“I said I’d pay a hundred thousand dollars!”
“There you go. Sounds like a scam to me.”
“I told her the Mongolian cashmere I want to use is expensive.Andpromised her a deposit and an advance!”
“What’s her name?”
“Melia Dreyfus.”
“I know her. Wait a sec.” Lifting a hand, she hollers, “Juniper? Come here, would you?”
The other server on shift today saunters over in boss-ass heels that I gape at. “Hey, Wynter. Everything okay with your meal?”
“Oh, sure. It’s delicious as usual. Question: are you still dating Melly?”
Her brows waggle. “Damn straight. Four months now.”
“Neat! Congrats. Victoria, meet Juniper. Juniper, meet Victoria.”
Juniper arches a brow at me. “I know Victoria. We’re in anti-trust and IP together, plus the Heat N Go stuff.”
“Good! You’re going to convince Melly that Victoria isn’t crazy and that she does want to hire her to build some strange sex furniture?—”
Juniper snorts. “You’re the weirdo with the blank check who wanted fucking furniture?!”
“It wasn’t blank. It was a hundred K,” I say with a pout.“Also, where did you get those shoes from?!”
Preening, she angles her feet this way and that to show off the suede boots with a chunky heel and rhinestone flames “Thrift store. Aren’t they boss? As for Melly, that’s pretty much a blank check. She’s not like us rich brats.”
Shay prods the air with a mayonnaise-coated fry. “Why are you working here if you’re rich?”
“Dad insists that I pay my own way. Says it’ll build character. Mostly, I say it’s ruining my nails. But, I’ll talk to Melly. She could use the money. Her scholarship covers jackshit, and she’s graduating in a couple years but none of the studios she’s tried to intern with have bitten. Leave it to me.”
I offer her a wide smile. “I appreciate that, Juniper.”
“No worries. You guys need anything else?”
“We’re good for now,” Wynter says cheerfully. “There you go. All set.”
I rub my hands together. “I have the best people in my life. One’s a rolodex of the most boring people in the state and the other knows who can fix my fuck furniture!”
Shay pshaws. “They’re only boring to you. They’re pretty important in the city.”
“Why?”
“Veritas Infinitum has clout. They recently bought this luxury apparel company an ex-football player started from the ground up after he retired… Maybe you know it? Bianchi?”
“They were worth billions,” I agree, having researched the deal since Maxim mentioned it.
Wynter gasps. “Bianchi?! They closed their doors this summer. I loved their yoga pants. They had some magic in them that never gave you a camel toe.”
I nod in complete agreement. “Magic, I tell you.”
“Didn’t need to know any of that,” Shay grumbles.
“Now you know how I feel when you start talking about the Constitution.”
He sniffs. “Veritas Infinitum bought Bianchi to sink it. The whole thing was messed up.”
