She shrugged. “It’s good to know aboutallparts of a business, not just the one that affects you most.” She chewed on a bite of her burrata salad, then added, “People like you might think we’re just around to keep the floors clean, but the cleaning staff is closer to the pulse of this business than anyone. We hear things. We see things. We notice things.”
I arched an eyebrow, food forgotten. “What’s the pulse?” Often, I felt removed from the company I helped create. Hundreds of people worked for me that I’d never know or even meet.
After downing another bite of salad, she said, “People think you’re a Boy Scout—your office hardly has a mess to clean up. Things are always in their place.”
Suddenly, I felt like I was being put under a microscope. But I guess that’s what I asked for. “The other founders?”
“Cruz is more playful. Lots of ‘basketballs’ missed around his wastebasket, which is annoying, but he’ll always crack a joke with the cleaning staff.” She tilted her head to the side, wiping her fingers off on a napkin. “Q? Stands for quiet. The guy hardly talks except to say thank you.”
My lips tipped to the side. Dad always used to say still waters ran deep, and that was true with Q.
“Aaric forgets he’s the boss sometimes,” she replied. “He’s there for everyone else, not the other way around.”
I let out a laugh. That was a gift and a curse for Aaric—all his employees loved him, but sometimes he was overworked and overwhelmed. “And Jude?”
She winced. “Guy’s strung tighter than a violin string.”
My eyebrows drew together. That wouldn’t be the first thing I noticed about him. He was hardworking, a go-getter. Someone you could trust to get the job done, no matter what. “He’s a good guy though,” I defended.
“That’s the thing,” she said. “He seems fine. But have you ever played the violin?”
“Trumpet—for a year,” I admitted. It wasn’t my thing, and instrument rentals were so expensive I didn’t want Dad stretching himself. Especially not when he was trying to put my oldest brother through med school, pay for Ford’s football gear through every growth spurt, and deal with Knox and Hayes’s acting out. Seemed like too much to ask.
“Let me give you a violin lesson,” Rei said. She was laid back in her stance, her wine glass held lazily in one hand, but there was an intensity to her words. A warning. “When you play violin, you’re bound to have a string break from time to time. When those things pop, they’re like a whip. Theyhurt. Jude reminds me of those violin strings.”
An unsettling feeling weighed in my stomach, but I brushed it off. Cleaning Jude’s office at the end of the day wasn’t the samelevel of closeness as years of friendship. I knew him better than anyone else—trusted him with my life.
My phone buzzed on the table, dancing a circle. The only people with my personal number were the founders or my family, so I picked it up and saw Maya on the line.
“One second,” I said, drawing the phone to my ear. “Maya?”
There was a teasing smile in her voice as she said, “Thought I’d let you know Jada called the office and left a message. She’s free Sunday morning for brunch.”
My lips spread into a satisfied grin. I wasn’t sure what had changed, but whatever it was, was good. “Put it on the calendar,” I said. “And make sure it’s a place without shellfish. She’s allergic.”
At that, Rei wore the same smile. “Yes!” she hissed at the same time Maya said, “Aye aye, Captain Lover Boy.”
“You’re fired,” I muttered into the phone, knowing Rei could hear. Shaking my head, I lowered my phone back to the table, unable to wipe the smile from my face.
“So, Rei,” I began. “Any chance you’ll use your super spy powers to help me with this date?”
Her response was a conniving wink. “Only if you make the Boy Scout Promise that you won’t break her heart.”
Reluctantly, I held up three fingers and said. “Scout’s honor.”
10.Jude
A senseof relief fell over me as I stepped onto the tarmac in Los Angeles. Literal continents away from Damien wasn’t far enough. How Simon produced that offspring should be studied by science.
Unfortunately, the relief of being on home soil didn’t last all that long because Simon’s daughter was a challenge all her own. She was flighty and impossible to pin down even with a plan.
Once Owen and I were settled in the back of a town car, he said, “Aleyna canceled your formal dinner”—I swore under my breath—"but she sent the location of an after-party and said you could come.”
“An after-party for what?” I asked, mentally prepping myself for the type of crowd we’d be around.
Owen tapped on his phone screen, reading the text. “Faking It, based on that romance book by Mara Taylor. My girlfriend made me read it so we can watch it together when we get back.”
“Your girlfriend...” I looked down at my hands in my lap. “Tell me what it’s like.”
