“Oh.” This is an unexpected turn. “Sorry. I had no idea.” I thought she was in love with him. She can’t stop gazing at him or touching him whenever they’re together. Even at home, she often talks about him like a loving girlfriend.
“You weren’t supposed to. Everyone’s supposed to think we’re crazy in love so that if there’s ever a question, you can honestly answer that Pyotr can’t possibly be gay.” Tension makes her expression more stark and harsh.
“What happens if he gets found out?”
“Then it’s over. He isn’t getting his inheritance, and I need to go back to my old job at the café or something to pay the hospital bills.”
Renni had an appendectomy two years ago. I thought she paid it off when she quit her second job at the café around the time she started “dating” Pyotr, but I guess she quit because she has a new job of pretending to be his girlfriend.
“If the inheritance matters that much, he should be more careful not to stick his tongue down another man’s throat in public.” It’s unfair that Renni has to worry about all this because he’s too spoiled to give a damn.
“Please, Paige? Can you just pretend you didn’t see anything?” Renni asks, worry etching lines in her face.
The injustice of it all makes my teeth hurt, but I nod instead and feel like the worst kind of friend ever because I can’t do anything to help her.
Chapter Nine
Paige
Unlike most people, I generally don’t mind Mondays. But this particular Monday does not start well.
First, I get up late. Then the pilot calls to let me know he flew Ryder back to Los Angeles. Then, in my rush, I forget my cellphone at home.
Since it’s not the kind of beginning I’d like for the week, I don’t realize I’m missing my phone until I’m in my car. Which means I have to go back, which means I’m half an hour late for work.
Given how things have gone so far, I’m certain the rest of the day’s going to suck. Oh yay.
Then I smack myself mentally. Don’t let a couple of hours ruin the whole day. You can do better than this.
With renewed determination to be productive, I go to my office on the second level, then stop when I spot Mira.
She’s so skinny she almost looks anorexic. The midnight blue one-piece dress doesn’t help. The black Cleopatra hairstyle looks harsh for her delicate narrow face with dark glittering eyes. Behind them burns fire or manic zeal. I can’t quite tell which. She always wears the brightest red lipstick, which makes it look like she’s feasted on the blood of the innocent for breakfast.
She probably does. She is too good at her job and knows everything about everyone in Hollywood, including secrets that nobody is supposed to know. I’ve heard some whispers about Satanic rituals, sacrificial offspring and the like.
“Hello, Paige,” she says.
“Hi.” I glance at my watch. “You’re early. The meeting isn’t for another ten minutes.” Thank goodness I made it in time.
“Ryder actually texted me last night. We had it early.”
I pull back at this information. It’s my job to handle his schedule and to make the meeting minutes. “Then why are you still here?”
“To see you.”
“You could’ve called.”
“Not something we can discuss over the phone, dear.”
“Okay. Come on in.” Mira’s not an easy person to deal with, but she’s also not a person you can ignore or avoid.
We enter my office together, and I take my seat behind the desk. She sits in an armchair across from me, legs crossed. Her witchy pointy stilettos gleam, not a scuff on them.
Mira smiles with all the warmth of a bucket of bleach.
“What can I do for you?” I ask.
“Not me, but him.” Her gaze points in the general direction of Ryder’s office. “You should do it.”
I frown. “Do what?”
“Marry him, of course.”
I gape at her. “How the hell…?” I’m certain she didn’t get the info from Ryder because he would’ve mentioned that he took his proposal back.
She shoots me a coy look. “I have my sources. And I’ve been thinking about you. You’re a good candidate with the potential for just the right kind of publicity. A perfect Cinderella for Hollywood’s Prince Charming. I can just see the headlines.” She smiles, revealing her small, square teeth. “Of course, there are benefits for you as well.”
Oh, this I want to hear. Mira’s mind is a scary thing, and I’m curious what she considers “benefits.” “Like?”
“Don’t you want to show Shaun Mann? Didn’t he say you’ll never have another man—among other insults—when you broke up?”