Chapter 34
ELLA
“What time is your flight, again?” I ask Lucy as we exit the elevator on the executive floor in the Langford building first thing Monday morning.
After a much-needed girls’ weekend in Asher’s penthouse with her and Zahra, she’s flying home to Chicago today, but she insisted on stopping by my office first to sign the NDA.
“Noon.”
“Then you can head back down to the garage, and Andrew can just take you to JFK. You want to be plenty early.”
“After this stop, he can take me.”
“I told you we could have done this back at Asher’s penthouse; the legal team forwarded me a copy of the NDA. Then you wouldn’t have had to dress up and come into my office. You can’t tell me you’re flying in that outfit; even if you sit in first class, you’ll be so uncomfortable.”
Lucy is dressed as well as I am. But unlike me, she doesn’t have a Matthew and a team to make sure her designer wardrobe is curated to perfection. She does that shit all on her own. She looks every bit the high-power employee you would expect in a building like this, and she doesn’t even work here.
“Oh, no. I’d rather do it here with a notary,” she says as I lead her down the hallway toward the PR team’s conference room office. “I want everything on the up-and-up for you.”
“Bullshit. I love you, Lucy, but you’re not fooling me.”
“I also have questions.”
There it is.
“Asher’s not here to answer your questions; he’s in London.”
“He’s not the only Langford here. I assume his family knows the details of the agreement.”
“Yes, but they can offer you a lot less information than I can. I am the other half of the agreement, after all.”
“I am curious about some things that I doubt are in the contract.”
“The contract was pretty damn thorough. I’ve told you this.”
“I am only here to help.”
“I had a lawyer at the signing.”
“Yes, a lawyer hired by the Langfords.”
I sigh. Mother Lucy is on a warpath, and I doubt anything I say at this point will change her course.
She’s worried about this arrangement, and because she grew up in a wealthy and powerful family—nothing near the Langford’s level, but still a prominent family from Chicago—she’s sure she’s the only one in my life who speaks their language.
Rich people language. And she’s determined to make sure that nothing nefarious is going on.
No matter how many times I told her there isn’t.
She gives my shared conference room office a cursory glance before heading out the door and down the hall toward Asher’s and Declan’s offices.
“Lucy!” I hiss, hurrying after her. “No. Come into my office and sign the NDA in there. I can have one of the receptionists get a notary.”
She doesn’t deign to answer before she looks at Asher’s office and breezes past it. I tug on her arm just as she reaches Declan’s office and opens the door without knocking, without invitation, and without an announcement of any kind.
Declan’s surprised face greets us. He raises a brow.
“I’m so sorry, Declan!” I stammer. I grab onto Lucy’s elbow. “Let’s go,” I hiss through clenched teeth.
“Can I help you?” he asks, looking Lucy up and down.
“Why yes, you can.”
“No, that won’t be necessary,” I say, tugging on her arm again.
“And you are?”
“Lucya Morozov, Ella’s friend. And I’m here because Asher is gone at the moment, and I have some questions regarding Ella that I think someone from the Langford family needs to answer.”
She helps herself to one of the seats across from his desk and sits like a queen on a throne. Declan gives her an appraising look, and now both of his brows are in his hairline. “Like what?”
“Like what the fuck you all were thinking dragging Ella into the mess of your family’s own making.”
Declan sits silent for a moment, then throws his head back and bellows out a laugh. “You’ve got mettle, I’ll give you that.”
“Don’t patronize me, Langford. Your brother not being able to keep his dick in his pants is not Ella’s fucking problem to fix, and now your family has made it her problem to do so. And you’ve dragged her into the paparazzi shitstorm that your family can’t seem to keep out of.”
A glint of fire sparks in Declan’s eyes at Lucy’s brash words.
“We’re compensating her well for it.”
Lucy scoffs. “Five million. That’s trash money for turning her life inside out. She may never know true anonymity again.”
“Trash money?”
“I could pay her five million, myself. So don’t act like it’s some grand gesture.”
Declan smirks. “What do you think would be a more appropriate figure?”
“Loss of anonymity costs money for a long time. Possibly Ella’s entire future.
So, for that entire future, she needs to be able to pay for security, upscale housing to ensure a protected neighborhood, lawyers to push back when people try to take advantage of her face or name. I’d say twenty million, bare minimum.”
