I’m shocked. I scan the table. “Who?”
“Sofia the Great. She’s over there.” He points to the front of the room. Sure enough, Sofia is seated at a table. And next to her is The Wizard, Ozwald Annan. Their heads are bent together and his lips are moving. She throws her head back and laughs at whatever he said.
I feel like I’ve been dunked in cold water.
What the hell is going on?
She jumped in and shut my request for a pass down so forcefully.
I didn’t say his name but maybe she knew who I was talking about because she knows he’s the person behind the ring I was trying to expose.
That conniving bitch.
I see red.
I should wait until we’re in the office to ask her about this. But I can’t stop myself from marching across the room and putting my hand on her shoulder.
She jumps and whips around, the smile on her face disappearing when she sees me. Her eyes narrow and she shoots to her feet, blocking my view of Annan. “What are you doing here?” she asks me like I’m the one who’s been caught in a lie.
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m with a friend. Not working. Did you shoot me down because you wanted this story?” I ask before I think of a diplomatic way to phrase the question burning a hole in my head.
Her brows snap together in surprise before she catches herself and puts that battle-ax scowl on. “Don't be absurd,” she hisses.
“How else do you explain it? Being here? With the press pass I requested?”
Her eyes narrow. “You need to remember who you're talking to. And you need to leave.” She puts a hand on my shoulder and tries to steer me away.
Like hell. I squirm out of her grasp and place myself in The Wizard's line of sight.
“Sofia, are you not going to introduce me?” I say loudly.
“I was just about to ask her the same thing.” Annan rises to his feet behind her, towering over us both. His bald head gleams like a high-tech helmet under the yellow, green, and red lighting.
He even looks like a villain. His gaze is piercing and perceptive, and I take an instinctive step back, my heart racing as if I’m in danger.
Sofia’s smile looks carved out of granite as she pivots so she’s able to see us both. “If I must. This is Arsino Sackey.”
“Arsinoé,” I correct her with a quick glance so she knows I know she did that on purpose. I extend my hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you.”
He steps forward and closes the distance between us in two strides and grasps my hand. “Pleasure is all mine.” He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses the tips of my fingers instead of the back of my hand.
I gasp and pull my hand away. “I actually came tonight hoping to meet you.” I shoot my shot and ignore Sofia's laser gaze at the side of my face.
His smile falls. His eyes slide to Sofia for a moment. “Is this the person you mentioned?”
I whip my head to look at Sofia, too shocked to hide it. “You were talking about me?”
“She was doing you a favor. I don’t take kindly to people talking about me. Especially when they have no idea what they’re doing. You’re out of your depth,” he says in a voice that reminds me of a snake’s hiss.
Sofia comes to stand beside him and looks down her nose at me. “You’ll thank me in the long run.”
I shake my head in disbelief and my stomach drops to my toes. She must have known who I was talking about at the pitch meeting. She sabotaged me.
“Sofia, you’re a journalist. How could you do this?”
“You are on thin ice, Sackey.”
Oz puts a hand on Sofia’s arm, and she clamps her mouth shut.
