“But not family.” Blue snorted. “Clearly there is no loyalty to me, a staff member who has poured her heart and soul into designing your lines for years?”
His eyes moved left and right. “Keep your voice down.”
She laughed then, right in his face. “You want me to swallow this entire thing and just deal with it, don’t you, Sebastian?”
“These things happen, Blue. We don’t want to lose you, so come with me back to the office, and we’ll get Layla in there, too, and we can talk this entire thing through.”
He wore a deep gray suit, tailored to his muscled body, and a white shirt, with a blue tie that matched his eyes. The man was hot, there was no getting around that, and he knew it, but something had always stopped her from getting close to him. As it turned out, that was the right move.
“They don’t happen to me, and I can’t work for people who don’t have my back. If Layla gets away with this, she’ll keep doing it.”
He snorted. “Your country girl roots are showing, Blue Jay. This is the big city. Things run differently here.”
Blue really hated people laughing at her, which had started on her first day of school when her mother had made her wear a smock dress in some curtain material she had left over.
“Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee, and we’ll talk about it,” Sebastian said in the gentle voice that had calmed nervous clients before.
It didn’t calm her.
“Let me explain my feelings, Sebastian. I will never work for Cavanagh West again. I would rather be unemployed. I’m leaving, and if you come at me in any way, I will talk, loudly, to anyone who will listen about what low-life scumbags the upper management at Cavanagh Sale are.”
And that hurt the most because for years she’d ignored the murmurings as jealousy or someone trying to rake up trouble for Cavanagh Sale. When the truth had slapped her in the face, she could no longer do that.
He leaned into her. “Be very careful, Blue. We have a lot of money and power behind us and could destroy your reputation. I want those designs you have already drawn, and you are going to give them to me.”
The calm veneer tore away, and Sebastian Cavanagh became a man she’d never seen before. His blue eyes filled with ice, and anger sharpened every line of his face. She realized then that there was no point in continuing this conversation because she would never win. The Cavanagh family had all the power.
“Goodbye, Sebastian.” Blue took a step back and then walked around him and out the door. Stepping into the cool New York air, she wondered what the hell she was supposed to do now.
The city didn’t pause to acknowledge her situation. People streamed past in every direction—heels clicking, coffee cups clutched, voices raised into phones mid-argument or mid-joke. Taxis blared. Somewhere, someone laughed too loudly.
Just another workday in New York City, Blue thought, forcing the swell of hysteria back down. She fell into the current moving left, clutching her box of possessions to her chest like a shield, and let the city carry her forward.
What was she meant to do now?Did I do the right thing?But even as the question crossed her mind, she knew she did. Blue was raised in a family that, while odd, was loyal and knew the difference between right and wrong, which they’d instilled in their four children.
If she’d stayed at Cavanagh Sale, it would not have been the same, and she would have resented everyone involved in stealing those designs from her. No, her time there had been tainted. It was over.
Looking at the shop window to her right, she saw her reflection. A woman who fit into the New York vibe. The power-casual style, blending professional polish with personal flair, her boss called it. She always praised Blue for her clothing choices.
Blue walked and let the thoughts come and go. She loved this city as much as she loved the small town she’d been born and raised in. Here she was anonymous and no longer one of the crazy Lyntacky McAllisters. Here she’d grown up out of the shadow of her siblings and parents.
What am I going to do now?
Looking down at her Christian Louboutins which had been a purchase after her last bonus, she wondered if she’d have to sell them now. There was a huge market for secondhand clothing and shoes these days.
“For pity’s sake, Blue, calm the fuck down,” she muttered as anxiety slid its ugly tendrils into her veins.
She was nobody’s fool and knew that finding work in the fashion industry would not be easy if Cavanagh West made things difficult for her. Sebastian hadn’t been lying when he’d said he could destroy her reputation. He could, and it would only take a few phone calls. The industry respected them, and she was nobody in comparison.
A wave of tiredness had her moving to a bench on the sidewalk and dropping onto it, still clutching her box. Panic slithered through her. It wasn’t too late to go back in order to—no, that wasn’t who she was. She couldn’t work with people she didn’t trust.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat there thinking, but her cheeks were icy, and her nose had started running from the cold. Thoughts tumbled through her head as she tried to come up with a plan.
Blue was good at planning and always having a direction to travel in. Right then, she was clueless. Her plan had been to stay with Cavanagh West and climb to the top—as far as they let her go, that was.
She saw a black Escalade pull up alongside her. Looking into the driver’s seat, she saw a man alone in a dark suit and sunglasses. Her immediate thought was a chauffeur or security. The car moved forward a few feet and then stopped.
Blue watched the rear doors to see who got out. She loved celebrity spotting, and this car had tinted windows and a driver, so her guess was that whoever sat inside was someone important, like a politician or celebrity.
