AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hesitated, wondering if this was his way of telling me he didn’t give out crisis management advice for free. But he was still looking at me inquiringly, like he was waiting to see if I’d give permission or not.
“Just tell her,” Landon said finally. “So she can tell you to fuh off.”
“Okay,” Garrett said, straightening and rubbing his hands together eagerly. “I’m not saying this is what theyshoulddo, but if they were my client, and they wanted to save the Lavigne brand, this is what I’d tell them to do.”
Garrett then outlined how Robert was a lost cause in the eyes of the public. He wasn’t good looking or likable or charming enough to pull out of this.
“Robert is wonderful,” I said, wounded by his assessment.
“I’m sure,” he said, not looking as though he cared much either way. “This isn’t about who Robertisthough. This is about the public’s perception of him. They’re very different things.”
Then Garrett outlined how my mother had beauty, likability, and charm enough to recoverifshe fed the public what it wanted. Robert’s head on a platter.
“She would never,” I said, and I was almost positive that it was true.
“I’m sure,” Garrett said again. This time he didn’tsoundas sure though. He sounded like he was placating me.
I frowned. “Shewouldn’t.” I looked at Landon, hoping he would step in and confirm it for both Garrett and myself.
Landon glanced up, met my eyes, then shifted his gaze to Garrett’s. “Do me a favor,” he said. “If you ever run into Elyna, don’t tell her this plan of yours.”
“You can tell her because she would never,” I muttered, but I couldn’t put much heart into it. As much as my mother loved Robert, I wasn’t sure if it was enough to outweigh her love ofLavigne Beauty. And I had a feeling that if she thought sacrificing him to the wolves would fix everything, he would walk into the den willingly.
He’d do anything for her.
I looked at Landon and Emma and felt my heart squeeze painfully.
I knew the feeling.
23
LANDON
Part of me wished Garrett would shut the fuck up already. Part of me was curious to see Cami’s reaction. She leapt to Robert’s defense immediately, as I knew she would. Then she leapt to Elyna’s defense, but I wondered if she felt her lack of conviction as clearly as Garrett and I heard it.
Later, when she and Emma were napping in the back, Garrett and I talked about it.
“That poor bastard Robert,” Garrett said, knowing that no context was necessary. “That woman could tell him to lop off his nuts, and he would ask her for a rusty butter knife.”
“Whipped,” Dominic muttered, not looking up from his computer screen. Like Julian, he couldn’t walk away from work for the entire time we were in Croatia, so he was trying to get ahead now.
I didn’t join in. For one thing, I respected Robert. He’d stepped in and taken care of Cami like she was his own. For another, I was becoming uncomfortably aware that we weren’t so dissimilar. If Cami needed me to–
No. I shut the thought down hard, like I was slamming a lid on a box. Cami was nothing like her mother.
When we finally got to the resort, Cami and Emma were wide awake, and I could have used a nap. Emma wasn’t having it though. She wanted to explore every inch of Corberon and she needed both of us to do it with her.
“You’ll learn to sleep when you can,” Cami said, laughing softly as I dragged a knuckle across my eyes and followed Emma out of our room.
As Emma wished, we explored every inch of the resort, hand in hand. The only time Emma didn’t approve was when she wanted to walk between us, holding our hands herself so that we could swing her back and forth.
“What did you think?” Cami asked Emma when we finally circled back to our rooms.
“It’s beautiful. You can get married here, too,” Emma said.
Cami’s eyes widened as she looked at me. “Well, thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
I wondered if she meant it. I wondered if she found it as hard not to wonderwhat if it was usas I did? Because for some reason, I sure as hell was. Ever since I’d had the revelation in the parking garage with my mom that I wasn’t a damn thing like her or my dad, I’d been thinking a lot about what my future could look like now. And I liked the idea of Cami in it, permanently.
