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“You said you’d deal with them.”
“I know, and I have, but there was an incident at Smoky’s Cafe.” Marina spoke quickly as they headed down the corridor. “A few people recognized Mom and Dad, knew about what was going on with you, and started staring and whispering. You know how stupid people can be.”
“Oh no,” Jada said.
“Oh yes. So Mom got snarky about the staring and pulled the old schoolyard standard, ‘Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer.’ And one of the women said, ‘Thanks a lot! I’ll do that!’ Then she pulled out her phone and took a quick shot of Mom and Dad.”
“Guess the old take-a-picture taunt has lost its punch these days,” Jada said, noting a quick grin crossing Ian’s face.
“Exactly,” Marina said. “The woman plastered the picture all over the internet, tagging it with your name, so it’s gone viral. Mom’s upset, not because of the picture, but because she’s afraid you’ll think she was out to ride your celebrity coattails. And that’s why she wants to talk to you, to make sure you’re not mad.”
“That’s the most ridiculous—” Jada began, then paused for a moment. “Call her and tell her that I don’t think she’s showing off, but that I’m busy dealing with ... celebrity stuff. I’ll call her later.”
Marina looked like she wanted to argue, but she gave in. “Okay. You really will have to call her, though. Promise you will.”
“Of course I will.”
They stopped outside the closed study door. Jada took a deep breath and looked at Ian, who was perfectly calm and collected as usual.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “You sure you don’t mind us going in alone?” she asked Marina.
“No. It’s best. He insisted that he stay, though.”
“I knew he would,” Ian said. “It’s okay.”
Marina shrugged. “If you say so. Good luck. I’m off to Deb’s. I promised her she could give me a massage. Call me as soon as it’s over.” She hugged Jada, then walked away.
Ian gestured at the door. “After you.”
Jada’s sweaty palm slipped on the doorknob. She and Ian entered the cool, wood-paneled study. Ian closed the heavy door behind them and flipped the lock.
It smelled of leather, old books and berry potpourri. The polished wood floors gleamed from care, and book-filled, glass-fronted cabinets lined most of the walls. A grouping of sturdy, comfortable furniture was arranged on a thick Aubusson carpet.
In a burgundy leather chair, Trey sat with one leg crossed over the other. He glanced up and acknowledged Ian and Jada with a nod.
But they hadn’t come to see Trey. The one they’d come to see was sprawled on one end of the tufted leather couch, dressed in a gauzy peasant blouse and tight short shorts, long and lean bare legs akimbo, an open baggie of trail mix nestled in the crook of a slender arm.
Sasha. The woman of the hour. She scooped up a handful of trail mix, shoved it in her mouth and managed to look rapturous and supremely bored at the same time.
Jada and Ian sat in chairs next to Trey, across from Sasha.
Ian smiled smoothly at the munching woman. “Thanks for waiting and not fighting us.”
“She fought me, instead.” Trey sent a disgruntled look in Sasha’s direction.
Sasha didn’t notice, brushing crumbs from her lips with the back of a languorous hand. “I get it already. The gig is up. Gotta spill the beans. Time to pay the piper. Ha! Get it? Pay the piper?”
Jada was unimpressed. “I thought you might take this seriously, but I guess not.”
“Come on, Sasha,” Trey said. “Quick acting like this. You already told me everything. Now tell them what you told me.”
She flipped a shiny blonde tress over her shoulder. “Fine. You people really know how to bring down a mood. Where should I start?”
“At the beginning,” Ian said.
“Oh, that’s too far back. And it doesn’t matter, anyway. Let’s just start with how Piper Sandy always was a jealous, mean bitch. But she was the bomb in bed, so I may have overlooked certain character flaws for a while. I’m not proud of it. It was what it was.” She tossed back another handful of trail mix and crunched blissfully.
Confused, Jada glanced at Ian, who didn’t appear to understand either. They both looked at Trey, who nodded sagely.
“Piper Sandy?” Jada asked. “What’s this got to do with her?”
“You know,” Sasha said. “She’s still jealous. I should have fessed up right away when everyone was wondering why Piper was being so mean to Jada on her show. On and on, mean Piper, poor Jada, Piper’s picking on Jada, why-why-why. Hey, I didn’t want to admit I’d ever been with that shrew. Would you?”
