“Get out,” Inez says.
Rising from my chair, my intentions are already back at my apartment. Days off are precious to me—the one time a week I can be Lydia Montgomery instead of Cara Smith. There’s a carton of vanilla ice cream in the freezer I’ve been dying to indulge in.
“Not you, Cara.” Inez drops into her seat behind the desk. She signals toward Naomi. “You. Go.”
My ambitions are smashed, and the vanilla ice cream has to wait until next week. Inez permits me plenty of allowances, but our relationship is unique to us. I knew I was pushing it by snubbing her in front of another girl. If word gets out that one of us can make her own rules, they’ll all want to. It’s a chain reaction that will only be corrected when heads roll.
Inez recruited me the same way she did most Hush girls. I was broke, alone, and desperate when she sat across from me at a café I couldn’t afford to even be at. The city was prepared to chew me up and spit me out, and I was out of options. I ended up in Grand Haven after spending two years on the streets, and it had nothing to offer eighteen-year-old me.
Until she bought me a coffee and sandwich.
That’s where the similarities between the others and me ended.
“This isn’t fair,” Naomi replies.
Inez rolls her eyes. “Life isn’t fair. Get out.”
Naomi looks back and forth between the boss and me, mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. She’s a foot stomp away from throwing a toddler-type temper tantrum because she doesn’t want to share her toys with the other sluts.
“Oh, stop being dramatic.” Inez sighs. “Go home. I’ll call you later. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”
Drama Queen takes a hint and leaves, closing the door harder than welcomed. Inez stares after Naomi for a beat, and I know she’s committing the offense to memory to be dealt with later.
“Your disrespect is contagious,” she says half-heartedly.
“She’s rude to your staff. In particular, the receptionist,” I counter. “That kind of disrespect has nothing to do with me.”
“What do you think of the new receptionist?” she asks conversationally.
“I don’t think anything of her,” I say.
“I think Camilla has potential. She reminds me of you in some ways, but you…” Waving her pointer finger at me, Inez leans back in her chair and chuckles. “You’re one of a kind, Lydia. I wish I had twenty girls like you. If I did, I wouldn’t have to beg you to take the Ridge & Sons appointment for me. Yet, there’s only one.”
“A blessing and a curse.”
“How long have we been in each other’s lives?” she ponders.
“Seven years,” I say, ending the charade.
“You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman. Finding you in that boujee café saved me just as much as it saved you. But it did save you.”
Inhaling a large breath through my nose, I ask, “What’s your point?”
“The funny part about our story is, and I don’t know if I ever told you this, but that was my very first time visiting that particular establishment. As a creature of habit, I ate the same salad from the same café two blocks over every single day. They were out of my dressing, and it ruined the entire thing. I left angry and hungry and just started walking. That’s when I found you, with long ratted hair and a dirty face. I adored you the moment I saw you.”
The right side of my mouth curves up and I say, “You bought me food, offered me a place to stay, and a job at the front desk of Hush.”
“I offered you a brand-new life.”
“We both know how the story goes, Inez. Why are we talking about this?”
“Fate brought us together, Lydia. Do you think I don’t want more for you than appointments with the simple men you insist on?” She waves her arms around the office. “This office is so beautiful, but we’re destined for more. I’ve offered you partnership multiple times.”
Opening my mouth to object, I stop short when she continues.
“We do everything on your terms. I respect your boundaries, and I’ve never troubled you with my struggles because you’re like a daughter to me.”
Dropping my eyes to the floor, I blink slowly before admitting, “I feel the same way.”
An outsider might think we’re crazy. How do a madam and a prostitute feel anything but contempt in a world like ours? I was born among the dark side of society. Beyond the dirt, gluttony, and secrets are real people who get by the only way they know how. We’re still human beings with human feelings and emotions.
Inez and I are villains—cut from the same cloth.
“Nailing Ridge & Sons will carry Hush to a new level. The money in that building can make us unstoppable and offer protection you can’t imagine. We’ll own this city, Lydia, and no one can stop us.”
“You’ll own the city,” I say.
She has an annoying habit of treating me less like a worker and more like a successor, set to inherit her estate once she’s gone. To her dismay, I’ve yet to accept her proposal. Hush has a good thing going, but I’m not ready to commit to it for the rest of my life.
“The rebel princess.” Inez laughs.
“The sinful queen,” I retort.
“I’ve never asked you for anything.” The smile slips, leaving her lips in a straight line. “My intentions are not to make you feel guilty. Everything I do to help you comes from affection. You’re a gift. You are my favorite girl. But I do need your help now. Hush needs your help now.”
Sighing, I drop my head back and close my eyes.
“Only once. Only now,” she pleads.
“Who is it?” I ask.
Aside from their success, Ridge & Sons are a private family, filthy rich, and gorgeous. How a family that ridiculously good-looking stays scandal-free is beyond me, but if one of them booked a date with Hush, they’re not as innocent as the public believes.
“Talent. The younger of the two boys.” Inez opens a drawer and retrieves an electronic tablet, swiping her finger across the glass screen until an image appears. “He’s twenty-eight years old. Unattached. Although, he does date regularly. His father is David Ridge, and his mother, Pamela Ridge, died eight years ago.”
This detail nails my attention. My focus dashes from the image of Talent to Inez.
“I didn’t know that.” I stand to my feet and join Inez on her side of the desk to peek over her shoulder. She smells like lilacs and cedar, and I lean in closer to inhale the scent. “How did it happen?”
A few clicks, swipes, and taps later, an old news article about the death of Pamela Ridge emerges. Mrs. Ridge was remarkably ordinary, with shoulder-length brown hair and high cheekbones. According to the news source, her family has deep ties to the area. The caption under the photo states she passed away from heart disease at the age of fifty-four.
I didn’t count on having anything in common with a person as prestigious as Talent Ridge.
“There’s no time to submit the full background check typically required, but he seems to be transparent. His net worth is plenty enough to cover any future dates he may book. Obviously, avoid conversation about his family and his dead mother.”