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This put the dealing with a crumbling roof and some broken windows firmly into perspective.
Jordan’s phone buzzed. He would have ignored it, but the painful lessons of last year had taught him not to let calls go unanswered. Pulling his cell out of his pocket, he checked the screen.
Sheila.
Jordan never ignored his former assistant’s calls. “Hi, Sheila. How’s snowy New York City?”
“Hi, NYC is fine but freezing. I’m calling because Vegas has blown up.”
His brows furrowed. “What’s happened?” Matthew moved closer, and Jordan put the call on speaker. “I’m at the old resort in Aspen with Matthew. We’re the only ones here, so you can talk freely.”
“Hi, Matt. Long story short. That bitch Marta who used to work for Chloe has gone to the press. She’s spilled the beans about Chloe being on the verge of bankruptcy. Did you know that theChloe Jethas been repossessed?”
Jordan shook his head. “No, I did not. From my understanding the official line was that Chloe was looking to make some changes in her life.”
The lie had never quite held water, but he’d decided to wait until Chloe felt ready to tell him the whole truth. Jordan scraped his hand over his face. So many things now made sense. If Chloe was indeed on the verge of going bust, then her need to hide out in Vegas was all a part of it.
Was it any wonder she didn’t want to go back to LA?
“The main reason why Bryce has asked me to call you, is that no one can get a hold of Chloe. She’s not answering her phone and she is not in her hotel suite. Oh, and according to the security team, your SUV is missing from the parking garage.”
Bloody Marta. Determined to destroy Chloe at all costs.
He was standing in the middle of an abandoned hotel six-hundred miles from the woman he loved, and the shit had hit the proverbial fan. Chloe was nowhere to be found.
His stomach dropped as Matthew shoved his own phone under Jordan’s nose. In big, bold letters across the front page of the LA Times were the words, “The Pauper Pop Princess: Secret insider tells all. ‘Chloe’s life is a lie.’”
“Are you still there? Jordan.” Sheila’s voice drifted down the line.
“Yeah. Matt just showed me this morning’s LA Times, Chloe is the lead story. Listen I have to go. Can you let Bryce know I am handling this? We’ll get a statement drafted. I will send it to him to review.”
An annoyed huff echoed in his ear. “Sod the press, go find Chloe. Do what you should have done all those months ago. Pull your head out of your ass and go tell the woman you love how you really feel.”
A loud click echoed in the empty lobby. Sheila had delivered the message, and her blunt ultimatum, and now she was gone.
Jordan met his brother’s gaze. “I have to go.”
“Yes, you do.” Matthew lifted his phone to his ear. “Hi, Matthew Royal here. Could we please have the jet refueled and ready to leave asap? Jordan has to go back to Las Vegas earlier than expected. We should be on the tarmac in the next thirty minutes.” He listened for a moment, nodded. “Thank you. See you soon.” He hung up.
“Back to Vegas, Jordan, and make sure you find Chloe and protect her from the gutter-feeding press. After that, you might want to call the company lawyers and set them on this Marta person. She sounds like she is hell bent on revenge.”
Jordan gave his brother a rare hug, then they both dashed for the door. He was down the front steps of the old resort and at the SUV before Matthew had got his keys out of his pocket. “Drive quickly, but don’t go hitting any wildlife or skidding off the road and plowing into a snow bank.”
“Get in, Jordan. Buckle up and shut up.”
Barely forty minutes later, the Royal Resorts jet took off from Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. As soon as the plane leveled out, Jordan opened his iPad. He did a quick search for recent news on Chloe. If Marta had gone to the press, it would be on the gossip sites first. His heart sank as he took in the results.
“Oh no, it’s everywhere.”
Even the mainstream news media had picked up the story and run with it. Having been involved in the entertainment industry, Chloe’s former PA must have known the right people in LA to talk to and where to sell her lies. The media had gone all in with the biggest show biz story of the year.
“Pop Princess Chloe and Her Life of Lies:‘She made me work for nothing for months, then fired me at Christmas. I feel so betrayed.’—A tearful Marta.”
He didn’t bother to read the rest, knowing full well that Marta wouldn’t be the sort of person to hold back. This was her one chance to destroy Chloe and she had taken it.
Jordan’s calls to Chloe’s number went straight to voicemail.
She wasn’t at the resort. And she’d taken his SUV. There was only one place where Chloe would go to find sanctuary. Somewhere that only Jordan knew about.
