Page 163 of Pink

“You’re a victim. The only thing we want to do here is help—”

“A victim of what, exactly?” The man opened his mouth to reply, but Gigi was quick to interject with, “Oh, you mean what the medical records say? I suppose those will be the only things you’ll have in a trial to collaborate any evidence because you sure as hell won’t have me, sir. What are you going to do? Force a victim on the stand? To say what—that man you’re trying to put away for life didn’t beat or rape me? Because that is what I’ll say. It’s the truth.”

“So, you do remember—”

“Off the record,” Gigi said, pointing at the recording device he had placed on the table when they first began this shitshow. Her lawyer at her left reached over and hit the red button to pause the recording before she continued speaking. “I will if you put me on the stand. I will be your absolute worst nightmare. If you think I can’t control the way the public sees this play out, then you haven’t been paying close enough attention to what I already have been doing.”

“Is that a threat? You realize we’re capable of charging you with obstruction of justice, don’t you?”

Gigi laughed, tired and over this entire thing. “Prove it. You can’t make me say what you want. The same way every post I’ve made on social media, and each statement I’ve given to reporters or tabloids all had a purpose. You don’t make a narrative for me. I have my own. Trust me when I say, Mr. Gerdson, that you are not the first to learn this about me. I’m not a puppet. Not for the media. Not for my agency. And certainly not for police who are trying to ruin the life of an innocent man who only ever loved me. Do you have any other questions?”

“No, but you might find it interesting,” the man replied, “that your most recent social media post about your previous agent, Marla, has started an investigation into her business affairs in Paris. Of course, we’re not privy to—”

“Questions,” Gigi interrupted sharply. “I asked if you had any more of those.”

She didn’t care about Marla. That trash would take itself out. Andino said so—one way or another. Since the man really hadn’t given her a reason to distrust him, then she took him at his word.

“Back on the record,” the DA said, nodding at the lawyer to start the recording again. Then, to Gigi, he explained, “Whether or not you comply with the investigation is inconsequential at this point, Miss Parker. We will proceed with what we have. I am giving you the option to fill in some blanks.”

His threats were hot air.

Pointless.

“Good luck with that,” Gigi replied, “because as far as I understand it, even the Mexican officials aren’t going to proceed with any extradition or charges because they have nothing, can’t tie anyone to the house except the dead bodies they found, and they can’t even put enough evidence on the table to point a finger at Lev. The only reason you have him where he is, is because you’re using charges from before to keep him locked up. This entire thing is starting to look very … unstable. Isn’t it?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I love him,” she said simply. “What it really boils down to is putting a man attached to a criminal figure in prison. None of this is about you helping me find justice for what was done to me. Because don’t you see?” She waved at the photos spread out on the table, her voice quieter when she added, “Someone already did that. And it wasn’t you.”

• • •

“An offer slid into my email today,” Kayla said, her voice distorted by the wind in the background of the call. “If you’re at all interested in hearing it.”

Gigi fiddled with the edge of the comforter on the bed, considering her assistant’s words. Despite putting as much distance as she could between her old team—and their connection to Marla—she had kept Kayla for a couple of different reasons. Long before shit went bad, Kayla had helped Gigi time and time again. She had not proven herself untrustworthy, and in fact, had stuck her neck out more than she needed to. And when Gigi needed access to the media under the radar, Kayla was the one with the contacts to get it done.

“For what?” Gigi settled on asking.

“A shoot and interview. They’re willing to let you have total say on what’s published and—”

“Tell them thanks, but I’m not interested.”

The silence that answered Gigi back wasn’t all that surprising. While her contracts had run out through the agency and the management team had essentially washed their hands of Gigi Rey in the industry, that didn’t mean the industry was entirely done with her. In a lot of cases, it seemed like Gigi was wanted even more.

She just wasn’t up for it.

Any of it.

“Did you hear that Marla’s offices were stormed this morning in Paris?” Kayla asked.

“First I’ve heard of it.”

All she knew was what the DA had told her days earlier. She decided not to follow along with Marla’s downfall anymore than she needed to. If someone came knocking to ask her questions, then she might consider talking. As of right then, no one had.

“Yeah, I guess it’s … a mess. And hey,” Kayla added quieter, “I wanted to say sorry.”

“For what?”

“I think I might have unintentionally been the one who fed Marla information about you and Lev. Like that bar and the photos that came out after? I needed to make sure it would be okay for us to use the car and driver without security … I didn’t even think about it until—”