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Five minutes stretches into ten and when the watch hands flick perilously close to the fifteen mark, I get up. Blossom may be my sister, but that doesn’t mean I can’t yell at her. Dad might be mad if I fired her, but at least my mother would take my side. Blossom’s a flake. She hasn’t been able to hold down a job since she was eighteen and thought that she wanted to be a cop after she watched one rescue her newly purchased Persian. She quit the police academy after the first week after she learned there was no position dedicated to rescuing kittens. Given her dedication to animals and access to the Gentry family trust, which meant paying jobs were only an elective, she then decided to volunteer at a shelter. Mom put an end to this after Blossom brought home her fifth stray pet. From there, Blossom has flitted—like an actual butterfly—from one position to another. She never lasts more than six months. Really, at five months, her position as my assistant has been one of her longest bouts of employment. If I fire her, my dad may consider having me murdered. At this point, I might welcome it—anything to put me out of my misery.
Before I reach the doors, I check my phone again. Still nothing from my PI. What a worthless piece of shit. I stuff my phone in my pocket and wrench open the doors.
“Oh! My! God!” Blossom’s hand flies to her face to muffle her shriek, the pink and gold microphone still in her hand.
“What is it?” Anger draining away, I rush to her side. She’s my sister, after all.
“My favorite supermodel is pregnant!” She raises her phone but I’ve already lost interest. Models? Are there any people less interesting on earth than models?
“Where’s my report?” I look at her desk and spot the requested document in the process of being assembled into a plastic presentation binder. “Forget it.” I swipe it up and head back for my office.
“No one knows who the father is. She’s not saying,” Blossom tells me, trotting behind.
“Is she involved in the semi-conductor trade in China? If not, I’m not interested.” I try to shut the door in my sister’s face, but she barrels through, continuing to parrot her nonsense.
“She did do a runway show in China once. I think it was for Gucci. Or was it Valentino? I can’t remember. Let me search.” She sets the toy down and picks up her phone. “Oh my, they’re saying that they think the father is Chris Mannion.”
“No clue who that is.” I settle into my chair and spread out the report.
Ignoring me as only a sister can, Blossom perches on the edge of my desk. “Chris Mannion was in the last superhero movie. He played the guy who drank the special concoction and turned invisible.”
“We don’t need superheroes like that anymore,” I mutter. The latest nano-technology I’m looking at investing in is a company involved in creating panels that create the illusion of invisibility but reflect nearby surroundings. The tech is primitive at this point. It works only at the right angles and from the right distance away, but the research is promising.
“I don’t think it’s Mannion. He plays a lot of assholes and I can’t see Madeleine with someone like that.”
I can’t see Madeleine with someone like that. The sentence breaks through and the pen I was using to mark up the report falls from my hand. Dry-mouthed, I ask, “Did you say Madeleine?”
It couldn’t be her, right? It couldn’t be. I snatch Blossom’s phone from her grip. It’s a good thing I’m sitting down because Blossom’s Madeleine is, in fact, the mystery woman from my Hawaii trip five months ago. I toss the phone in Blossom’s face and am halfway across the room before Blossom realizes I’m leaving.
“Where are you going?”
“To the airport.” I throw my office doors open. The doors to my private elevator slide open as I approach.
“What about your meeting?”
“Reschedule it.”
“Why are you going to the airport?”
I stab the lobby floor button. “To get your future sister-in-law.” The doors slide shut but not before I see Blossom’s jaw drop to the ground.
Chapter Three
Madeleine
“Are you okay?” my best friend Danielle asks. I whip around to see her standing in the entryway of my condo. No one is allowed up here except her. I gave them strict orders that I didn’t want to see anyone. Danielle is the exception to that rule. We’ve been friends since we were kids. She’s been through all of the highs and lows of my life with me. I know that I can trust her with anything.
“What are you doing here?” My eyes prick with tears. I don’t know why I asked her when we both know why she’s here. My hand drops to my stomach.
