. Maybe he thinks you’re a fun girl.” He winks at me.
“Oh, you can fuck right the hell off!”
“I intend to. While you’re being put on a private jet destined for Aurora, I’ll be going to eat at Momofuku Ko.”
“One more thing,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“The guard that brought me in here.”
“The one that can bench press me?” Caleb asks.
“Yeah, her. Her daughter got a DUI, and I want you to take on the case.”
Caleb looks at me as if I’ve gone mad.
“Just do it. You eat those cases for breakfast.”
“I sure do, when there’s a millionaire client willing to pay upward five-figures.”
“I’ll pay you. I just need you to do this for me. Quietly! I don’t want any attention drawn to it.”
Caleb inhales a long breath, his nostrils flaring upon exhale. “I’ll take the case,” he says coolly, “if you just follow orders.”
“Deal.”
?
Garrett
“Goddammit!” Hank says as he slams the phone down onto the receiver.
“What’s up, old man?” I chide. “Fail to navigate another automated customer service menu?”
“I need you to use your phone.”
“Oh, now I’m your secretary?”
He looks at me with fear and sadness laced eyes, and I know now’s not the time to kid. I pull out my phone. “Whaddya need?”
“Look up Ali Kat bar fight,” he says darkly.
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. Ali Kat, or Tammy as I had known her, is Hank’s estranged daughter, and not a subject he likes to discuss. She’s no stranger to the tabloids, though it’s usually a story about who she’s dating or speculation of what her next role might be.
Her family enjoys a simpler life, and for a reason I’m not privy to, they’ve parted ways.