Declan laughs again. “And you’d have no interest in that twenty million, right? You wouldn’t be badgering Ella for money for the rest of her less-than-anonymous life?”
“You think I’m here as some kind of hustle? I don’t need Langford money, thank you very much. But Ella does because of this mess you all dragged her into, so the Langfords should fucking pay up.”
“You don’t need Langford money?”
“No, the Morozov’s pockets may not run as deep as the Langford’s, but I have more than my fair share of wealth.”
“Where are you from, Ms. Morozov?”
“Chicago. The Morozovs and the Antonovs are close family allies there.” Lucy’s words are loaded, and I wonder, not for the first time, if Lucy’s family is part of the Russian mafia.
She’s always been extremely tight lipped about her family and their business, but I know they have a fortune, and they have ventures in all sorts of businesses.
And I know Lucy has an extremely strained relationship with them.
Her father was beyond furious when she chose to go to school in New York instead of Chicago, but she did so because she wanted to get away from him.
One time when she was drunk, she told Maya, Zahra, and me that she wished she could run away from her family and never return.
When we asked why she couldn’t, she simply said, “They’d find me.
No matter how far I went, no matter what corner of the earth I tried to hide in, they’d find me. ”
I know she’s tried to mend the wounds with her family, but I don’t know how much success she’s had. She doesn’t speak about it. But clearly, for me, she’s willing to wield her family’s name like a weapon. Lucy’s loyalty will be her undoing one day, I swear it.
“I see,” Declan says. And that’s another confirmation for me. Declan’s clearly heard of them. “But I don’t really know what you’re doing in my office, demanding money from me. I’m not the one ‘dating’ Ella.”
“Believe me, I would be having this conversation with Asher if he was here, but he’s not. I leave today for Chicago, and this isn’t the type of conversation to have over the phone. Don’t you agree?”
“Your discretion is admirable,” Declan deadpans. “But again, I have nothing to do with this. I’ll be sure to bring your concerns to my brother when he returns.”
“I want confirmation when that happens.”
Declan rolls his eyes. “I’m sure you know how to reach Ella.”
“Ella is not always forthcoming on these matters. For instance, if she had told me she was short on money after Kyle the asshole stole from her,” she turns her head toward me and levels me with narrowed eyes, “I would have sent her money.” Now I roll my eyes.
She glares again at Declan. “And if she had told me about this catastrophe of a proposition, I would have told her in no uncertain terms to say no.
“So, as much as I love Ella, I don’t really trust her to be honest with me like she should be.
She’d probably tell me your family is great and nice and lovely and generous whether you give her the extra money she deserves or not.
She’s too nice, and I don’t trust her judgment on this.
So I want a fucking confirmation from you or Asher if that’s not too difficult of a task for you to perform.
Or if it’s beyond your capabilities, I can leave my name and number with one of your administrative assistants, I’m sure they at least are competent at their jobs. ”
Now Declan’s eyes narrow. “You’re a real ray of sunshine.”
“It’s not my job to be sunshine. My job is to get things done. Like you, I’m a COO. But unlike you, I keep operations enforced. Don’t think whispers of Greenspan’s difficulties haven’t reached many ears in the business world.”
“There’s nothing wrong with Greenspan’s operations,” Declan says, defensive.
“Oh? Just a string of bad luck, then.”
Declan opens his mouth to retort, but closes it. He takes a deep breath, studying Lucy like he’s sizing her up.
What the hell is that about? What is Greenspan?
Declan plants a faux friendly smile on his face. “I will speak to Asher as soon as he returns, and I will send you a confirmation, myself, as difficult as that will inevitably be for me. Leave your contact information with my competent administrative assistants. It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Morozov.”
Lucy stands with a satisfied smile on her face. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
She walks with a bit more jaunt to her step as she exits the office. I trail behind her, and then turn back to Declan once she’s out the door. “I’m so sorry about that.” I run my hand down my face. “Lucy can be tough, but she means well. She’s just very protective of those she loves.”
“Yes, well I would call you lucky for having someone fight for you, but that she-demon seems like she’s as much of a curse as she is a blessing.”
“She’s really not that bad. She’s just passionate.”
