Page 18 of The Bad Girl

“Oh, it’s coming up. You’re going to be the one to bring it up.”

My cheeks flush red. “I-I-I could never.”

“But you will, or at least you will if you want to move on and get over it. You’re going to bring it up, you’re going to laugh at it, but you mustn’t linger. Oh, and don’t you dare apologize—for anything.”

“All this is a lot to take in.”

“We have at least a week, until then, we practice.”

“Practice?”

“Yes, first thing you’re going to do is head on into the guest room to get some sleep. Trust me—you need it. When you wake up, you’ll no longer be safe, Good Girl Nadine. You’re going to be a fiery temptress who just doesn’t give a fuck.”

Whatever qualms I have disappeared when he says the wood sleep. “Which guest room do you want me in?”

?

Maxwell

There it is, the answer I’d been seeking. The mystery of Nadine has been solved, and now, instead of being a distraction, she’s become my newest project.

And what a delightful project at that.

I have to hand it to Nadine, she’s a planner. It’s how she gets by in life and manages to keep her head well above water. She sees what she wants and creates an action plan to achieve it. It’s one of the reasons I hired her. During her interview, I asked her the same questions I ask everyone else, and one of her replies struck me. I asked her where she wanted to be in five years, that answer was rather forgettable, but the answer to the follow-up question spoke volumes. I asked her how she intended to meet her goal, and she laid out a strategic assessment of her desires and how best to achieve them. She even cracked open her laptop and started pulling up pie charts of the data she’d accumulated to help her reach her goals. I knew I needed someone like her on my team.

What more, her asking me for help speaks volumes. It means she knows what she needs, and she knows who to ask to get it. You wouldn’t believe how many people simply give up when they don’t have the answers they need or the capability of finding the answers or even knowing who to ask. Thus, their career plateaus.

Not Nadine—she’ll never quit. Nadine is not a plateauer.

An alert pops up on my phone. It’s triggered to go off whenever my family makes headlines.

My mother is vacationing in Cancun, as she does.

Six years ago, my father died of a drug overdose, and my mother began her life of leisure. It’s been four years since I’ve last seen her, two since I’ve spoken with her. She never really wanted kids, but it was expected of her, and she didn’t want to risk losing her wealthy husband.

My sister collected her inheritance and left. Last I heard, she was keeping company with some European royal.

I stayed the course, trying my best to salvage my father’s struggling company, or rather, my struggling company. For a good year after his death, InStryde’s fate was up in the air. People were telling me to sell out and enjoy my life, but it was my family’s legacy.

Three years after my father’s death, I gave InStryde the best quarterly returns they had ever seen, though, in truth, it required expanding into different industries, buying up small manufacturers, and creating a true empire.

Now, I have people telling me I need heirs, but I’m more concerned with business.

I exit the article and pull up the contact information for Stacey Hanes, one of InStryde’s PR reps who has been working for me now for five years. Her reputation is kind of sketchy, which is exactly what I need right now.

Maxwell:I need to see you.

Stacey:Holy shit! You’re firing me? It wasn’t a big deal!

What is that supposed to mean?

I hold off sending a reply, hoping she’ll divulge more.

Stacey:They’re just boobs! And how was I supposed to know they were filming?

Now that’s interesting.

Maxwell:As much as I’d love to hear about your boobs, this is regarding something else entirely.

Stacey:Oh—that! It was a rescue! If you had seen the conditions they were living in, you’d have hopped that fence right alongside me if you had a fucking heart!

Maxwell:This has nothing to do with anything you’ve done, but maybe we should have some words on that—whatever that is. I need you to come to my office. Yes, you’ll receive bonus pay.

Stacey:Why didn’t you just tell me that to begin with? I’ll be there in thirty.