An hour later, we leave Talent’s office hand-in-hand, freshly fucked and glowing. My dress is wrinkled, and my hair isn’t as wavy as it was when I arrived. Talent’s tie is in his back pocket and his suit jacket is unbuttoned, but we’re passable as a normal couple on their way to lunch.
Wilder Ridge is at the reception desk when we emerge. I hesitate for a split second before he spots us together, wondering if I should hide inside the office until Wilder fucks off. When eyes his own shade of gray look up and narrow, all thoughts of laying low until he’s gone disappear. Talent stops us to wipe lipstick away from under my lip, unconcerned with the implications going public can cause. Even if it is only his older brother and the receptionist.
Wilder’s warning from the gala is still fresh in my mind, but I’ve never been one to let the opinions of others stop me from anything. I won’t start now. Fake it until I make it.
“Is he going to be a problem?” I ask in a voice so low only Talent can hear.
“No,” he answers confidently.
I don’t want to be the reason family dinners are tense, but I won’t be terrorized by his judgment. Leveling the playing field can be arranged. One chance meeting with a counterpart, even something as quick as a hand job from a Hush escort, will guarantee Wilder’s interference ends with disappointed scowls and rigid body language.
No one turns down a hand job.
And I’m not above blackmail.
One step ahead of Talent, I don’t let years spent as Cara Smith go to waste. I’m the very essence of confidence. Standing tall, I keep my shoulders back and my expression bold, capable of controlling how this encounter goes because I’m the baddest person in the room.
The older Ridge brother isn’t easily swayed, but he leans against the reception desk with his hands in his pockets and a grin on his lips. He and Talent share a lengthy look that seconds as a silent conversation that I gladly eavesdrop on.
It says, you son of a bitch.
And, don’t fuck with me.
“I’ll be in sometime tomorrow,” Talent says. He squeezes my hand.
Wilder chuckles and says, “Are you going to introduce us to your girlfriend?”
The receptionist gives herself whiplash, looking back and forth between the Ridge brothers before her curiosity focuses on me. She’s a woman, so she notices the difference in my appearance from my arrival and can probably guess why I’m not wearing lipstick anymore. She blushes, and I wink.
“We’ve met,” I say to Wilder like an afterthought. “Or did you forget our talk at the gala?”
“Of course not, Cara.” Wilder steps away from the desk and offers his hand to shake. “I’m only surprised to see you here.”
Talent steps forward with the look of the devil in his eyes, like he might choke the life out of his own brother for insulting me. My mouth spreads into a smile that stops Wilder before Talent has the chance to. His hand hesitates in the space between us, unsure of himself.
“You must have me confused with someone else,” I say, shaking his hand. He’s physically stronger than me, but Wilder Ridge has never met a woman of my caliber. I allowed his weight throwing to go unanswered at the gala, but this is a brand-new day. “I’m Lydia Montgomery, and you won’t ever disrespect me again.”
The receptionist lets out a breathy laugh but straightens up and drops the smile as soon as Wilder, Talent, and I look at her. She holds her hands up in surrender and mouths sorry before making herself busy stacking papers and picking up the phone that wasn’t ringing.
“I’ll just check the voicemail.” She waves us off. “Nothing to see here.”
I like her.
“Are you done?” Talent asks his brother. His jaw muscles are tight, and he’s cutting off blood circulation to my hand.
Wilder shakes his head in disapproval. “You’re going to let this happen? If the wrong people find out who she is, Talent—”
“Let me handle it,” Talent answers in a clipped tone.
“That’s not going to happen,” Wilder says, but the fight drains from his body. “You’re my brother.”
As irritated as Talent seems by Wilder’s refusal to mind his own business, I’m envious of the solid relationship they share. Family is an unknown idea to me, not only because I was born an only child or because my mom has been dead for ten years, but because I haven’t shared a vulnerable connection with anyone in a long time.
Inez does her best to make me feel like family, but we’re lonely wanderers who built an unlikely alliance on a foundation of convenience. I needed guidance, and she needed a successor. Our relationship is precious to me, but it lingers along the edges, susceptible. I trust Inez with my life, but I can’t confide in someone who sells my body with my whole heart.
She can’t be my mother and my pimp.
But Talent might be the start of something new.
If he can stomach me after he knows the entire truth about who I am.
“Don’t forward my calls, Sonya,” Talent tells the mousy girl behind the desk busying herself with voice messages that may or may not exist.
Wilder steps out of our way, sliding his hands back into his pockets. He regards his brother with warm regard, but his expression is icy when turned on me.
“Tell her what she’s in for, Talent. It’s the only way to keep this from going bad,” he calls out as we pass through the double glass doors. “If you trust her, you’ll tell her.”
We stand on opposite sides of the elevator on the way down, non-stop and alone together thanks to Talent’s bypass code. The time to clear the air has arrived, and we both know we can’t continue to dance around the truth any longer.
“Talent, even if I stop now, it won’t change who I am.”
“I can protect you.”
“You can’t protect me from myself. You’ve said so yourself,” I remind him of the night he showed up at my apartment with my favorite Chinese food and I turned him away. “I am who I am.”
“I won’t let you sabotage what we have, Lydia,” he says, exasperated. Ignoring the truth must feel like constant running.
“How come your brother can see where this is headed, and you can’t?” There’s nothing I’d like more than to cover my mouth with my hands to keep the reality of our situation behind clenched teeth. My arms stay at my sides, and I say, “Go ahead and tell me what I’m in for. Will we have to keep our relationship a secret, so I don’t ruin everything you’ve worked for? Your family will never accept me, because if Wilder knows who I am, we can assume your dad does, too. He called me Cara, Talent.”
Exhaling, Talent closes his eyes and scratches the back of his neck impatiently. “My brother knows everything about you, Lydia, but that’s not what he was referring to. He’s more concerned for your wellbeing than you realize.”
Taken aback, I ask, “What the fuck does that mean?”
Before Talent can explain, the elevator comes to an abrupt stop and the doors open to the main lobby. A group of people waiting to board the elevator recognize Talent right away and make a path for him to walk by. He motions for me to go ahead of him, and the magnitude of the gesture is not beyond anyone waiting to get on the elevator.
Like a deadly virus, their gossip will spread through the entire building at an unprecedented speed, and there isn’t a vaccine available that will shut them the fuck up.