by Hamel, B. B.
“We’ll do damage control,” Jack said. “Put out a statement. Sue the shit out of whoever runs this trash blog.”
“Way too late for that,” I said, gesturing at the computer. “Search it. I bet it’s all over the lace.”
He frowned, but started typing, and only frowned some more.
This was bad. Lady Fluke might never forgive me, and now I’d lose one of my only friends in this whole world because Desmond couldn’t get over himself. I could handle losing the SPAC and failing to make as much money as I wanted, but I couldn’t afford to have another friendship crumble.
I was toxic, and I was broken, but god damn it, I wasn’t so bad if Lady Fluke could stand me. That woman couldn’t stand anyone.
And now I’d crossed her, and I knew I’d pay.
“Fuck,” I said, and slumped down into a chair. I leaned back, staring at the ceiling, then squeezed my eyes shut.
“Are you okay?” Millie asked, and there was a real worried quality to her voice. “I can talk to her. I think she likes me. Maybe—“
“It won’t help,” I said, then opened my eyes and looked at Jack. “Desmond has to pay for this.”
“We’ll think of something,” Jack said.
“Really, do you two think hitting him back is the best thing?” Millie asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if we focused on the SPAC? That’s what he’s trying to destroy. The best revenge would be to succeed, despite him.”
I shook my head once. “The SPAC is important, but breaking Desmond takes priority now. He went too far.”
“Just think about it,” Millie said. “This is what he wants. The whole game is to distract you.”
“Then it’s working,” I said, and stood up. “Millie, I understand if you don’t want to be a part of this anymore, but I’ve got new priorities.”
She said something, but I didn’t hear her. I left Jack’s office, rode the elevators down to the lobby, and walked out into the city. I lost myself in the foot traffic, and turned my mind to one thing: destroying Desmond.
13
Millie
I didn’t think it as possible for Rees to be that upset. The whole thing left me dizzy and breathless—one second, we were kissing, the best kiss of my life, and I felt like I was drifting off into an ocean of some deeper meaning, where I’d finally start to understand some lost part of myself—and the next second, Rees was vowing to destroy his rival and storming out.
I went home after that. I didn’t know what else to do, and Jack wasn’t much help. He seemed as lost as I felt. I tried calling Rees, tried emailing and texting, but I got no reply. I was genuinely worried about him—the look on his face was heartbreaking.
I knew he cared about Lady Fluke. Not in a romantic way, but they were close, and I got the sense that Rees had very few close relationships. He clearly valued her, and the thought of their friendship crumbling deeply hurt him. I wished I could find him and do something, but he could be anywhere in the world, and I was all alone in my tiny apartment, wondering if everything I worked toward had just taken a turn for the worse.
At the very least, I was back to square one, with the bar still staring me in the face, daring me to sit down and try to pass it. Except I still didn’t want to take the chance, and I still didn’t want to give up on what I had with Rees—whatever it was—or maybe I only wanted a chance at the money he promised, so much money that it would change my life and my grandmother’s for good.
I slept on it, and in the morning, I left the house feeling like things could work. Rees still hadn’t called, but I assumed that was fine—he’d be in the office, and we’d make it work. On the street, I fell into the rhythm of the commuters, dropped into the crowds that snaked their way toward the heart of the city, kept a few paces back from men in briefcases, some in expensive suits, some in cheap ones, of all of them harried, walking like they’d never reach their destination on time unless they pushed themselves to death.
I didn’t notice him at first. I was stuck in the flow of traffic and each person looked the same to me. But soon, after going down a few side streets that were less crowded, I noticed a young man following me, in a pair of dark jeans and a navy-blue jacket, a baseball cap pulled low over his face. His beard was trimmed close, and he walked with his head down and his hands shoved in his pockets.
Obviously, I freaked. I thought of Desmond, and wondered if he was unhinged enough to hire a hitman. Then again, this was a terrible hitman if he was coming for me in the middle of the day during rush hour, when there would be a hundred different people around as witnesses.
I took out my phone, pretended like I was looking at something, and pulled Rees’s number up on my screen. I didn’t hit call and I wasn’t sure if he’d answer. I considered calling Lori, sine she lived in the city, but I didn’t want to drag her into this mess either. I could reach out to a friend from college, but all my college friends had real jobs and families and kids, and all my law school buddies passed the bar and were regular human beings. I was the only one left behind, and I realized with a strange horror that I had nobody, or at least nobody I felt comfortable enough calling.
That left Rees. And I was pretty sure he’d still ignore me.
I walked faster, turned left down a quiet street, and stopped suddenly. I moved closer to the buildings so he wouldn’t see me. When he turned the corner, he looked up, startled, and stared at me. In that moment, I was sure of two things. One, he was definitely following me, and two, he was definitely not a hitman.
He couldn’t have been older than twenty. He had a soft, baby face, and light blue eyes. He wasn’t in great shape, and had a little paunch of a gut starting to form. I could see him in twenty years, full on pear-shaped.
“Excuse me,” he said, blinking twice, and brought his hands from his jacket pockets. He held a phone and a pen. “Are you Millie Drake? Rees Court’s assistant?”