“I can hear you,” Lucy scolds from a few feet away. “This is exactly what I’m talking about! You shouldn’t be apologizing for demanding your worth, Ella. That’s why you need me here; you won’t do it yourself.”
Declan stands from his desk and walks toward me. He pushes the door shut, much to a hissing Lucy’s dismay.
“If you repeat what I’m about to say to her, we’re no longer friends,” Declan says, tilting his chin in mock seriousness.
I bite my lip to keep from smiling. “Okay.”
“Swear it.” He holds out his pinky finger.
I snort. “You want me to pinky promise?”
“Well, I can’t exactly ask for a blood oath now, can I?”
I reach forward and link my pinky with his.
“Okay,” he says, dropping our hands once we’ve made our super secure pinky promise pact. “The she-demon may have a point about the money.”
“Her name is Lucy.”
“Lucy sounds like the name of someone who is sweet. That thing is anything but sweet. Her name should be Lilith, let’s be clear on that.”
“Do you have a point?”
“Yes, my point is, we all knew you’d get media coverage—that was the entire point of this charade.
But none of us expected this. Even Asher is worried about how much your name and photo have blown up on a global scale.
So, when this arrangement is over, you really will need more than five million to keep you secure.
That’s a given. And Asher will give you whatever you need, I know he will.
But, to keep Lilith the she-demon off our backs, I’ll make sure he puts it in writing. ”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I open the door to leave, and Declan gives me a salute. “God speed, and good luck with that one.”
“Fuck you, Langford, I heard that,” Lucy says.
Declan chuckles. “If you need anything while Asher’s away, Ella, let me know. I’m here for you.”
I step out of his office, and he flashes me a wink before closing the door.
“Ugh, how the Langfords rule the world, I’ll never know. What a useless cretin.”
“He’s actually a really good COO, from what Asher says.”
“Please, he doesn’t have what it takes to enforce operations.”
“And you can tell that by meeting him for five minutes?”
“Yes. And the media paints him as a clown. He definitely screams middle child syndrome.”
“Well, he is the middle child. And he is really goofy sometimes, but Asher said he’s the enforcer of the company, and he can be not just tough, but brutal when he needs to be.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
“I don’t know why Asher would lie about that. He’s the CEO, but he depends on Declan and Sterling for a lot of things. He couldn’t do what he does without them. Plus, they’ve been raised for this. Just like you were.”
Lucy stills at that. If I didn’t know her well, I wouldn’t have noticed it. But she shakes it off and moves ahead as if my words hadn’t pierced something in her. I just wish I knew what it had been.
“Well, regardless of the cretin’s capabilities, I will be following through to make sure you get your dues. Twenty-five million is nothing to the Langfords, and you’ll need every penny if your fame doesn’t die down when this is all over.”
I know that Declan and, let’s face it, many others as well would paint Lucy as a Lilith.
But the truth is, she couldn’t be further from it.
Lucy loves with every fiber of her soul, and she would bleed and die for those she loves.
I’m not just lucky to call her my friend, I’m honored to be her friend.
Not just because she’s amazing, but because she doesn’t give her love to those she deems unworthy.
So, to be her friend means she thinks very highly of me.
And I can’t think of a better compliment than that.
I couldn’t find a better person to fight in my corner for me.
I’m more than lucky to call Lucy my friend.
I laugh to myself as a thought strikes me.
“What’s so funny?”
“I just realized something. Don’t take this the wrong way, Luce, because I mean it the best way possible,”
“Okay . . . ?”
“I just realized that it’s probably a really good thing you barged into Declan’s office and not Asher’s.”
“Why?”
“Well, I was just thinking to myself how amazing you are and how you have this rough exterior but will do anything for those you love. And Asher’s exactly the same.
And then I realized that you and Asher are basically the same person.
And I don’t know what would happen if the two of you went toe-to-toe, especially over me.
“You’re protective of those you love, and Asher is overprotective, bordering on possessive when it comes to me.
I don’t want to know what an argument over me would look like between the two of you.
Probably like something off a Discovery Channel wildlife documentary.
And truthfully, I don’t know who would win. ”
Lucy scoffs. “Easy. I would win.”
I chuckle and loop my arm through Lucy’s. “Queen Lucy, I’m damn lucky to have you in my life.”
She playfully elbows my side. “Exactly what I’ve been saying all along.”