“So, you’re saying, Piper’s been on the warpath because she’s angry you broke up?” Jada asked. “And she attacked me because ...”
“She told me she made you the perfect villain so I’d look even more pathetic as the jilted loser. She thought that would really piss me off, knowing how I hate it when people feel sorry for me,” Sasha said blandly. “But she was wrong. It might have worked in the past, but I’ve grown. I’m not as sensitive to other people’s opinions anymore.”
“That’s an understatement,” Ian mumbled under his breath.
“Of course,” Sasha continued, “Piper went into high gear today when she learned that I married you, Jada.”
“We didn’t actually get married,” Jada said.
“She doesn’t know that. She lost her mind. You ought to see the texts she sent me and the things she called you. It was even worse than when Ian and I started dating or when I got pretend engaged to him. What can I say? I’m sorry my ex went after you, Jada. I like you. You’re a sweet girl, and Piper’s an evil cow. I wish there was something I could do to make her stop, but talking to her only makes it worse.”
Jada sat silently, letting Sasha’s confession settle in with the rest of what she knew.
The supermodel sealed off her baggie and sat up straight. “So, that’s everything. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Piper and me sooner. I guess that’s that. Can I leave now? I’m supposed to be getting a massage with Marina right now.”
Trey nodded, but Ian shook his head.
“Not so fast, if you don’t mind,” he said. “We have some questions for you.”
Chapter Six
TREY WASN’T PLEASED. “SHE CONFESSED and apologized. It’s clear enough. I don’t see why this needs to be dragged out.”
Sasha stared at Trey like he was sitting on a proverbial white horse. Who was relying on a man to solve her problems now, Jada thought wryly. Didn’t matter. It wouldn’t work.
“Humor us, Trey,” Ian said. “Jada and I have some questions and Sasha’s answers would be helpful.”
“Okay, then,” Trey said. “A few.”
Sasha drooped back against the sofa cushions and sighed dramatically. She glanced at her watch. “Forget the massage. Dinner’s going to be ready soon.”
“We’ll take as little of your time as we can,” Ian promised with a Cheshire Cat smile. “Jada?”
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“Thanks,” she said. “And thank you, too, Sasha, for telling us about Piper. I’d wondered why she was so aggressive, and now I know why. It couldn’t have been easy to come clean after lying for so long. I appreciate it.”
Sasha made an airy “say nothing of it” gesture with her hand.
“I don’t think you’ve heard,” Jada continued, “but Marina finally got through to Freya Volker today. They had a nice long chat about ... everything.”
A flicker of uncertainty passed over Sasha’s face so quickly that Jada wasn’t sure she saw it. “No. I hadn’t heard. I didn’t think ... I mean, Freya’s taking a break right now, isn’t she, a vacation? Didn’t think you’d get through to her.”
“I realize that, now,” Jada said. “Good thing Marina kept trying. When you said that you and Freya had gotten more friendly lately, you didn’t say how friendly you two had become in say, the last few weeks.”
Trey shifted in his seat and frowned.
Sasha reverted to type, cool and apathetic. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“We have ample evidence of that, don’t we?” Ian’s tone was dry.
“Well, you may not kiss and tell, Sasha,” Jada said, “but Freya does. She told Marina an interesting story about what happened when you two hooked up recently after a show in the city. I was hoping you could corroborate some of the details.”
This time, Jada was certain she saw Sasha flinch. Unfortunately, Trey flinched, too.
“I don’t think this is appropriate,” he said. “And I don’t see why you’d need to know anything about my sister’s love life.”
Ian looked hard at his friend. “I know you care about Sasha. You want to protect her. But you know me, Trey. When would I do anything like this without a purpose?”
Trey thought for a few charged moments before saying, “Go on.”
Jada wasted no time, not while she had it. “Sasha, Freya said you two drank a lot, had some fun for a few days in the city, and fell in love. She said you talked about how sick you were of being in the closet and wanted to get Agatha off your back once and for all. Freya said you convinced her that—”
