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Elsa belches, catching my attention. “So, who wants to stuff her?”
“We need to find out.” I know who it is, but I need to find out why. “But while I’m investigating, I need you to guard her.”
“I’m not a bodyguard.”
Elsa’s not a trained fighter either. She might know how to shoot a gun, but she doesn’t own one. I doubt she’s done more than bitch-slap some guy who’s grabbed her ass at the club. But she’s suspicious as hell and doesn’t trust anyone, and for now, that’s all Penelope needs for protection.
“You can make sure all the doors are locked, no one’s following her when she’s driving, and no one gets close to her other than her friend, Pierre, from the studio and her dance partner, Juan Pablo.”
“Sounds easy enough.” She finishes her drink, lets out another belch, and goes to rinse her cup to toss it in the recycling. “How much is she paying?”
“It’ll be the same rate plus per diem.” I don’t tell her that I’ll be the one paying her. Penelope’s pride has taken too many hits. If she knew I paid Elsa instead of adding it to the tab, she might actually run. And she doesn’t have anywhere to go. That’s why Elsa and I are involved.
“Cool. When do I start? I really need to shower.”
A door upstairs opens. Elsa and I both look up and wait. I see Penelope before I hear her. She walks on air, with her chin up and her shoulders back. Perfect posture. Perfect form. Her natural grace is finely honed after years of dance. I don’t think she could shed it if she tried, and I know firsthand how hard that can be.
She stops when she sees us, standing in first position with her toes turned out. Her slender body is encased in leggings and a soft leotard with a gauzy skirt. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting?”
“I’m your new bodyguard,” Elsa announces. “After I shower.”
Penelope blinks at her words, then slides her gaze ever so slowly to me, as if she’s giving herself extra time to figure out where else she can look.
Is that because she sees the real me and it disturbs her?
Or does she see a kindred spirit? I shake that thought off too. The woman makes me think things that are better forgotten.
“You’ve passed on the job?” she asks, her tone carefully neutral so I can’t tell if she’s hopeful or disappointed.
“Elsa will be there when I can’t.”
Penelope lifts her chin. “Right. Sure. That makes sense.” She settles her light-green gaze back on Elsa. “Thank you,” she says stiffly.
Elsa snorts. “You won’t thank me once you realize that I’m not the strong, silent type to stand in the shadows. I don’t quit talking, I hate doing nothing, and I’m as jaded and bitter as any other struggling actress.”
Fuck, Elsa. Can you make this harder?
But the corner of Penelope’s mouth kicks up. “Then you won’t be bothered by staying at my mother’s house.”
Roman’s probably packed her shit and trashed it. Brittany Cowles’s place is secure but not the fortress Jacobi’s place is.
Penelope’s nod is stiff. “We came to an arrangement. She’s fine with us staying there and the whole bodyguard thing.”
I’d wondered about her hesitancy to call her mother, but after she’d been cut off, she must feel like a stray cat slinking back to a home that kicked her out with no food or water.
Elsa holds up a finger. “Wait. I’m doing this gig at Brittany Cowles’s home? Brittany Cowles, as in child actor turned Basic Bitch Nutrition? I just had one of her smoothies.”
I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection earlier. Elsa hasn’t caught a break, and now I’m trotting her into a seasoned actress’s home. “Is that going to be an issue?”
“No.” Trepidation flashes through Elsa’s features. “But it’s Brittany Cowles.”
Penelope’s eyes are wide as she floats down the staircase. “If Mother catches wind that you want anything to do with the acting industry, she’s going to boot all of us. She doesn’t want anything to do with anyone who wants fame.”
“The acting industry doesn’t want anything to do with me unless it’s porn,” Elsa retorts.
Unexpected sympathy enters Penelope’s gaze. “It’s a fickle industry that sometimes demands your soul. But once this is all over, perhaps I can talk to Mother and see if she’ll give you any tips.”
“You’d do that?” Elsa’s eyes widen, and I’ve lost her. That single offer just made Penelope rank higher than me on Elsa’s loyalty ladder. I’d be worried if I wasn’t amused.
