Read Leah's Seduction: 8 (Gianni and Leah - Leah's Seduction) for Free Online Page B

it hadn’t gone worse, but her heart was still racing.
    “I wouldn’t do that,” Kyra said, clutching her purse to her chest. “Really, it was too weird. I had to leave. I don’t need work that badly.”
    “How strange,” Daniela said. “What was the name of the agency? I know most of the big ones in the city.”
    “Catwalk Stardom. Have you heard of it? I hadn’t before,” Kyra said.
    Daniela put her hand over her mouth as soon as Kyra uttered the name. “Oh my God.”
    Leah and Daniela spoke at once. “What?”
    “She changed the name of her company recently. Updating the image, I guess. That’s why you haven’t heard of it,” Daniela said.
    “Who?” Kyra said.
    Daniela stood up. “What’s the name of the woman you spoke to?”
    “It was Ms. Stewart.”
    “Yes, that’s her,” Daniela said, pacing and waving her hand in the air. “Ava Stewart. She’s the owner.”
    Leah felt dizzy. “Gianni’s ex?”
    Daniela stood in front of Leah. “Yes, it’s her.”
    “She was using you to get some dirt on me,” Leah said, turning to Kyra. It was just more harassment. Now Ava was going through her friends. She feared that Ava would use any means to get what she wanted.
    Kyra shook her head. “Well, she got nothing.” She looked at Leah. “I walked out. That chick is nuts.”
    The news deflated Leah’s enthusiasm for shopping. She went with her friends anyway, not wanting to ruin it for them too. But she was appalled at Ava’s ruthless attempt to learn something about her that could be used in the ongoing attempt to get Gianni back.
    Not knowing what was next was unnerving. Each time Leah thought she had the situation under control, there was some other incident. Would it ever end? And worse, if Ava didn’t get information one way, she would get it another.
    Gianni’s life was high profile, and Leah was in the limelight because of it. With that kind of public exposure, privacy was limited. There were too many ways for Ava to find out what she wanted to know. And it wasn’t all about the lawsuit, either.
    It was clear that the woman’s intention to get at Leah was because of jealousy. It was even messier now, because she had some deadbeat boyfriend egging her on. Gianni had relayed what the surveillance had turned up. Yet that wasn’t the whole story.
    Leah knew it wasn’t. The way Ava behaved was more than a matter of squeezing money out of Gianni. If Ava succeeded in her aim, it was likely she would dump the abuser and fall into Gianni’s arms.
    Ava didn’t realize that wasn’t going to happen. But Leah knew that’s what she was after. Maybe she couldn’t leave the boyfriend now, and catered to his demands under duress. Although Leah hadn’t known a woman in an abusive relationship, except for Kyra’s brief experiences, she had read a bit about it. Often the woman couldn’t leave. The abuser would find her, and might hurt her badly. Some relationships were hard to escape, even if the woman wanted to. And Leah wasn’t sure that Ava wanted to leave.
    But if she got Gianni back, all that would change.
    Meanwhile, Ava refused to disappear from Leah’s life. And she kept doing things that were difficult to predict. Leah wasn’t sure what it would take to convince her that she had no chance with Gianni. She was unstable and elusive. Leah didn’t claim to understand her.
    Daniela’s voice startled Leah back to the present. She held up a silver cocktail dress. “What do you think? Should I try it on?”
    “Yes, it’s beautiful.”
    “Why haven’t you been trying anything on? Don’t you see anything you like?” Then Daniela paused. “You aren’t still worrying about Ava, are you?”
    Lean nodded. “It’s hard not to. She’s like a viper. The woman won’t quit.”
    “I can’t argue with that. But don’t let her get to you. That’s what she wants.”
    “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
    Daniela held the sparkly dress out to Leah. “Here, you try this on. It will look good