“Honestly, I’d rather have him hovering around us, snarling like an old dog.” Danica leaned back in her chair, folder still on the table. “At least then I know where he is and what he’s doing. Who knows what plan he’s concocting in DC.”
“Against us?”
“Hmm.”She means against me.Alicia didn’t want to get that specific, though. Not in front of Abby, who only had snippets of news regarding the apartment fire and Russell’s other threats against his daughter-in-law. “We need to act quicker.”
“We’re acting as quickly as we can.” Alicia was ready to throw more statements, but with both Sarah and Abby listening on the other side of the table, it was too personal.“We can only fuck so much, Danica.” “Damnit, Danica, I’m spending as much ofthat money as possible!” “Are you kidding me, love? It wasn’t enough for him to try to have me killed once…”
Danica asked both assistants to type up transcripts of the meeting. Alicia followed her out of the conference room and into the main maw of the executive office, where people still stole glances at her.They all know who I am by now, but I barely know who they are. She recognized some faces, but that was it.I still can’t remember the new receptionist’s name!
“Danica,” Alicia began, stopping her before they could end up in her office on the other side of the room. “I need to go home. My parents should be there any time.”
Her visage conveyed confusion before remembering what she and her wife had been discussing for the past few days. “Right. Go ahead, then. I’ll see you at dinner.”
“You’re not coming with me? Danica, this is my family we’re talking about. My parents don’t even know who the hell you are, and I’m married to you.” Alicia didn’t want to think about how her sensitive brother was taking it. “Least you could do is shake their hands before jetting off to your next meeting.”
Before Danica could snap something – not at her, exactly, but at the situation – she took a look at the employees staring at them and motioned to her office. Alicia begrudgingly followed.
“I have a meeting at four,” she said, once the door was closed. “I absolutely can’t miss it. We’re talking millions of dollars here, Alicia.”
“I know that. Where’s the meeting? Maybe you could swing by home with me and go hit your meeting on time.”
“It’s at La Mariposa, on the other side of town.”
“Shit.” With mid-afternoon traffic at its best, it was still a fifteen-minute drive from where they lived. “Please, Danica. If we go right now…”
She sighed. Frustration was a dangerous look on her – especially if that frustration had anything to do with Alicia.While she never feared her lashing out in any way, she still showed Alicia what she could be like on a bad day.I’ve unfortunately seen a few now. There was a CEO in Germany who was still licking the wounds Danica inflicted on him over the phone.I went to sleep that night thinking of how the woman holding me had shouted and cursed so loudly.At first, it unnerved Alicia. Now, she ignored it.
“Fine. If we go right now, I might be able to make it back in time, but I can’t wait if they’re late.”
“Let’s go.”
Alicia took the initiative and called ahead for their driver. The limo waited by the curb the moment they erupted from the main entrance.
So were a million paps who had been camping out ever since the world caught wind that Danica had married.
Alicia hated the paparazzi. They rolled off Danica, who always held her close, shielding her from the flashes and walking so briskly that Alicia would end up in the back of some car before she had the chance to say anything. This was why they seldom took the main entrance to and from work.We always go straight to a private elevator from the guarded parking garage.That wasn’t possible to coordinate now.
“Danica! Alicia!” She blocked those shouts out of her head as she hopped into the back of the limo before her wife. Danica closed the door behind her before the driver took off.
“I bet my father is loving all the media attention we’re getting.”
Alicia caught her breath and helped herself to some ice water from a dispenser. She offered some to her wife, but she declined. Danica never drank from the water dispenser. Only some after-work spirits from the small but always stocked wet bar. Or coffee.
“Do you think your father will do something?”
“I’m sure he’s plotting right now.”
Alicia almost choked on her water.
“Don’t worry, my love, we have security. Why do you think I always try to be with you?”
“Says the woman who wouldn’t come home with me.”
“If you’re not safe at home, then I give up.”
“I wasn’t safe at my previous home.”
“You didn’t have me living there.” Danica caught her incredulous look and explained. “My father cares about me first and foremost. You’re his problem. He wants me hale and healthy and married to an A-lister of his choosing. I don’t think I broke Ms. Matsuda’s heart, though.”
