Chapter 2 #2
“The auction is the perfect diversion actually,” Treena cuts in. “You need to do whatever it takes to preserve your reputation, Mr. Capuleti. Once this news hits, and it will, it will be rough. You need a distraction.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call this auction a distraction. The magazine is just a sponsor,” I argue.
“We’ll figure it out.” Julianna shrugs a shoulder.
“Just be present tonight,” Treena encourages me. “We’ll work on damage control later. Honestly, I’m surprised we’ve kept this lawsuit quiet for this long.”
“Rome won’t keep his mouth shut for long,” Julianna practically growls. “The man loves to hear himself talk too much.”
“Actually,” Vanessa announces, holding her phone up to the three of us. “Seems we’ve manifested his big mouth already.”
I lean forward, reading the headline to the article she has pulled up.
Venture Mogul Rome Montgomery sues Scribe Magazine and its CEO Holt Capuleti for defamation in new major lawsuit.
The article was posted ten minutes ago.
“Well, shitballs!” Julianna hisses. “Here we go. Terrible timing when this auction is set to start in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll read over this article and see what the public knows.” Vanessa tucks her phone into the front pocket of her briefcase. “I doubt it’ll effect tonight’s auction since it’s for various charities. You may be the number one topic for gossip, but it’ll all be in secret.”
“Great.” I sneer. “Because it’s better to have those talking behind your back instead of out in the open.”
“Everything will be fine, Mr. Capuleti,” Treena tries to reassure me. “Just go about your night as usual. Lay low and try not to get dragged into the spotlight. We’ll get this sorted and reconvene on Monday.”
“That’ll be difficult.” Julianna snorts.
Treena turns in her direction. “What do you mean?”
Julianna glowers at her. “You’re my brother’s publicist, but you don’t know he’s supposed to be bidding tonight?”
Treena snaps her mouth shut and inhales a long breath through her nose.
“What sort of auction is this?” Vanessa asks, stepping closer into our circle.
“Scribe and a few other organizations are sponsoring it, but it’s an auction to raise money for children’s research hospitals throughout the five boroughs and Jersey. The way I organized tonight’s auction was meant to draw in a large crowd, and when I say large, what I mean is massive.”
“What’s so different about this auction that has it drawing such a large crowd?” Vanessa’s penciled brows pull together.
Julianna’s expression transforms. She’s practically bursting with excitement, proud of herself. “We’re auctioning off dates.”
“Dates?” Vanessa’s eyebrows unravel, rising across her forehead.
“Yeah.” Julianna shrugs, turning her hand over and inspecting her nails as though Vanessa’s questions are boring her, but I recognize it as her defense mechanism whenever she feels someone judging her.
“Both women and men volunteer themselves, some models, and local celebrities for a night out with the highest bidder. There’s no pressure for them to follow through on the date, and those bidding know that. ”
“Well, it’s solved, then!” Treena blurts out. “Holt just won’t place any bids.”
“Oh, come on.” Julianna’s shoulders sag. I can practically see the air deflating out of her chest like a sad, day-old party balloon.
“I wasn’t planning on following through with the date anyway, Jules,” I tell her.
“Of course you weren’t.”
I let her sarcastic comment slide. “If Treena thinks it’ll only shine a brighter spotlight on me by participating, I won’t. I’ll still donate money to the charities. You know I will.”
Julianna stares at me without saying a word, her eyes reminding me of our mother’s. Soft yet strong.
Though it doesn’t come easy to her, she concedes. “Fine.” She blows out a heavy breath, crossing her arms over her chest.
A soft knock on the door catches our attention.
We all snap our heads in that direction as the door softly opens.
A woman with an earpiece stuffed into her right ear, the kind with a spiraled cord that disappears under the back of her shirt, pokes her head between the door and doorframe. She winces, then finds my sister.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue we need your help with.”
“I’ll be out in a minute, Hannah.”
The woman, apparently named Hannah, anxiously glances around the room. “It’s sort of an emergency.”
“Okay.” Julianna runs her hands down the front of her dress before leaving the room, but not before she brushes past me. She stops and wraps her small hand around my arm, giving it a squeeze. “This will all work out. We’ll get through this.”
“It doesn’t exactly feel like it right now.”
“This is Rome Montgomery, remember? You said it yourself. If this rivalry has taught us anything, it’s that our family name won’t allow us to be defeated. He won’t win.”
