Chapter 31 Greta
Greta
MID-DECEMBER
By Thursday, Greta was back in New York and alone. Being with Kaelee and socializing with Toni and Addie had her thinking about the changes she wanted in her life. She sat down with Ian and Emily in her office. They had Kaelee’s blessing to get the ball rolling on the potential legal situation.
Luckily, Emily had sent a message yesterday that her biopsy was negative. Greta would’ve had a hell of a time asking Emily to be there to manage the legal drama if Emily were sick, too.
“Thank you for meeting with me.” Greta smiled at both Ian and Emily.
“Of course.” Emily gave her a curious look.
On Greta’s desk was a copy of Kaelee’s book, which she handed to Emily. “First and most exciting order of business. Look at this.”
The page edges were a dark burgundy on the top and bottom, and the front edges were printed with flames licking up them.
The cover itself was hidden under the dust jacket, but like the dust jacket, it had a beautiful, stylized image of a flaming phoenix.
The bird’s eyes were red foil, as were the title and Kaelee’s name.
“The book looks great.” Emily flipped it over and looked under the cover, taking note of the details. “It’s so different from Toni’s art style.”
“Different genres,” Greta reminded her mildly. “Toni’s book is supposed to say ‘literary’ and ‘historical’ whereas Kaelee’s book is trendy fantasy.”
“True.” Emily rested the book on her lap. “Do you realize that Kaelee called me? Do you know how hard it is to get her to communicate about anything that isn’t in writing? She sends ‘memo of conversation’ emails after every call.”
“She did that to Charlie in PR, too,” Ian offered lightly. “She’s a record keeper, organized, early. I am lucky I’ll get to edit her next book. I will run anything I am unsure about by Greta, Emily, but I hope you know that I’ll be a thorough, diligent editor.”
“Obviously.” Emily smiled at him.
“Ian will be her editor going forward,” Greta stressed. “However, she has asked me to start the preliminary details on the legal front … as her … person.” Her voice didn’t waver, despite the anxiety this decision, this public admission of emotion, caused her.
“It’s really not like you to let your private life become public.” Emily gave her an assessing look.
At that Greta relaxed a little bit. “Oh, trust me, I know. I’ve lived and breathed this job and nothing else for the last two years. I’m still going to do that above and beyond expectations, but that’s not enough. It’s not living.”
Ian shot her an approving smile.
“I care about Kaelee, Emily,” Greta said.
“I don’t know what, if anything, will come of it in the long run, but I’m grateful for right now.
Kaelee is … a remarkable person. I want to be sure she is protected, beyond what the publisher’s legal team handles.
We don’t want another Toni and Addie media storm. ”
Emily scowled. “Toni and Addie are well behaved in public these days.”
“Or better at not getting caught,” Ian amended.
After a moment, Emily sighed. “Fine. They are about to be married, though, so I can’t say they’ll avoid public drama. I can hope they will. This thing with Kaelee, though … it’s different.”
“It is.” Greta nodded to Ian, who left to summon the rest of the team.
Then she handed Emily the packet that legal had already received and that marketing and publicity received in a less detailed form.
The top page was a notarized sheet from Kaelee that allowed Greta to discuss these things.
“I told her I’d manage this without her having to sit here while we discuss her. ”
Emily skimmed the pages. “Kaelee is the missing Alden kid? I read about this.”
“A lot of people did.” Greta knew now why the name had sounded familiar. “She wasn’t kidnapped or murdered. She ran away because her father is a vile man.”
“She could have told me.” Emily flipped through the pages. “She should have told me. Does Toni know?”
“I don’t know how much detail Toni has; that’s not my business. The Aldens are not a thing Kaelee wants to bring up,” Greta stressed. “But they reached out after a decade of silence and want her to cancel the book.”
“I know you said that her family had reached out, but I didn’t know they were…” Emily looked like she had accidentally tasted something foul. “It doesn’t matter ultimately. Well, I assume we aren’t doing that, so we need a plan for her safety and how to counter their next steps.”
“Agreed. And Kaelee agrees now.” Greta relaxed more now that Emily had read enough to want to plan.
“There’s one more thing. Her ‘engagement’”—Greta made air quotes—“was not her choice. Nothing that happened with him was her choice. She gave me permission to talk to you and the attorneys for this part.” Greta stared at Emily, hoping she didn’t need to be explicit.
Talking about that man hurting Kaelee made Greta want to ignore laws and seek him out.
Destroy him.
Greta gripped the edge of her desk as she said, “Kaelee came out, and to control her, her father made a choice that included his protégé, who agreed to marry Kaelee.”
“Am I understanding you correctly?” Emily whispered. “He … they … hurt her.”
“Yes. Her father gave her away in marriage, and his proxy assaulted her.” Greta swallowed back the rage she felt simmering. “As a result, Kaelee ran. She changed her name, built a life, became the amazing woman she now is.”
“Fuck them if they think they can steal the life and career she built.” Emily pinched the bridge of her nose as if to stop a building headache. “Step one, where are we on legal? Are her rights protected that way?”
“I have a consultant coming in, as well as house legal.” Greta looked at her list. “Marketing will be making sure there is security at the events. Since Toni is with her at the first four stops, we can cover that cost in-house.”
“And the consultant?”
“Kaelee has already paid her retainer. I’ve been getting all the ducks in a row.”
Greta looked up as the door opened.
Ian shot her an apologetic look. Behind him were two attorneys; one was the woman Greta had spoken to on the phone and the other was Tasha. She eyed Greta in that possessive, assessing way of hers that had once felt flattering, but now it simply felt like she was being appraised for her worth.
“Ms. Connolly … and Ms. Everette. I hadn’t expected both of you.
” Greta felt like a wall of fire was sliding over her.
Her skin felt clammy and hot all at once, and she hoped she wasn’t going to lose her temper.
She’d expected only Marissa—Risa—Connolly.
Seeing Tasha was not on the list of things she’d braced for today.
Since they’d stopped their one-night fuck sessions, Greta had not seen her in person.
A part of her worried that she’d feel something, temptation or regret.
Tasha was still stunning. Tall, bespoke suit, and eyes like ice chips. No one could look at her and think she was anything other than commanding and beautiful, but Greta felt no longing, no hunger, nothing but trepidation that this would upset Kaelee.
“I’m Natasha Everette,” Tash said, offering her hand to Emily, who had come to her feet. Then Tasha looked at Greta and nodded. “Greta. Marissa said you had called, so I thought I could help. Two attorneys for the price of one. It’s an ‘old friends’ special rate.”
“That’s very generous, but Risa is—”
“The Aldens keep an entire team of attorneys on retainer,” Tasha said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think you could use the backup. Marissa is an exceptional litigator, but she’ll be buried in paperwork. That’s what they do.”
Risa met Greta’s eyes. “She’s right.”
Greta nodded. “Assuming the client agrees, so be it. If not, I trust Risa completely.”
Tasha gave her a wry look, hearing plainly what was left unsaid. The jab might have been unnecessary. Tasha was a shark when it came to her job, and on that front, she was exactly the right attorney for this job. They locked gazes far longer than was considered polite.
Then Tasha smiled.
“Shall we?” Marissa said in what Greta was sure was the patented efficient attorney voice.
How am I to tell Kaelee? I hate to suggest that this is the right path, but Tash is amazing at her job. For Kaelee, Greta was fairly certain there were very few things she wouldn’t do. Finding a way to push past her own bitterness to work with Tasha suddenly seemed perfectly easy.
Anything to keep Kaelee safe.