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precious
possession from his arms. He sighed.
    “We haven’t seen each other in
six years. No feathers have been ruffled. How hard can it be to get them to
change their minds?”
    “The brother is an attorney now.
He knows the law and is determined to stick to every word in your agreement.”
    “Can’t you make a deal with him?”
    “I’m looking into it but…”
Stanley hesitated.
    “But what?” Zach’s patience
shredded even thinner.
    “It looks like he’s about to make
partner at his law firm. He’s understandably anxious of any unsavory details getting
out that could jeopardize that. Perhaps in a few months once he’s made
partner—”
    “No. Dammit, I don’t have a few
months. I need a way around this now ,
Stanley. Find it for me. And find it soon.”
    “As always, I’ll do my best.”
    Zach slammed the phone down and
cursed long and hard. He knew he was playing hardball but he was fast running
out of options. He could feel Bethany slipping through his fingers and he was
damned if he was going to stand by and let it happen.
    But a signed agreement wasn’t
that easy a hurdle to get over, not to mention the chaos it would bring. But he
would find a way around that too.
    If it came down between that and
losing Bethany, it was a fucking no-brainer.
    He glanced at his watch and
noticed only ten minutes had passed since his last attempt to reach Bethany.
    Christ. Had time ever dragged
this slowly in his entire life?
    His phone rang and he pounced on
it, only to recognize the familiar number of his assistant back in San
Francisco.
    He answered. “Jeff. What’s up?”
    “I just wanted you to know
there’s been a slight change in the delivery date for the latest IL plane.”
    “Sooner or later?” he queried.
    Jeff laughed. “After your threat
to rip them a new one if they delayed again, what do you think?”
    Zach forced a laugh. “So it’s sooner.
When?”
    “It touches down in Newark on
Monday. I’ve emailed the final layout pictures to you. They’re incredible. I
think they’ve outdone themselves this time.” Jeff’s excitement was palpable
while Zach had none.
    “Great. I’ll go and check it out
on Monday. Thanks for letting me know.” He ended the call and leaned his hip
against the desk.
    Staring out the side window
towards the East River, he started to smile at the idea forming in his brain.
    Perhaps Keely Benson wasn’t his
only avenue to Bethany after all.
    ***
    Bethany slipped the twenty to the
cab driver and turned to watch Keely slide gingerly out of the cab. Watching
her friend maneuver her dangerously short hemline made her laugh for the first
time in what felt like years.
    “Is there any particular reason
you feel the need to show the world the color of your thong?” she teased.
    “Shut up.” Keely flipped her hair
and primped her scarlet lips. “I have great legs. What’s the point of hiding
them?”
    “There’s showing them off, and
there’s showing them off. Don’t blame
me if you get jumped before your first cosmo .”
    “If anyone’s gonna get jumped,
girlfriend, it’s you. Your curves are fucking dangerous tonight.” She blatantly
eyed Bethany’s black tube dress and the one inch gold belt that cinched in her
tiny waist.
    The gold bangles at her wrists
and long necklace jangled as she fidgeted under her friend’s scrutiny. There
was something strange about the way Keely was acting. Something about the way
Keely had kept glancing at her since she’d arrived at Bethany’s apartment
earlier that made Bethany nervous. It was a cross between speculation and
anxiety.
    Bethany had been an emotional
wreck over the last seven days but Keely hadn’t appeared fazed by her
breakdown. And Bethany honestly thought she’d been less of a wreck in the last
day or so. Sure, she was still shaky from her conversation with Zach this
morning. She hadn’t recovered from that .
Or from listening to the dozen messages he’d left for her since then. But she
hadn’t cried