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“Linda, no. I—”
She didn’t hesitate to cut me off. “Look, Ramesh is still enamored by your organization of the gala with good reason, I’ll admit. So, you’re still on the committee for that.Get Gossis a popular magazine, Sienna, with millions of readers, and Major Jones is one of their star interviewers. This is going to get worse before it gets better, and I would rather not have the paparazzi microscope zooming in on the Estate Styles’ offices for another scandal. I have enough drama with some of our models. Please stay away from the office until this all dies down. You can work remotely. I expect to see two musical artists locked in for the gala by the week’s end.”
Fuck!“Yes, Linda.” It was all I had the energy to say to her. She’d bombarded me with a load of information I knew nothing about and hung up before I could say much else.
I dropped the phone onto my bed and would have sunk to the floor if Ruben wasn’t there to hold me steady.
“Sienna? What happened?” Ruben asked as I cried against his chest.
“I think I’m on a temporary suspension from my job.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Sienna-Belle.” He held me, and I was even more grateful he was here.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
It was challenging to stay optimistic about my future with Estate Styles. I knew this wasn’t precisely my doing. No one could choose who they developed feelings for, and absolutely no one in the world could control the British media when they smelled a bone. However, I had thrown the bone straight at them.
Most people would have locked themselves away in an attempt to hide, but I felt hiding was the worst thing I could possibly do.
“Rug up and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Go and get something to drink at a local café, do a little bit of shopping, get a massage. Do something to treat yourself,” Ruben suggested. “I’d offer to come with you, but I know how you like time alone to think when bad things happen, babe, and I don’t want to smother you.”
I managed a ghost of a smile. “You don’t smother me at all.”
“Exactly, and I don’t want to start.” He wrapped a scarf around my neck. “Off you go.”
Pulling on my coat, gloves, and beanie, I headed out of my apartment and made my way up to the high street. Since Ruben and I hadn’t eaten breakfast long ago, I wasn’t overly hungry, so I wandered along, glancing in the various shop windows. I eventually came upon the local convenience store and went inside, meandering along the aisles until I found the magazine shelf.
Get Gosswas easily found. It tried to separate itself from other gossip magazines by making the cover matte to give it an upscale look and only publishing ‘the honest truth.’
Sure.
Whatever helped them sleep at night.
I should have put the magazine back on the rack, but I didn’t. Instead, I flipped to the double-page spread of our interview. The first photograph was the beautiful one of Augustus and me sitting side by side on the chaise with a lovely introduction. It was a deceptive move on Major Jones’ part. Because from there, the interview descended into chaos. It talked about my “arrogant” attitude, made assumptions about Augustus having bedded me, and that was how I must have ended up in the shoot. It was lie after lie, rumor after rumor, innuendo after innuendo, and I was left looking like a foreign gold digger. There was even a photograph of me throwing my hands up in the air as I stormed off, an image I didn’t realize had been taken.
No wonder Linda was livid.
So was I.
I tore the pages of the magazine and proceeded to do my best to decimate the rest of the copies.
“Oi, what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t deface our products,” yelled the cashier from the front of the store.
When I ignored him and continued my reign of magazine carnage, he stepped out from behind his register with the intent of approaching me. When he stopped in his tracks, I thought that maybe he was afraid of this tiny American terrorist.
But then I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and a beard tickled the shell of my ear. “Put the innocent magazines down, sugar.”
“Innocent, my ass,” I snapped.
“You have an incredibly sexy ass, but let’s leave her out of this situation.” Jeremy’s hand squeezed one of my butt cheeks, making me gasp. “Put the magazines down, Sienna, and come with me, all right? We’ll have a nice, quiet coffee in my favorite spot, and you can tell me what’s bothering you.”
I melted into Jeremy, a sob escaping my lips before I could keep it in.
Jeremy looked at the cashier. “Hey, mate. I’ll buy up all the copies of thisGet Goss, thanks. Sorry about the trouble.”
“Fine. Just getherout of here, yeah?”
Jeremy gathered the magazines, carried them toward the exit, and then dropped some money on the counter. “Keep the change.” He glanced back at me as I stood staring dumbly at him. “Come on.”