“Uh, yes,” I stammered, too bewildered and freaked out to do anything else.
“My name’s Alex Milligan, I’m a reporter with—“
“You’re a fucking reporter?” I said, and a wave of relief hit me like a train. I let out a breath and groaned, looking up at the sky. “God damn you’ve been following me for blocks and I thought I was about to get murdered.”
Alex laughed nervously, and shook his head, waving his hands in the air. “Oh no, no no no, I’m so sorry,” he said. “God, yeah, I should’ve said something sooner, but I couldn’t catch up and I wasn’t sure it was you and— shit, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said, gripping my phone like I might bend it in half. So it wasn’t Desmond sending a killer to whack me after all. I must’ve really been cracking up if I was killing to believe something so outrageous, and yet y heart kept racing, and I had to lean against the house behind me to catch my breath.
“Normally I call, but you didn’t pick up and I wasn’t sure I had the right number, so I tried email but didn’t get you, and then I reached out to your cousin—“
“You reached out to Lori?” I asked, shaking my head. “Why? Who are you?”
“I’m a reported with Business Monthly,” he said. “I write about business gossip and stuff like that. Do you know about all the rumors circulating about your boss and Lady Fluke?” He held his phone toward me, and I realized that he was recording.
I gave him a sharp look. “Turn that thing off.”
“Sorry, I just want to ask a few questions as background. I can keep you anonymous, if you’d be more comfortable.” He gave me a practiced smile that seemed more pathetic than convincing.
“I’d be more comfortable if you turned that phone off and put it away.”
He frowned a little, but he locked the street and shoved it into his pocket. “Fair enough, I guess I understand. You’re still working for Reed Court, right? You’re his new assistant?”
“That’s me,” I said. “How did you find out?”
“It’s a small world,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “This gossip
beat has me talking to pretty much everyone. It’s kind of exhaustion.”
“Do you stalk all them, too?”
He smile sheepishly. “Really, I’m sorry about that. Next time I’ll stick to phone calls and emails.”
I waved him away and finally felt like I was getting my wind back. A reporter hunted me down—I’d have to talk to Lori about that one—which was definitely a bad thing. I didn’t have to ask Rees if he wanted me talking to the press, since I knew the answer already.
And yet I was curious. I didn’t want to tell this guy anything, but I did want to find out what he knew. If he was as connected as he pretended to be, then he might have information that could help Rees squash this rumor, and finally end this strange attack from Desmond. I had to be careful, since this guy was press and was definitely used to people trying to get information from him, but I figured it would be fine, so long as I didn’t reveal anything.
“Let’s walk a little bit,” I said, and pointed toward his pocket, where he put the phone. “Keep that turned off, and this is all off the record. That’s a thing, right?”
“That’s a thing,” he said, looking disappointed, then laughed. “Although that’s what I’d say if it weren’t, right?”
I decided to ignore that very bad joke and started off toward the office again, but this time at a much slower pace. “So why did you hunt me down?” I asked. “I’m just an assistant. I’m not sure what you think I know.”
“You’re the assistant to a man that rarely has an assistant,” he said. “I think the last one got fired three years ago, and only lasted four months. It’s odd that he hired you, and even more odd that he hired you on the heels of all these rumors.”
I pursed my lips slightly, trying to decide if he was lying to me or not. Everyone we met with so far did act surprised to see me there, and so it seemed possible that Rees wasn’t the type to take an assistant, but still. He was rich as sin, and the idea of him going without an assistant was absurd.
“From what I can tell, it’s not that unusual,” I said, and Alex only shrugged, like he didn’t want to argue.
“There’s also this Lady Fluke thing, which I’ll admit is pretty outlandish. I mean, I know Rees and Fluke have a friendship, but she’s not the type to have an affair.”
“And he is?” I asked.
Alex’s smile was almost patronizing, like, oh honey. It pissed me off. “Rees is a rich man living in a country that lives giving everything to rich men. I’m not saying he’s running around putting his dick in anything that moves, but you know—“
“If you want to keep having this conversation, you won’t talk about him that way,” I said, glaring at him. I was giving something away by reacting like that, but I couldn’t help myself. His smug smile pissed me off.
“Fair enough,” he said, tilting his head to one side and studying me, like he was seeing me for the first time. “He’s your boss, I get it, but I’m just being honest here.”
“I’m not sure what you want from me,” I said. “I don’t know anything about his personal life.”
“You’re around him a lot, you must’ve heard something.” He rubbed the back of his head and adjusted his hat. “What about that SPAC? Has he gotten more investors?”
“That information isn’t public yet,” I said, giving him a look. “You’ll find out when everyone else does.”
“You’re not going to give me much, are you?” He laughed like he wasn’t surprised. “I guess Rees wouldn’t hire an idiot.”
“Oh, thanks,” I said. “Do you actually know anything about me?”
“I know you went to Penn. You have a law degree. I know you haven’t taken the bar yet.” He gave me a look and I thought of all those people I’d gone to school with—so many of them already practicing lawyers, despite having graduated beneath me in the class rankings. And yet I still couldn’t get my shit together, and this random reporter dude wasn’t doing much to help with that self-esteem issue.
