Knowing I don’t have a lot of time, I open the door. “I have to go. I’m sorry this happened to your family, Nora. I really am.”
I jog down the hall without looking back—a man on a mission. As soon as I get into my room, I call Jaquell. When she picks up, I say, “I need you to call Jorge immediately. Paz has struck again.”
* * *
I spend the next two hours packing, my gut churning while I wait for our company’s head of security, Jorge Martinez, to call me. If Paz got on a flight already, he’ll be able to tell me which one and where it’s going.
When the phone rings, I lunge to the nightstand and see Nora’s name on my screen. “Were you able to find anything?”
“He got in a cab just after one this afternoon, with his luggage. He could be anywhere by now.” Her voice is raw with emotion. “I bet you’re happy about how things turned out between us, because there’s no way you’ll want to be tangled up with my family after this. Imagine the scandal if you were with someone whose sister became a porn star.”
I sigh, knowing she’s abandoned all hope. “The last thing I am is happy, and she’s not going to turn into a porn star. She made a big mistake, but it’s hardly the same thing.”
She starts to say something but her voice cracks, and she lets out a shaky breath. My second line beeps, and I know it’s Jorge. “There’s a call I have to take. Don’t do anything until you hear from me.”
29
Nora and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
Nora
It’s been three days,and I’ve heard nothing from Theo. Not one word. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ll never hear from him again. I sit, waiting for my phone to ring while I wrestle with the idea of going to Aunt Beth. Kat has begged me not to ask her for help. The poor, naive girl still thinks Theo’s going to come through for us, but I know better. Out of sight, out of mind. I’m sure he’s back in his office, sitting at his enormous antique desk, counting his billions right about now.
Okay, that’s probably not fair. After all, he was very sweet and seemed extremely concerned when he found out what had happened. But I’m having trouble seeing the silver lining in this shit cloud hanging over my family’s head right now. I’m also incredibly disappointed with Kat. I’m murderously furious whenever I think of that waste of skin, Paz. I’m still stinging from losing my promotion, and with it, my seaside cottage dream. Someday maybe it’ll happen, but it won’t be anytime soon—especially not if I take out all my savings to pay off that gaping asshole. It still won’t be enough though. I only have $32,000, not fifty. Aunt Beth could probably make up the difference, and I can start over. Anything to protect my parents.
The worst part is I don’t have anyone I can talk to about it. Well, that’s not the worst part—the sex tape and blackmailing is the worst part, but not being able to talk to Hadley about everything that has happened is killing me. I promised Kat I’d keep her secret, and I intend to, no matter how badly I need my bestie right now. If our situations were reversed, I’d be begging Kat to do the same thing.
So, instead of crying on Hadley’s shoulder, and getting her and Heath to help me hatch some sort of plan to make this all go away, I’m just waiting, which is one of the worst things to do in life.
It’s Monday morning, and I’m back at the scene of the crime—Building C. I told Kat to call in sick because she hasn’t slept in days. As horrible as I feel about what’s about to happen, she’s devastated. I’m not sure how she’s managing to pretend everything’s fine around my parents, but I haven’t heard from Mum, so I have to assume she’s putting up a brave front.
As for me, I’m hoping the humiliation of my screw-up last week will distract me from Kat’s massive disaster. I’m currently taking my sweet time cleaning up my desk because as soon as I finish, I’ll be back in my stupid office with stupid Oakley Knowles, who, let’s face it, is soon to become my stupid boss. And that’s going to be the worst thing ever—taking orders from her sneering face, knowing I camethisclose, only to mess it all up and lose everything I worked so hard for.
The irony of it is that Oakley’s never had to prove she can manage anyone, whereas when my mum marched in here with Kat, she unwittingly gave my bosses the perfect way to test me. And I failed. Really frigging badly. Harrison’s words about how I didn’t engage Kat but instead chose to do everything myself have haunted me all weekend. He’s right. That’s exactly what I did.
I could have done better. I could have been kinder, more enthusiastic. I could have included her in what was happening and made her feel like part of the team. Instead, I was happy to let her sit on her phone, doing nothing. Well, nothing except get into the worst trouble ever with the worst person on the planet.
I realized something about life though. It occurred to me at two o’clock this morning. Poor people can be just as shitty as rich people. It really doesn’t matter what neighbourhood you grew up in or how much cash you have lying around. People are people. Some poor people are terrible human beings, and some rich people aren’t completely awful.
“Beautiful Nora.” Markos Rojas stands in front of me in a rashguard and swim trunks. In his hand are flippers and a snorkel mask.
“Hi.”
He offers me his winning smile. “You were deep in thought just now. I had to call your name a few times before you heard me.”
“Sorry, I’m a little distracted,” I answer, curving my lips upward in what I hope looks like a grin. “I’m surprised you’re still here. I assumed you left with Theo.”
“I wanted to stay a few more days to do some scuba diving, now that I’m off duty.”
He gives me a wink, and I can’t tell if he’s joking or not. I decide he must be and force myself to chuckle. “I’m sure it’s a huge relief for you to have all that hard work over with.”
“Yes, exactly.” His eyes narrow. “What about you and my brother? How are we going to make that happen?”
My face burns. “Um, we’re not.”
“Please don’t tell me Theo left without confessing his undying love for you.”
“He… made an effort in that direction, but it’s not going to work out between us.”
