Veronica’s expression becomes aloof, and she looks again at her dress, smoothing the material at her hips—which obviously draws my attention.
“This old thing?” she says, eyes lifting to mine. “One of many, sort of like these diamonds.” She raises her hands and wiggles her fingers. “What can I say? It pays to marry and divorce rich.”
I grimace over her lack of character. Of course, she’d be in it for the money, and now I’m convinced that must have been what was bothering me about her. I must have sensed an innate shallowness within her.
It’s a good thing that I know her position here is temporary and that she’s merely training Janelle to take her place. I don’t want this woman influencing my sister.
Veronica-whatever-her-last-name-is has become unattractive to me with that glimpse into her true character.
Okay, that’s not true. She’s still absolutely fucking gorgeous, but at least my curiosity has been satisfied.
“Riggs!” Janelle exclaims from somewhere behind me, and I spin to see her coming out of a door to the left of the rows of bookshelves. “You’re here early.”
Clarke follows her out and offers a silent wave, and I give her a smile before returning my attention to my sister. “Thought I’d check out where you’re working.”
“Isn’t this place great?” Janelle asks. She does a slow turn with her arms outstretched as if the three-sixty-degree view fills her with wonder and awe.
Before I can agree that yes, this place is super cool now that I’ve got my eyes off the sexy but money-hungry Veronica, that it’s unique and charming, Janelle says, “Did you tell him our idea?”
I have no clue what she’s talking about, but Janelle is talking directly to Veronica. My gaze slides to her, and she gives Janelle a wan smile. “Figured it was better coming from you.”
I don’t know what these two have concocted or want to tell me, but after that exchange I had with Veronica, the answer is going to be no.
And I can tell by Veronica’s tone and expression, she knows my answer is going to be no too. I might not have responded to her “divorce rich” statement, but I’m sure she saw the distaste written all over my face.
Janelle rushes up to me, eyes filled with hope. “Veronica said I could stay with her when you go on your road trips rather than hire a new nanny to take Mrs. Blair’s place.”
Fuck.
I’d interviewed three women today from the caregiver agency to replace Mrs. Blair. I wanted to talk to Janelle tonight about the three choices, none of whom were ideal. In fact, given the choice, I bet Janelle would pick Mrs. Blair over them, and that says something.
But no way in fuck is she going to stay with Veronica. She’ll probably have her out hunting for a rich husband in no time at all.
I try to keep my voice neutral as I force a smile. “That’s a nice offer, but we couldn’t impose.”
“It’s not an imposition at all,” she says, smiling sweetly back at me, daring me to come up with some other excuse to deny Janelle this.
“Well,” I say cautiously, my eyes cutting to Clarke who’s watching with interest, “I’ve interviewed three women from the same agency as Mrs. Blair, and since I’ve paid for January, it only makes sense to use someone from that agency.”
Veronica’s eyes flash with challenge. She waves a hand. “Oh, come on… you’ve got plenty of money. So you lose January’s payment, but I’ll be free for the rest of the hockey season. You’ll save a ton.”
Goddamn it.
Janelle looks at me expectantly, her body vibrating with the need to yelp in joy the minute I say it’s okay.
But that’s not happening, and she’ll just have to be disappointed.
It’s time to be plainspoken. “Again, I appreciate the offer, but I’d feel better if Janelle was in the care of professionals.”
I glance at Clarke, now frowning as she’s picked up on the negative vibes between me and Veronica. I’m confident that after I leave, she’ll grill Veronica—who I know from Aaron is Clarke’s best friend in the world—about what the hell is going on. I’m sure Aaron will end up with an earful at some point.
“Let’s get going, Janelle,” I say to my sister, glancing at Clarke. “It was nice seeing you.”
“You too,” she murmurs tentatively, confusion etched on her face.
I don’t dare look back at Veronica. I bet she’s cool as a cucumber. Probably has a smirk in place, which is only removable by a harsh kiss—
Goddamn it, man. Stop thinking like that.
I pivot and move to the door, hating the sound of disappointment in Janelle’s voice as she bids the two women farewell.
She’s silent as she follows me to my car. Once we’re inside and our seat belts are on, but before I can put the car in drive, she lights into me. “Why were you so rude to Veronica? And why can’t I stay with her rather than some stranger?”
“She’s not the type of person I want influencing you,” I say tightly as I check my mirror, then over my shoulder before merging into traffic.
“What does that mean?” Janelle exclaims. “What type of person do you think she is?”
“A hustler,” I reply.
“I don’t even know what that means.” She throws her hands up in exasperation.
“Let me ask you something,” I say, throwing it back on her. “What do you see in that woman that makes you want to be around her? She seems completely vapid and shallow.”
Janelle snorts so hard, I have to take my eyes off the road to look at her. She’s staring back at me as if I’ve grown three heads.
“Veronica is the least shallow person I’ve ever met.” She sounds so confident, I wonder if we’re talking about the same person.
“She’s dripping in fancy clothes and diamonds.” I’m snide and unapologetic. “She said she married and divorced rich.”
“She married and divorced an abusive asshole who happens to be rich,” Janelle retorts hotly, and I jerk my head her way. She’s glaring at me. “He made her life hell, and you know nothing about her or what she’s overcome. You’ve been around her for less than five minutes! So what if she happened to get money from her divorce? For what she went through, she deserved it, but for your information, she doesn’t even use it. All her clothes and jewelry are from when she was married, so she wears them rather than spending money on new stuff. She saves up the monthly support payment she gets and wants to use it to launch some type of charity, which is why she’s going back to school to finish her degree. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and she’s sure as shit a lot nicer than you.”
I don’t know what to say. Clearly, Janelle has had deep conversations with Veronica and knows some intimate details. But regardless of what she does and doesn’t know, I can hear it in my sister’s voice. Whatever Veronica is, she’s someone my sister respects.
And fuck it all to hell, I’m going to have to respect that because she obviously knows more than I do.
I’m filled with curiosity again. What does she mean she was married to an abusive asshole? Was the money she got a payoff? Or did she take him to the cleaners as payback, which sounds like she had every right to?