“You’re truly one of the great investigative journalists of your time,” I said, then stopped walking and faced him. We stood on the street corner, and the flow of pedestrians parted around us, like we were a rock in a stream. “Look, let’s not bull shit each other, okay? I want something from you, and you want something from me. Let’s make a deal.”
He seemed surprised. His eyebrows rolled up his face like two fat caterpillars and I couldn’t believe this moron was hesitating.
“What can you offer me?” he asked lamely, and I rolled my eyes, getting impatient.
“I’m not going to waste your time,” I said. “Please don’t waste mine. I know what I want, so here’s the deal. You’re going to give me a piece of information, and in return, I’m going to let you ask one question, and I promise I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”
“One for one then,” he said, scratching his chin, then took out his phone. “Can I record your answer?”
“No,” I said. “But it can be on the record, okay?”
“Fine,” he said, though he seemed disappointed. “I’ll admit, I’m surprised you’re playing ball. I didn’t think I knew anything you didn’t know already.”
“Has Desmond Bergson been leaking all these stories about Rees to the media?” It was the one question that mattered, and although I knew the answer already, I needed to confirm it. On the off chance that it wasn’t Desmond, despite his letter admitting that it was him, I had to ask and be completely sure. I could tell Rees was on the verge of falling into the deep end, and I didn’t want him to get sucked down into something worthless.
“Actually, no,” Alex said, grinning a little, and he must’ve realized in that moment he had something big. “I can tell you who it is, but that’s a whole different question.”
I grimaced a little, and felt my anger flare. He was right—technically, which was enough. I was a lawyer after all, and technicalities mattered to me, but still. The little weasel was a punk.
“Fine,” I said. “What do you want to know?”
“Who is Rees dating right now?” he asked.
I sucked in a breath and put my biggest, stupidest smile smack on my face, and leaned nice and close to him.
“Me,” I said.
He pulled back. “What?” His eyes went wide, like he was staring into a cave.
“He’s dating me, you idiot,” I said. “Why do you think he hired me? And why do you think I took the job? I graduated third in my class from Penn Law. I could be on my way to partner in some big firm right now, getting rich. Instead, I’m an assistant. Does that make any sense to you?”
“No,” he stammered, and too ka step bac, nearly sideswiping a guy in a suit. The man cursed and hurried on. Cars coursed down the street, and a taxi honked as a black sedan pulled out in front of it. “I just thought you were taking some time off and weren’t ready to take the bar. I had no clue you were seeing Rees.”
“Nobody does,” I said. “It’s a scoop. The best one of your career, I bet. Now, tell me who’s been planting stories about him.”
He laughed, shaking his head, and shoved his phone in his pocket. “Alright, you know what? You gave me something good, so fuck it. The guy that’s been calling is named Kirk.”
“Who the hell is that?” I asked, frowning. It didn’t mean anything to me, and even less without a surname.
“Tell that name to Rees, he’ll know.” Alex shook his head and took a step away, edging toward the curb. “All of that was on the record. So I’m going to run with this story, you realize that, right?”
“Be my guest,” I said. “We’re two single, consenting adults. Maybe you can print something new for a change.”
He barked another laugh, then turned and walked off, pumping his arms, moving fast into the flow of people. I stood and watched him go, then turned and began to head toward the office again, moving slower this time.
Kirk, Kirk, Kirk. I kept thinking the name, over and over, until I reached the far side of the street. I took out my phone and finally h
it that call button, ringing up Rees.
It hit his voicemail. The bastard. If I had really needed him—
“It’s me,” I said. “I don’t know why you’ve been dodging my calls, but something big just happened. I met with a reporter and told him we’re dating. Also, a guy named Kirk’s been planting all these rumors in the media. You should probably come into the office.”
I hung up and shoved my phone into my bag. He returned my call a few minutes later, bug I let it go to voicemail. Let him hear that and stew on it for a little while.
14
Rees
The plane vibrated as we hit a patch of turbulence. Millie’s fingers gripped her arm rest and she crossed her legs nervously. Flying private made her nervous—the luxury was nice, but apparently the smaller plane set her on edge.
She deserved it right now.
That god damn voice message. I deserved that, to be fair. I guess we both got what was coming, but still. That voice message set my teeth on edge. I couldn’t believe she told a reporter that we were dating, and for about ten minutes, I was absolutely livid.
Until I remembered—that was the whole god damn point.
It was brilliant, really. This whole time I wanted to use her as a screen to distract the world from the ugly rumors that were circulating, about my relationship with Giana, and my alleged affair with Lady Fluke, and yet I’d been holding back from making it public. I think a part of me was afraid it would put too much pressure on whatever we had growing between us, and might cause it to crack, and break, like a brittle vase.
In one move, she established the story I was too afraid to seed myself while finding out exactly what our next move needed to be. When she said that name Kirk, I knew where I could find Desmond, or at least someone that would know.
“Where are we going, anyway?” she asked, looking at me, chewing on her lip nervously.
