Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
“ARIELLA, WELCOME to the world you deserve…” Roxie leaned in closer to the mirror to check the line of her lipstick. Satisfied, she spun around and raised her arms. “Let me show you the true meaning of Crimson.”
After they ate, shared their secrets, and had a couple—or three—of cocktails, somehow, Roxie mobilized a squad of hair and makeup techs to come over and pamper them, mobile stations, mirrors, and all.
Right behind those pros were the stylists with their wardrobes full of apparel choices.
Every color, every cut, every style laid right out before them.
Wary though she was to have too many people around, Roxie assured her that Zairn only let trusted people into their lives. And, as was smart, they didn’t talk about their day, or its true context, with the techs around.
Glamming up was fun, especially with these women.
This was the first time in a long time she’d relaxed and let someone else take care of her.
For recent dates there was anticipation, sure, but she was doing the work herself, thinking and planning things that never came to pass.
This time, she could trust the professionals rather than her own handiwork and just let life be.
Most of her life, actually all of her adult life, meant being invisible or staying low-key, the complete opposite of everything Roxie Kyst embodied.
Cam’s living room had been transformed again. He wouldn’t mind.
Where was he?
They hadn’t spoken all day. She needed to call him, to at least see him, maybe then she’d stop thinking about him.
The front door opened and—huh. Knox. Wrong brother.
He stopped. “Everyone out.”
Their professionals stopped what they were doing to follow his instruction. No hesitation. Good. Okay. They should. She started to follow until Roxie caught her wrist.
“Not you, honey.”
When everyone was out, Knox swung the door closed and stepped down into the living room.
“We have a plan.”
“Oh, just like that, ‘we have a plan’?” Roxie asked. “You have a plan, just you and we’re all supposed to—” Knox’s head tilt quieted the brunette. “Okay, sorry, we have a plan.”
“We’re outing you on Roxiverse, Ariella.”
Outing her on Roxie’s show?
“We’re not live,” Roxie said.
“We don’t want you to be. You hit Crimson tonight, talk to Hatfield, he’ll do your interview.”
Uh oh, alcohol had been a mistake. “He’ll do the interview tonight?”
“No, he’s out of the loop, it’ll be in the next day or two. Less pressure than a Keller interview. We can line that up later, if necessary. We don’t want to be the ones escalating this.”
Discerning Roxie seemed calm. “That’s good. And, again, Hatfield isn’t live, so we can edit.”
“Yep. We’ve got to be ready for this to get rough.” Knox came a little closer. “Ariella, for Roxiverse to work, you have to be in Roxie’s life. People will see you. There will be speculation. There will be news vans outside.”
Shit. And this was a good plan?
“We use the stream,” Roxie’s optimism grew. “Damn, you’re good at this, Collier. No comment to the press. We let them speculate—”
“And give them fodder elsewhere, distract them—”
“With mine and Z’s shit. They’ll back off Ariella to focus on us.”
“That gives us some time behind the scenes to judge the Raiths’ reaction to her presence. If they want to throw anything at us, and they kick-start the story, that’s on them. If not, people will still be interested, so, Stream Queen, you introduce Ariella as your newest friend.”
“Just another babe on the Crimson adventure.” Roxie linked their arms. “When we air, there will be the Hatfield interview. And we finish that off with—"
“A book,” Knox finished the thought. “Something we can pour over and get exactly right. That’s the period at the end of the episode. Honey?”
“Works for me.”
“Know how we know Knox’s plan is righteous?
” Roxie bumped her. “He’d never do anything to disappoint his wife.
Let your conscience be your guide, Collier.
Or your appetite for sex anyway. When you said ‘talk to Hatfield’ you meant me.
I should talk to him.” With a slight nod, Knox confirmed Roxie’s speculation. “Because—”
“He wants a sniff at your panties? Yeah.”
“Excuse me! I am a married woman.” Faux offended, Roxie swept the tip of her pointed middle finger across her shoulder. “Greg Hatfield and I are colleagues; we have respect. We talk to each other as professionals.”
“Professional what? Whipping boy and master? That guy’s obsessed.”
The haughty tone that came with Roxie’s hair toss was theater. “He’s a man of taste.”
“You going to talk to him or not?”
“Yes, and we’ll preapprove the questions. Though he knows better than to get squirrely with me these days. Have you talked to Bambi?” Roxie asked then explained in an aside. “The best of our producers.”
“Struan,” came Knox’s answer.
“Of course you talked to the male producer.”
“Bambi was unavailable, lost in Struan’s bed. I prefer talking to the half-naked guy than the half-naked woman.”
