Victoria stared at the side of Faith’s head and rolled her eyes—uncharacteristically unprofessional. I had no time to decipher that today, and I only hoped she’d treat Faith well when she inevitablyended up back in marketing. And that was too much politics for one day.
I slid behind my desk, sat, and peered at Victoria. “Have you emailed the files?”
“No. I’ll do it now.”
Victoria couldn’t see Faith’s face front on, but I could, and it was her turn to roll her eyes. I wholeheartedly agreed—if you were going to rush in here and demand I look at something, at least be prepared, for fuck’s sake.
My inbox dinged. I opened the four files and had a quick look. “You expect me to read through a brief, fifteen pages of copy and watch two videos and a commercial, and okay all these graphics?” Having a quick look was fine, but to pick apart anything that needed fixing… I would have to look closely and write notes. “This should’ve been a scheduled meeting with the team. I don’t have time this afternoon.” Tension crept up my neck and lodged at the base of my skull, setting off a dull ache. Now I’d have to stay up until at least 2:00 a.m. Fucking wonderful.
She waved her hand, not put off at all. My father had employed her to make his best buddy—her father—happy, but he also liked her tenaciousness and unflappable attitude. She was displaying it now, and I didn’t appreciate it. “You just need to have a cursory look. My team’s done a great job on this. Your PA even did some of it before she was snatched from me.” She smiled. “Craig from Fullerton’s is waiting for it.” She glanced at Faith, who’d been typing away as she spoke. “Can I speak freely here?”
“Yes, of course.” What did she know about Faith being here? Was Victoria in on it too? I couldn’t trust anyone, not even one of my oldest friends.
“In light of the accounts we’ve lost lately, I don’t want to go over on delivery time. We don’t want to lose another long-standing client.”
Faith dutifully kept her gaze glued to her laptop. Did she blameme for our waning client list? What had she been telling my aunt and father? I hadn’t given her anything much to report, except my unscheduled meeting with Marvin the other week. Hopefully they’d just think it was a random lunch. “Faith, I’m going to email you these. I want you to look over the graphics and videos. Make notes. I’ll look through the copy.”
Victoria’s eyebrow rose. She shut her laptop and leaned forward. “Faith is hardly senior enough to check work I’ve thoroughly gone over.”
“From what I’ve seen of her resume and work so far, she has plenty of experience and is quite capable. She’s good enough to be my PA, so I think that speaks volumes as to what my aunt thinks of her.” My gaze found the subject of the discussion, her cheeks coloring slightly. Hmm, did she have an inkling of a conscience at me sticking up for her, even though she was a liar? The way my feelings about this woman ping-ponged from desire to anger had my head spinning. I looked at Victoria. “Come back in an hour, and we’ll have feedback or questions.”
Her eyes widened as if a waiter had just told her they didn’t have the expensive champagne she was after. She didn’t like it when things took an unexpected turn. True to her personality, though, she wouldn’t let it defeat her. She stood. “Fine. I’ll be back.” Her response almost sounded like a threat. I chuckled as she left.
Faith stared at me. “What’s so funny?”
“I pictured Arnold inThe Terminator.”
She paused, looking at me as if she was shocked I’d make a joke. Then she laughed, and it was the most delightful sound I’d ever heard. If I’d thought she was gorgeous before, I was about to be slayed. That smile did things to my heart. Things I didn’t want or need. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, if you could go through all that at your desk, that would be great. Thanks.”
Her laugher cut off, the light in her eyes dimming. “Yes. Ofcourse, Mr. Knight.” She quickly collected her laptop and hurried out, shutting the door behind her.
I was a prick. But then again, I had every right to be. I needed a metaphorical kick up the ass every time she bewitched me. I wasn’t an inexperienced teen—I was a grown man who had control of his decisions and feelings, dammit.
Shutting all the bullshit out, I got to work.
CHAPTER 19
FAITH
After reading the brief, I got to work. I was twenty minutes in when my cell rang. I didn’t usually answer it at work, but Stephanie’s name was on the screen. “Hello, Faith speaking.” I didn’t want to say her name out loud in case Curtis heard me and wanted to know why I was chatting to his aunt on my mobile. I had a good idea why she was calling though.
“Hello, Faith. How are things going?”
“Slowly. I’m pulling things together, though. I might have something for you at the end of the week.” Amy and I had sifted through a lot of social media on the weekend, drilling down into who shared what and who was commenting, who everyone’s friends were. The whole bit. There were two accounts that seemed to crop up a lot. One was SexySinger244, and the other was Topazzz. SS244 had started the whole thing, and Topazzz had not only shared their posts but also had a lot of conversations hyping things up on the message threads. There were a couple of otherminor accounts that had shared and seemed to be on the hype train as well. Amy was using her significant resources at work to try and find out more about the accounts.
“That’s great. Can you give me any hints about the way it’s going? Are we losing work because ofsomeoneinside the company or outside of it?” Hmm, someone must be a reference to Curtis. I’d thought Stephanie was a nice lady, but the more I interacted with her, the more my opinion sank, kind of like the way boobs drooped with age and lack of bra wearage. It was sad, and I didn’t want to look at it too closely. His family supported him about as well as mine did.
“Not at this stage. Sorry. I promise I’ll call you at the end of the week. I’ll know more by then.”I hope.
“Okay, then, but let me know ASAP. The board is eager to put this to bed. We’re counting on you.” Yes,the board. I imagined it was Knight Senior, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.
“Of course. I’m doing my best.”
“I know you are, Faith. And thank you again. Bye.”
“Bye.”
My mind wandered to what had happened in that impromptu “meeting” with Queen V. I could tell she’d annoyed him by barging in. It was nice that he didn’t have blind love for her like some men did of beautiful women, thinking that they could do no wrong. And he’d even given me a compliment. I’d almost fell off my chair. Also, yeah, bitch, I was capable and experienced enough to pick apart someone else’s work. Which reminded me, she needed it ASAP.
