I glance at my watch when I feel it vibrating against my wrist.
Billy Hawthorneflashes on the screen, and my stomach turns.
Why would Billy be calling me? I don’t answer, obviously.
I can’t. I’m in a meeting with Ellie and Maverick, and we’re drafting a crisis management plan.
“So you were there?” Ellie asks me, and I shake off the distraction of my phone call and send it to voicemail.
I nod.
“Can you describe to meexactlywhat happened?”
“Sure. So we were sitting at the bar, and Nick Crawford came up and offered to buy me a drink. Maverick went off on him since we’d been talkingeven though we weren’t there together, we’d only run into each other, and—”
“You don’t need to givethatmuch detail,” Maverick whines.
I lifta shoulder and offer him a glare as I turn back to Ellie. I blow out a breath. “Anyway, Nick made some dumb comment about how Maverick was acting like a tough guy, which Maverick clearly didn’t like, and he hauled off and clocked the guy in the jaw.”
Ellie closes her eyes for a second and shakes her head. “I’ll put in a request for video footage from the lounge, but because it’s a VIP place, it may be hard to get.”
“My father owns it,” I admit.
Maverick’s head whips in my direction. “What?”
I glance over at him. “It’s why I was there. Dex mentioned it, and I was curious, so I went.”
“The pocket I was feeding money into isyour father’s?” Maverick demands, and I laugh.
“Did you lose last night?”
“Twenty K!” he yells.
I can’t help my giggle. “Sucks for you, but sounds like it’ll pay my future kids’ college tuition, so at least you know it’s going to a good cause.”
He’s glaring and sulking at the same time, and I can’t help but love the irony of it all. I only showed up because Dex, this dude’s mortal enemy, told me about the place.
I love that for me.
I love how angry he is right now, and I’m not sure why.
I want to keep pressing his buttons.
Instead of dreading this job, I’m actually starting tolikeit. Who would’ve thought?
“Be that as it may, we have an issue to deal with. I need your lawyer’s contact info. I’ll get in touch with the team, and we’ll sell it like you were standing up for Everleigh.” She doesn’t ask if that’s okay, and instead, she turns to her laptop. “Let’s issue a statement.” She starts tapping on her keyboard. “I’ll issue it. Maverick Jennings’s publicity team is aware of the incident involving him and another man last night at anexclusive VIP lounge in Vegas. We are gathering details and will release a statement once investigations have been completed. Thank you in advance for privacy as we handle this matter.”
“Do we have to issue that?” he asks.
“You need to control the narrative, my friend. This is the way,” she tells him. “Next, we’ll need you to read a statement. Something apologetic. Hm.”
“No,” he says, interrupting her before she even gets started. “I’m not issuing an apologetic statement when I’m not sorry.”
Ellie glances at me and jerks her thumb at Maverick. “Is he always like this?”
I nod and purse my lips. “Always.”
“Maverick, you realize the team could suspend you, right?” she asks.