“Ah, how times have changed.” Roxie appealed to some wistful God above before switching on suspicion. “You want me to tell Jane that, so she knows you’re not looking elsewhere?”
“Be honest, RK. How likely is it that’ll ever happen?”
“Hmm, a hundred percent unlikely or we wouldn’t have let you marry her.”
“And if I’m invaded by body snatchers and you catch me at it—”
“Good point, I wouldn’t have to tell Jane anything. The universe would know when I obliterated you, leaving nothing but a crater.”
“Yep.”
Roxie turned to her. “Struan and Bambi are our producers and extremely good friends… of ours. They’re a helluva lot more than friends with each other.
” Was anyone not Roxie’s extremely good friend?
“With Roxiverse, I have complete editorial control. Nothing will go out that isn’t vetted.
And I know how to work Hatfield, we have an…
understanding. We’ve been doing this a while. ”
“I won’t have to talk to him tonight?”
“I’ll introduce you. We’ll make sure some people see you outside and upstairs. The good thing about owning the place is we say who gets in where. We can ‘accidently’ let in two or three who might be inclined to leak. And we have a panoramic view of the dance floor, which means…”
“They’ll have a view of you.”
“Good,” she said, reassured by Roxie and Knox’s confidence. “You know what you’re doing.”
Way better than she did anyway. Though it may be premature, she was looking forward to living without worrying the story could break any minute. This could free her to make choices she maybe wouldn’t be able to make with this yoke around her neck.
“Let’s do this, ladies! Crimson awaits!” Roxie took her and Honey’s hands and hurried past Knox. They were right there at the front door, ready to sail on out into freedom, until it opened in their faces. Three men blocked their route.
Zairn, Tripp, and, ah, Cam.
“Seduction prohibited,” Roxie said. “We’re going to the club.”
Honey opened a hand.
To Zairn?
No, not to him.
Cam wasn’t the intended target either.
Tripp was the one who landed his hand in Honey’s, accepting the unuttered invitation. Guy didn’t pause or hesitate, he was just on it.
Zairn reserved his scrutiny for his wife. “You ready to be seen in public, LoLo?”
“Our VIP floor could easily become a VVIP floor, Skippy. I am the Queen of Queens. I could clear the whole building and don’t pretend you’d do a damn thing to stop me.
If I want Ariella to be unseen, she will be unseen.
Just so happens, tonight, we want to be seen.
Ariella is going to be seen in public, with me, the Crimson Empress. ”
“Smart,” Zairn said. “Connect her with us before the Colliers.”
“We’re connected. I’m not ashamed.” Cam was sweet, even in his offense. “We’ll come to the club with you.”
Roxie wasn’t done. “I’m not sure you’ll be allowed in, Young Collier.” Who was older than Roxie she was sure. “You have to answer for yourself first.”
“Answer for myself?”
“You live in a Crimson city, do you not?” Roxie’s chin rose in a theatrical arc. “Did you forget?”
“Rox—”
“Boston may be the most wholesome, see: dull, Crimson in our network. That’s on you.” And that deserved a little analysis. “It’s time to switch it up.”
“I’m not the only person you know in Boston.”
“No, but Kesley’s the only other accountable family member and she’s usually on the trail with Z. So we go back to…”
“It’s on me,” Cam said with an eye roll.
“You don’t toe the company line and feed your share of scandal to the masses, Mr. Collier. Boston is falling below our scandalous standards… I’m not sure we’re okay with that.”
Zairn snickered and leaned in to kiss his wife’s head. “We’ll meet you there in a while.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we need to have a marital fight. The more public the better.”
“Only one?” Zairn asked. “And I thought we were ramping up to having some fun.”
“Oh, we are. You did well, Casanova. Maximum points. I got the news alerts about your extended meal with Kesley. And you took her back to the hotel, that was a nice touch, Married Man.”
“Just following your lead, LoLo.”
“My girls and I are going to party, throw caution to the wind, and get dirty,” Roxie declared.
“And don’t think you’ll get off easy, Scroogey.
Oh no, no, no. If restroom sex is not part of this deal, I’m taking the Me&Zee-Jet to Miami.
And you know Toria Jean will be ready and waiting to set the city alight with me.
Think of the havoc we could cause across the world!
My brilliance, your bank account… Sway, Bree, Roux will be there, you know she loves to—”
“This an exercise in turning me on?” Zairn asked. “You’ve got that down to a fine art, Empress. An audience won’t slow me down. Be as bad as you want, baby, that ring’s going nowhere.”
“You love it when I’m naughty.”
“I love it when you’re everything,” he growled. “Run, LoLo. Run and I’ll chase you.”