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Chapter One
Reid
“Absolutely not,” I exclaimed.
“Reid, don’t be difficult.”
“We have capable PR people in house. Have them handle everything. I’m not trusting a stranger with my personal life.” The office walls suddenly seemed to close upon me.
Deborah, my assistant, sighed. “Our PR department deals with corporate issues. That’s their area of expertise. They know squat about keeping your name out of the tabloids, which is why you’re fodder for them.”
I rose from behind my desk. “I don’t care. They’ll get bored with me eventually.” My ex was the star. I was just the idiot who’d made the mistake of dating her.
“It’s making everyone nervous.”
“So what?”
“So, I have already set up a meeting with a PR professional specializing in... Hollywood scandals.”
“Cancel it.”
“Too late. She’s already on her way.”
I cocked a brow. “You set this up behind my back?”
“No. Just... forgot to inform you.”
I bit back a sardonic reply. I had too much respect and affection for Deborah to snap at her. I knew she had my best interests at heart. She’d been Dad’s assistant once and had been an invaluable mentor after I took over the hotel business. She’d always had my back. Until now, it seemed.
“Her name is Hailey Connor. She’s your next appointment. Play nice,” Deborah said.
“I don’t do that.”
“Try.”
“Deborah, just cancel the damn thing.”
“Too late. Oh, Bianca called. Asked me to remind you about her recital.”
“I’ll be there.” The corners of my mouth twitched. If I missed my little sister’s recital, I wouldn’t put it past her to burst into my office and demand an explanation.
“Okay. I’ll leave you to it.”
I hadn’t kept up with everything Marion said to the tabloids. How bad was it, that Deborah had decided to take matters into her own hands?
Had my family gotten wind of it? Bianca read gossip sites. I couldn’t be sure Mom and Dad didn’t as well. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair, dropping back in my chair. My family had trusted me to make the right decisions ever since Dad’s stroke ten years ago, and I had come through. In the beginning, we’d hoped he’d recover, but when it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, I was in a race against time to learn how to run the business before the sharks took it away from my family.
While I was growing up as the son of the owners of one of Hollywood’s grandest and most prestigious hotels, Dad had taken care of keeping us out of the limelight. As an adult, I’d always been fiercely private about my personal life, which was why I absolutely didn’t want a stranger handling it. My own PR department was a different matter. I’d approved every hire.
I didn’t want someone who ran with the Hollywood crowd anywhere near. That was what got me into this mess in the first place.
To this day, I had no idea how I had been so blind when it came to my ex. How I’d fallen for Marion’s spiel, thinking she was actually in love with me. And now, any semblance of privacy had been blown to smithereens. Did I like it? Not one bit.
Did I think I needed a Hollywood PR expert? Hell, no.
***
Hailey
I smoothed my hair and blouse as I glanced at the Davenport Business Hotel. It was a modern structure, sprawling on ten floors, with balconies up until the fifth. Reid Davenport owned two hotels in Los Angeles. The original one smack-dab in Hollywood, and this newer one. His offices were here.
I was fifteen minutes early and used the time to call my brother Landon. I’d offered to babysit my niece tonight while he took his wife out to dinner.
“Hey, brother,” I said when he picked up.
“Hailey! I was just about to call you.”
“Already having second thoughts about tonight?” I teased.
He chuckled. “Depends. What are your plans?”
“Just... shopping.”
“Oh, I see. You’re going to make her a shopaholic, aren’t you?”
Damn. Landon was good at hearing guilt in my voice. I couldn’t forget that. I had five siblings, and we were all pretty good at picking up each other’s tells, but Landon was in a league of his own.
“Yup. Not going to make your life as a dad easy, not gonna lie about that. When should I pick her up?”
“Six?”
“Deal.”
“What exactly do you plan to buy for her?”
“Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared to hear the answers to. And I’ve got to go. I’m meeting a potential client.”
“Or you’re just trying to avoid my questions.”
