you get this?” Dagney is looking at a screen
with Jordan beside her, his arm around her shoulders.
“ It’s an old trick,” he chuckles mercilessly. “People get fixated
by the large camera. So when you take it down and shut it off they think they
are off the record and totally safe. The fact there are more cameras in the
world never dawns on them.”
Oh. God. He had
cameras. Other cameras. Which means he has full photographic evidence of me
leaning over and…oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god....
“ So what’s the angle? We could use it to say Eliott House tried to
bribe you into a good review.”
“ Have you even read the press review copy?” Jordan scowls at her
for a moment.
“ I can’t read his shit,” Dagney replies. “I like books where the
girl gets the guy, the killer gets caught and the antiquity is returned to the
museum.”
“ Well, it’s amazing,” Jordan informs her. I hate to admit it, but
Dagney Van Der Vine and I have one thing in common. I like those kind of books
too. “Eliott House doesn’t need to bribe me for a good review. This book has
Pulitzer, and maybe even Nobel, written all over it.”
“ So we play it the other way? Show it to Little Boy Blue and see if
he can snort his way out of success.”
“ That’s a thought. He’s playing clean and sober but we both know
he’s not that good at it. Maybe a little video of his beloved Miss Carrie
sucking the corn dog out of its skin will push him over the brink.”
“ You know,” Dagney says, tapping her finger on the glass. “She’s
good.”
Jordan wraps his
arm around her, letting his hand trace her lips and run down her blouse. “Don’t
you worry, baby. The Little Emperor only does what he has to do, for us. Your
mouth is the only one he loves. You’ve got the touch he goes for.”
Unable to take any
more talk about the “Little Emperor” and numb from my horror and growing shame,
I have to move. I close the door then knock politely. Jordan opens it,
and I hear Dagney quickly snap the laptop shut.
“ August left his jacket,” I explain, trying to hold my tears in
long enough to get the jacket and get out. Jordon sees it on the chair
back and hands it to me, winking as he walks me to the door.
“ I can’t wait ‘til next week is over and I can bring you what I
owe,” he whispers, his eyes flowing down the length of my body. I nod like an
android and turn to leave. I hear him address the intern as she stands in the
hall. “Don’t let anyone else in.”
I make it to the
bench in front of the elevator before I start sobbing. I feel like I’m going to
be sick all over August’s jacket. Fortunately, it’s just a few dry
heaves. What have I done? I’ve put everything at risk: my
reputation, my job, August, Marcus, all for a stupid crush. I’m so dumb I
couldn’t see he was using me, even though Marcus has been pounding that fact in
all our heads from day one. I fish out some tissues and manage to dry my eyes,
taking off more makeup than sorrow and then say a prayer Chloe doesn’t ask too
many questions. I need a plan before I mess up anything else.
When I get down to
the car I ask her if I can sit up front. I know she has something to tell me
about Marcus, and I figure maybe when she tells me what a shithole he is I’ll
feel better about what I just did and what’s about to happen. She takes
August’s wrinkled, tear-stained jacket from me, frowning at its appearance, and
places it in the trunk. Opening the front door, she settles me in and pulls out
into traffic. At the first red light she begins to speak.
“ I know Marcus is falling in love with you. He looks at you the
same way he did Missy. Stars in his eyes. Nothing you do is ever wrong.”
“ That will change,” I mutter under my breath ominously.
“ No. It won’t. That’s what I wanted to tell you.” Chloe
manages the most efficient lane change that’s ever