I close my mouth and nod.
Julianna gives me a weak smile before leaving, and her absence is felt immediately.
I must appear to be on the brink of falling apart because Treena is now looking at me as though she’s worried I’m going to snap. She could be right. My head feels like it’s going to explode and paint these bland walls with crimson.
“Your sister is right, Mr. Capuleti,” Treena says. “Just go out there and act normal.”
“Right.” I laugh sarcastically. “Like I can just go out there and pretend my entire world isn’t about to blow up.”
My world is about to change the second I step foot out of this room. The paranoia of secretive glances won’t just be in my head, they’ll be real.
I try not to let panic set in, but I know it’s too late.
My palms are sweaty and the floor shifts underneath my feet.
I’ve fought for years to keep myself together and not let my past dictate my future.
I’ve built a life for myself and my magazine, focusing on what I need to do to succeed.
Now, Rome Montgomery is threatening to ruin it all over a stupid article I had no idea was even published.
Treena’s phone rings from her pocket. She plucks it out, reads the screen, then looks up at me. “I need to take this. I’ll meet up with you later at the end of the event.”
I nod in acknowledgement, and she slips out the door, leaving Vanessa and me alone.
I adjust the cuffs of my suit and shake out my nerves. If I’m going to walk back out into the ballroom feeling like I’m knee-deep in legal metaphorical horseshit, I need to at least do it with my head held high.
Then an idea occurs to me.
I tug my phone from my pocket and type out a quick yet massive email to my entire writing staff to meet with me first thing Monday morning.
I don’t care if Vanessa and her team of lawyers are working the investigation.
I’ll work my own and figure out who the anonymous writer was.
We’re set to meet anyway to discuss a story idea for an editorial column I think will catapult my magazine to the forefront in a city where it’s easy to slip into the background.
After hitting send, I brace myself for the fallout of tonight, knowing I’m basically marching straight into the lion’s den that is my sister’s auction.
“I need to get going as well,” Vanessa says, walking toward me. She holds her briefcase in front of her, the top of her full breasts swelling beneath the gap of her open blouse.
I don’t tell her about my email to my staff or how I’ll be secretly conducting my own investigation, too.
“I’ll walk you out.” I don’t waste any more time rejoining the auction. I’m ripping off the Band-Aid, so to speak.
I swing the door open and step out into the hallway, only to immediately crash into a delicate frame that has me knocking her off her feet. I’m quickly surrounded by blonde hair, various shades of bright yellow, and a sweet floral scent that makes my stomach clench in delight.
“Shit!” I hiss, wrapping my arms around her to catch her before she falls to the glistening marble floor. One of my arms is wrapped around her waist while I have her head cradled in the palm of my other hand.
My eyes search her beautiful face and then it hits me.
It smacks me directly in the face. I’ve never been this close to Selene.
I quickly take inventory of the tiny golden flecks in her otherwise intense green eyes, counting every lash surrounding them.
I note the way her bright red-painted lips part as she breathes in a shaky breath.
She’s a bright fucking ray of sunshine in my arms.
“Holt.” My name falling from her mouth on a whisper sounds like fucking heaven.
“Are you okay?” I ask, not even attempting to straighten either of us up. We’re caught in suspension in the middle of this hallway, bent over as if I’ve dipped Selene in the middle of a dance. The bubble we’re in is a nice delay from what I know is coming when I step out into that ballroom.
“Yeah.” Her chest heaves before she swallows. “Thank you for catching me.”
I smirk before chuckling. “I didn’t think I had a choice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her eyebrows pinch, and her mouth dips into a ghost of a frown.
“I didn’t think you lying on the floor with a split skull and a pool of blood would have complimented this dress.” My smile widens, and my gaze flicks to her chest.
Her mouth falls open, but her eyebrows lose their tension. “Oh, right. No… it wouldn’t. My day has already been quite shitty, so that would have been the icing on the cake.”
Shitty? Why has her day been shitty?
I want to ask her, but I don’t. I’m at a loss for words while staring at her beauty. She’s always been stunning, but being this close to her feels as if I’ve been launched into another galaxy. Selene has stolen the breath from my lungs—a feeling I’ve never felt before. Not this intensely, anyway.
Her eyes search my face. The tip of her tongue pushes out, and she sweeps it across her bottom lip. Then she looks up and over my shoulder.
After following what’s caught her attention, I see Vanessa standing behind me, watching us.