When Antonio got to the elevator, he pulled out his phone to send PJ a text. He’d meet him back at his hotel for a drink later. He was going to need one.
CHAPTER 7
It had been hours since the photo shoot, and Jackie was still fuming. How dare Antonio swoop in and use his charm to get his way? As usual. Jackie was not charming; it wasn’t a characteristic she cared about having. Charm wasn’t something that worked for women in her industry. Ruthlessness was much more effective.
Jackie kicked off her heels in her hotel suite and threw her jacket across a chair. She went straight to the minibar and poured herself a vodka and soda. This was an appetizer. She’d order room service later. She wanted to kick something, punch someone—namely Antonio. Her therapist wouldn’t have been too proud of her regressive approach to handling her anger. After chugging her drink like a college student at a frat party, Jackie calmed down. She took a few deep breaths. She needed to see the one person that she knew would make her feel better.
“Hey Jack,” Gideon answered cheerily when the FaceTime connected. “What’s good? How’s New York?”
“Not good at the moment, cousin.” She ran her hand over her hair lazily. “Do you think—”
Before she could answer, Tanika was attempting to squeeze next to Gideon on the screen. “Hey, Jackie! How was the shoot with PJ?”
“It was all good until Antonio Steele decided to show up out of the freaking blue.”
“Word?” Gideon said. “For someone who’s your archnemesis, he sure likes to be wherever you are.”
“Babe, maybe they have a Batman-Catwoman kind of thing going on,” Tanika chimed in.
“Look at you,” Gideon said, turning to Tanika with a smile. “You’ve been catching up on your DC comics, I see.”
“Well, just the movies,” Tanika laughed.
“My girl!” Gideon gave Tanika a kiss on the forehead. They were sickeningly cute together.
Jackie cleared her throat. “Excuse me. If I may interrupt this love fest, I didn’t call to see you do kissy faces! No offense, but there’s someone else’s mug I want to see.”
Gideon sucked his teeth. “Damn, cuz! What are we? Five-day-old chitterlings?” He handed Tanika the phone as he yelled, “PeeWee! Come here, buddy! Your mama wants to see you! Hey! Don’t chew on those! Those lows are brand-new!”
“Uhm, give Gid a second to wrangle PeeWee away from his Adidas,” Tanika said as she turned her attention back to Jackie. She leaned the phone up against the kitchen counter. “So, what did Antonio do this time, friend?”
Jackie lay back on the bed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “He decided to flex his testosterone to steer the photo shoot in a different direction. I had it under control.”
“Oh,” Tanika said. “Was his input a bad thing?”
Jackie bit the inside of her cheek. As much as she hated to admit it, Antonio had been right. After looking at the photos that incorporated the shoe, the whole spread made much more sense thematically. “I guess not.”
“Can’t give the brother his props, huh?”
“I refuse.”
