But she didn’t blame them. Everything changed the day he died. Then with such finality the afternoon she helped her daddy shovel the first mounds of dirt over her brother’s coffin, Mama weeping and collapsing into the reverend’s arms. And the loving, close-knit Del Rey family fell apart. She’d lost her brother, a constant in every tender childhood memory. Then she “lost” her parents, the Del Rey traditions, the closeness, and laughter.
“Editorial director?” She laughed. “Darling, back to my original question. Why I hired you. To go after the rich and famous, the salacious celeb gossip. To travel the world, to spice up our readers’ drab little lives with a look at how the one percent lives. Come on, surely you’ve some lead on a hot story.”
“No, and if I did, I’d not betray my friends by giving the story to you.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Gigi shook her head. “Did you not learn anything from me when you worked with me before?”
“Yes, which is why I’m asking for the director job.” She’d lost so much time when she’d holed up at home, trying to comfort herself, her parents over Carlos’s death, all the while waiting for her life to begin again. Now that she was free, she wanted to get things moving.
Though Daddy worried a bit about her being out on her own. Something he’d never done in the past. Corina suspected it had to do with losing his son.
“An heiress without any security? Let me hire someone for you, Corina.”
But she refused, just wanting tobe. To find her bearings and destiny. She still felt poor and weak, broken—the furthest thing from an heiress.
In the end, though, she yielded to Daddy’s request to buy an apartment in a secure building, finding a lovely spot on the river with hefty security.
“I filled the position today.” Gigi sat back, arm propped on the back of the sofa. “Just got off the phone with Mark Johnson.”
“Mark Johnson?” Corina paused her exit and stepped back into the room. “TheMark Johnson who worked with me after college? The man the rest of us pulled out of the firedailybecause he partied every night and missed most of his assignments?ThatMark Johnson?”
“Yes,thatMark Johnson.” Gigi’s laugh mocked Corina’s concern. “He might not have been a stellar employee when he was younger—”
“He’s so much older now? It’s been what, seven years?”
“Certainly he’s older and more accomplished, married with a child. He’s built an impressive résumé.”
Corina heard the subtle innuendo.You did not.No, because she was pasting her life together and holding on to her crumbling family.
“He’s worked in London, New York, L.A., and is currently the managing editor for Martin Looper Media.” Gigi raised her brows. “Our competition.”
“Gigi, you called me. You asked me to come work for you. So let me. I can do the job. I’ve been on the weekly calls with New York and London. I’ve Skyped, Facetimed, and Google Plused with our bloggers, stringers, and photographers. I know the bull pen.”
“Do you want to know the real reason I called?”
Ithadbeen rather out of the blue. Corina thought perhaps God was answering her pleas to “do something.” How could she love and support her parents yet move on with her life? She felt like she was drowning, dying her own special death in the shadow of her brother’s. And Carlos would’ve never wanted it.
“Because your mama said you were driving her crazy.”
“Excuse me? I was drivinghercrazy?”
“Said you never left the house.”
“Me?” Mama! Frustrating, incorrigible Mama. Corina scrunched her hands into tight fists, digging into her palms with her fingernails. “Shewas the one who never left the house.”
“Well, you’re here. I thought it was a good idea when she proposed it. You’re moving on. I’m glad for it. But editorial director? Shug, please.” Gigi stood and crossed over to her desk, her attention to the conversation waning. “I want you to find you thebigstory.” She tossed Corina a saucy smile. “The biggest story of your life.”
“Yeah?” Corina held open the office door. “And what would that be?”
Back at her desk, Corina sat with a sigh, shaking her head at Melissa, who frowned and stuck her tongue out at Gigi’s door.
Story of her life? Corina had a story all right. Of her own life. Anamazingstory, one she’d never told anyone. It was her secret.
And his.
On days when the fog still clouded her heart and thoughts, she imagined it might have all been a dream. Then she’d hear a bell or the ping of the elevator doors and know it was real.
But it was a story she could never tell. Ever. Because it was an incredible secret. Though why she showedhimany loyalty was beyond her.
