That should have been Henry’s first warning to steer clear of her.
People who have access to funds they didn’t earn via hard work are usually the worst of the worst. Delilah only slithered past that notion because, unlike her siblings,she’s willing to roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty. It’s merely the fact she keeps them stained long after the business day ends that sees her precariously teetering between being my friend and my enemy.
How she responds to our meeting today will seal her fate.
“Have you had a chance to look over my proposal?”
I place down a duplicate copy of the tender I’m pitching onto the table before removing my suit jacket. Once it’s fastened to the back of my chair, I take a seat.
“I have.”
Delilah’s grin assures me my proposal has sparked her interest, but it also reveals she won’t let me off easy. I forced her out of her stomping ground on the guise she’d be the lead publicist for the number one band in the country. Now I’m requesting her to manage a rowdy bunch of journalists who couldn’t sell a personal ad to a hopeless romantic who hasn’t had a date in years.
No matter how much spit I polish my proposal with, it will never gleam as brightly as the one I tossed her way to cinch out the nails she dug into Henry’s hip pocket when he announced he wanted a divorce. There was no infidelity clause in their prenup, and Delilah had every intention to leverage it to her advantage.
“There are some matters I’d like to discuss first, though.” With an exasperated huff, Delilah takes a seat across from me. “Such as this.” She hands me a flight schedule for the band my brother, Nicholas, is the lead guitarist for. “Your plan is working, Isaac, so why go off-script now?”
“Becausethiswasn’t my plan,” I reply, tossing the flight schedule that shows Noah Taylor, lead singer of my brother’s band, has canceled his flights home numerous times the past three months back to her side of the table.
I highly doubt his absence is going over well with Emily, his girlfriend of almost two years. In the many surveillance images I’ve perused of her the past year, her face lights up in a way Ophelia’s never did when Noah surprises her outside her classroom every Friday afternoon after a week in the studio, laying down tracks.
“I wanted proof Emily was Ophe…” I stop before I make a fool of myself. Delilah isnota part of my inner circle, so she isn’t privy to the information I’ve only shared with a handful of people.
I’m positive they all think I’ve lost my marbles. Dead girlfriends aren’t revived years later younger than they were when they passed, but up until last month, I didn’t care what they thought. If I wanted to waste thousands of dollars and even more hours in resources documenting Emily’s every move, so be it. I earned my money, so only I can choose how it is spent.
Now I feel more than ridiculous, and Isabelle is solely to blame for that.
“I no longer have any interest in Emily McIntosh.”
Delilah arches a brow. “Because you suddenly realized cradle snatching isn’t proper?”
I cut off her breathy giggles with a rueful glare. She can’t talk. Henry, Jr. is many years younger than her. That’s how she trapped him so adeptly. Experience is often seen as a good thing when you’re youthful and loaded, but very rarely does the shine extend past three years. It’s why I’m socautious verbalizing that Ophelia and I would still be togetherif she hadn’t died. The chase was enthralling, but I can’t help but wonder if that had more to do with the fact she was the first girl in a long time to turn me down.
This is presumptuous for me to say, but that wasn’t the norm. Before Ophelia, I merelypeered at a womanto be placed on her radar. If she wanted me,the chasing was left to her.
Just the thought that the adrenaline that comes from a hunt was theonlything responsible for the spark between Ophelia and me is why I haven’t pursued Isabelle as aptly as intended when I raced for the business-class washroom in the plane. The spark was roused, and it’s still burning brightly, I just don’t want it snuffed before I discover the reason it feels as if it’sthe onlything giving me purpose right now.
With my mood somewhat uneased, my tone comes out snappier than intended. “I will need an answer to my offer by close of business Friday.”
“And if I don’t have an answer by then?” Delilah asks, her tone way too haughty for my liking.
A not-so-nice reply sits on the tip of my tongue, but no matter how vigorously I try to relinquish it, my mouth refuses. I’m not stunned by Delilah’s gall. I didn’t bring her to Ravenshoe for no reason. I’m flabbergasted by the quickest flurry of almost raven hair outside the restaurant’s window. I can’t verify withutmost certainty that the stormy locks belong to Isabelle, but considering I’ve scrutinized them daily for a minimum of thirty seconds the past month, I’m reasonably confident.
“What is it?” Delilah asks, noticing the direction of my gawk.
“It’s nothing.” I commend myself for my honesty, but I refuse to have a woman as unbalanced as Delilah on Isabelle’s tail. I saw firsthand what she put Emily through within days of me placing her on her radar. I won’t stand by and watch the samehappen to Isabelle becauseI wouldn’t just beat the manDelilah orders to slip a date rape drug into Isabelle’s drink, I’d kill him.
I almost did when news on what Delilah had done to Emily reached my ears. I brought her here to make things difficult between Noah and Emily. It was never my intention to hurt anyone.I demanded Delilah to immediatelypull back on the restraints. As far as I was aware, she had. The only reason I now believe differently is because of what Nick relayed to me earlier this week. He is finally moving away from the beliefs our mother raised us with, but he could only do that after dragging Noah to the pits of hell with him.
Jenni and their unborn baby dragged Nick out of the cesspool relatively unscathed.
Noah is still struggling to keep his head above murky waters.
While working my jaw side to side, I divert my focus back to Delilah. If I can’t woo her with money, perhaps an ego stroke will work in my favor. “Cormack mentioned there’s a possibility Rise Up could book higher profile gigs with the right backing.”
“Yes, perhaps. They have quite the following.” She sounds more disgusted than pleased, which proves how inanely foolish I was to have her fiddle in anything associated with my brother. “But national recognition is far harder to achieve than state recognition.”
“Not when someone like you is helming their campaign.” It’s an effort not to let the quiver wreaking havoc with my spinebe seen on my face. Just like Theresa Veneto, Delilah is attractive in her own right. However, no amount of polish could make her insides as appealing as their outer counterparts. “You want recognition as a renowned publicist. Here’s your chance, Delilah. Show them stuffs at Browns your daddy’s money didn’t buy your degree.”
