“I am now,” Stefan said, tapping at his smartphone screen.
“Brooklyn was on the cover for their third issue, and the photos wereinsanelycool. Right up your alley type of stuff, Em,” Luka said. “How’d you meet him?”
“At a party,” I said. “He knows all about Danica Rose and he’s familiar with my work.”
Both of my brothers looked impressed.
“Okay, now I remember,” Stefan said, still scrolling away at his screen. “They ran this great long-form piece about the influence of Eastern Europe on Western media.” He looked up at me, head cocked. “Shame you’re already married. Someone like Andrew could really bring a lot to the table.”
“Way to be mercenary,” Luka joked. “Emzee married for love, remember?”
I laughed along with them, but Stefan had no idea how close to my own thoughts his words had been. Because ever since my fortuitous introduction to Andrew, I’d been feeling more aware than ever that Ididhave a life of my own to pursue. Especially once I was divorced.
Just like I had told Ford in the heat of the moment, the world wasn’t going to end when my relationship did. It might feel that way to me, but time always healed. And even though my mourning wouldn’t be an act, there would always be another act to follow. I’d get through it.
“Oh, Em, were you planning on going to the Borderless Business Convention next week?” Stefan asked. “Luka’s coming with me, but if you want I can book you on our flight.”
“Where is it? I remember hearing about it, but not the details.”
“New York,” Stefan said. “I’m hoping to convince the Weston brothers to buy out a portion of our company. Not a controlling interest or anything, but…”
“We could obviously use the cash,” Luka said.
Right. To pay off the Bratva. Because my deal with the Malones was a secret. I wished I could tell them about it, but part of me was still afraid it might fall through. The Malones could renege at any moment. The other thing was, the less my brothers knew about my deal, the better. I knew they’d only try to talk me out of it, maybe even approach the Malones themselves—if I could just pull this off on my own, my family and DRM would be saved. I’d tell them about all of it afterward, when there’d be no chance of them screwing things up, best of intentions or not.
I gave them a smile. “I’ll sit this one out, but thanks. I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment. Good luck, though. I really hope you make some headway with them. Fingers crossed.”
My answer was cheery and chirpy—just as they’d expect from their little sister.
Back in my own office, I closed the door and let out a breath of relief.
As full of warm fuzzies as I was over my brothers’ care and concern for me, it was so much work pretending. I hated doing it, hated the constant lying, but it couldn’t be helped. We all had secrets. Unfortunately, mine felt like they were threatening to overwhelm me.
I just had to get through the next year and hope that if I couldn’t pull off the deal with the Malones, maybe Stefan could work something out with the Weston brothers. If he could, good God, it would solve a lot of my problems. Both for the Zoric family and for me personally. I sent up a little prayer that the meeting would go well, that it might give us some options.
Because as it stood right now,everythingwas riding on my divorce.
A divorce I wasn’t even sure I wanted.
Emzee
Chapter 19
“The Grand Ballroom here is absolutelyperfectfor what we have in mind,” Claudia was saying to Ford, batting her eyes tartily.
I followed along behind them, wishing I hadn’t agreed to this. As much as having Claudia plan a fundraiser for See Yourself was going to be good for the charity and my mentees, it didn’t make me happy to be spending all this time with my husband’s ex. Especially when she made it so clear that she didn’t think much of our wedding vows.
Claudia had shown up for our first meeting this morning in a sleek jade green suit and Saint Laurent heels, hair blown out and makeup tastefully on point. As for me, I’d thrown on dark skinny jeans, my black eyeliner, and a tweed blazer with a swiss dot blouse underneath. It was hard not to feel like a hobo standing next to her. There was no comparison between us.
Where I was short and dark and curvy, Claudia was tall and blonde and thin. Her lipstick didn’t even smudge when she drank the grapefruit Perrier the Four Seasons hotel staff had offered her on a silver tray upon our arrival.
And damn if I wasn’t already missing the soothing emotions I’d experienced with my brothers during our family meeting at DRM. I could practically feel the cortisol pumping into my system with everyclip-clopof Claudia’s designer heels.
This was our third stop so far, after touring event spaces at the Shedd Aquarium and the Mid-America Club. We still had appointments at a few more of the richy-rich hotels in town, including the Waldorf and the Langham, but I was already daydreaming about begging off with an imaginary migraine. I’d much rather be home, bingingOutlanderon the couch with Munch.
Unfortunately, I trusted Claudia with my husband about as far as I could throw her.
Not only did she look good enough to eat, but she had the charm turned up to eleven today. And the Malones hadn’t been bluffing, either—Claudia had an in at all the hottest spots in town. No matter where we went or who we spoke with, she was adored by everyone. I’d seen enough of those French double cheek kisses today to last me a lifetime.
