Page 85 of Always Mine

“Well, since we’re sitting in hell confessing our sins”—Chiara gestures around the sauna—“I need to tell you all a secret of my own.” She pauses for dramatic effect. “I didn’t just come here to attend the exhibition. I assisted Natalia on the shoots featured in this exhibition, and she offered me a job as her first assistant, basing myself here in New York but also traveling with her. She’s given my work a spotlight feature as part of her exhibition tonight.”

“Chiara, that’s incredible!” I exclaim.

“She swore me to secrecy,” chimes in Arabella with a proud smile.

“I am so proud of you, but what have you decided? It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“I’ve accepted the job, but my uncle doesn’t know. Neither does that overbearing ass of my cousin, AJ. I want to keep it that way until I get all my ducks in a row,” she says.

“Does Marco know?” I test the waters because I know for a fact he’s gotten wind of the secret Chiara is hiding.

“No! I need tonight go off withoutThe Sopranos-type of drama the men in my family like to instigate before I tell them,“ she adds, voice dripping with sarcasm and a little trepidation.

“Your secret is safe with us,” Evie reassures her.

“You know what this calls for?” asks Stella, eyes glinting with mischief. “Celebration cock…tails!”

“As long as mine is tall, dark, broody, and called Raf, I am down with that,” quips Chiara.

We all burst out laughing, and all this talk of cocktails turns my thoughts back to the man I left all wound up in bed this morning. I reach for my phone and finally respond to his messages.

Me:

Hi. Hey. Hello.

Marco-Boy:

New phone. Who dis?

Me:

That’s my line but I’ll let you borrow it seeing as you’re fresh out of ideas.

Marco-Boy:

Ahhh. It’s all coming back to me now. Hello, Brat.

Me:

About that. Do brats get second chances? Asking for a friend.

Marco-Boy:

Depends. Which friend?

Me:

She’s about 5 ft. nothing, blew in on a private jet, traumatized your ears with audio porn, has no filter but is a total sweetheart.

Marco-Boy:

Maybe…what’s in it for me if I accept your “phone a friend” request?

Kitten:

Well, I hear her friend is hot and has a thing for bossy men with green eyes and a filthy mouth.

Marco-Boy: