Gathering her wits, she led him into the hall and to the elevator, surprised that her knees were weak. She wasn’t used to having men tower over her, especially when she wore heels, putting her at a good six-one. He had at least four inches on her.
“Hi, Brooklyn.”
She glanced over to see a woman with brown hair pulled into a haphazard bun headed her way. “Hi, Beatriz. I’m glad you could join us.” She’d hired the woman who’d assisted her at several runway events as a dresser for the show.
“Are you kidding? I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity. I’m so excited.” Her eyes widened when she noticed Gage.
“Gage, this is Beatriz. She’s one of the wardrobe assistants for the show. This is my boyfriend, Gage.” She felt silly calling him that like they were in high school or something, but there was no other way to introduce him.
“Nice to meet you.”
Crimson colored Beatriz’s face, and she giggled nervously as she shook his hand. Good to know Brooklyn wasn’t the only one affected by him.
“I was coming to ask if you heard about Coleta Morales. She confessed to poisoning Night Glory at the Galindo show.”
“I did.”
“I have nightmares thinking about you putting on that dress instead.” Beatriz shuddered.
“I do, too.” She glanced at Gage. “Beatriz was my backstage dresser for the show.”
“Brooklyn.”
She turned to see her assistant, Stella Jones, rushing down the hall, looking frazzled, overwhelmed, and panicked—her usual appearance.
“What’s up, Stella?”
In her typical fatalistic approach, she blurted, “We have a major problem.”
Brooklyn sighed. Stella could be dramatic at times, but the look on her face was pure panic.
“How bad?”
“The worst.”
What now? “Let’s go back to my office. It was good to see you, Beatriz. I’m glad you’re here.”
Still firmly clenching Gage’s arm—she found she was reluctant to let go—she followed Stella to her office.
Stella turned and noticed him for the first time. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you escorting him to the model interviews on the fourth floor?”
“No, this is my boyfriend, Gage.”
“What…when…how?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I’m Stella.”
“Gage. Nice to meet you.”
Stella colored as fiercely as Beatriz. Wow, this man was potent.
Chapter Four
Gage shook the woman’s hand and nodded politely. She was pretty, with highlighted brown hair tucked into a bun and wide green eyes behind chunky black frames. She was probably considered plus-size by model standards, but he thought she would have no problem finding work.
“What’s the problem, Stella?”
“Mindy Robbins isn’t coming.”
Brooklyn jerked her arm free of his, and he mourned the loss of her touch. Crazy, but he’d felt a calmness come over him when she touched him.
“That’s not possible. We signed her months ago with an ironclad contract. We’ve used her name in promos.”
“She blamed us.”
“What?”
“I called to finalize her travel plans, and she said we canceled on her. She’s already booked something else that she refuses to abandon.”
Brooklyn rushed to her desk and grabbed her phone.
“Mindy Robbins, the actress?” Gage asked Stella. He recognized the name.
“Yes.”
“What was she doing for the show?”
“She was supposed to teach acting skills to the contestants. Sometimes models are contracted to do commercials and need to know how to interact with a video camera. Then she was going to grade them on their performance and serve as a judge that evening.”
“What day was that scheduled?”
“Next Tuesday.”
“Excuse me.” He stepped away from Stella and dialed Logan Bradley. He explained the situation to his boss, and Logan told him he’d be back in touch soon. He disconnected to see Brooklyn drop her head to her hand as she spoke on the phone. The call wasn’t going well.
His cell buzzed, and he answered.
“Hi, Gage.”
He’d been expecting Logan’s deep voice, so the sweet feminine one was a shock. “Hey, Jade.”
“Logan told me about the situation. I’m free if they want me. I’d love to do it.”
“I don’t have all the specifics, but if they’re interested, I’ll have someone call you with the details.”
“Layla’s here with me. She wants to know if they want a private concert. She wants to visit the tropical island, too.”
He laughed. “I’ll ask.” They spoke more, and then he disconnected at the same time as Brooklyn. She dropped the phone to the desk and looked up with defeat in her eyes.
“She swears we canceled on her. I made sure she knew we didn’t, but she can’t get out of her other commitment.”
“Who would’ve done that?” Stella asked, clearly perplexed.
“The person talked to her agent. She was going to find out a name and get back to me, but I’m not holding my breath.”
“They probably used a fake name, anyway,” Stella remarked. “What are we going to do?”
“How about Juliet LaRue?”
Both heads snapped to him as if they’d forgotten he was there. Brooklyn laughed, but it wasn’t a joyful sound. “You think I can book an Oscar-winning actress on short notice? Ok, I’ll just call her up, and I’m sure she’d drop everything to help us out.”
While he didn’t appreciate her sarcasm or sassy tone, he understood the motivation behind it. She was stressed. He held up his cell. “Already did, and she did.”
Brooklyn and Stella’s mouths simultaneously dropped open. Brooklyn shook her head. “Excuse me? What?”
“I explained the situation to Jade, and she agreed to fill in.”
“Wait a minute. Who’s Jade?”
“Her real name is Jade Bradley. Juliet LaRue is her stage name.”
Brooklyn slowly rose to her feet. “Are you telling me you called up an Academy Award-winning actress and convinced her to help in what,” she glanced at her watch, “ten minutes?”
It only took two, but close enough. He nodded.
Brooklyn’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know Juliet LaRue, and how well?”
If he didn’t know better, he would swear there was a tinge of jealously there. Maybe she was playing it up for her assistant’s benefit. He was supposed to be her boyfriend, after all. Still, he enjoyed the feeling.
Ignoring her question, he reiterated, “Jade Bradley. Also, Layla Brooks offered to hold a mini-concert for the contestants.”
The mask of suspicion morphed into skepticism, and she smirked at him. “Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”
His phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and smiled as he held it to his ear. “Hey, Layla.”
Stella gasped loudly. Brooklyn was glaring at him. Maybe there was some jealousy there. He couldn’t suppress the grin that broke across his face.
“Hey, Gage. I was with Jade when she agreed to help. She told me about her trip to the island. I know it’s only for a day or two, but I’d love to come, too.”
“I let them know you are both willing—” He jerked back when Brooklyn was suddenly in his face. He hadn’t even realized she’d moved from her desk.
“Is that really Layla Brooks?”
“Hang on, Layla.” He held his hand over the receiver. “Yes, and Jade is with her, too.”
“Let me talk to them.”
“Layla, Brooklyn Fontana wants to talk to you and Jade. Thank you both. I owe you.”
He handed over the phone. Brooklyn frowned at him, but her skepticism vanished as soon as she started speaking with Layla and Jade, and her muscles relaxed. She moved back to her desk to access her computer. Stella’s phone rang, and with a muttered huff, she excused herself and left the offic
e.
Gage took a seat on the sofa and watched Brooklyn. Her entire face lit when she laughed. She was chatting with Jade and Layla like she’d known them forever. Having the two celebrities on board meant that his bosses would most likely make the trip as well. He’d have to be sure to keep any unprofessional feelings for the lovely supermodel from showing. And, damn, that would be hard.
Before he arrived, he assumed she’d be a conceited ice queen. He’d been wrong. The more he got to know her, the more he admired her. He even liked her sass.
He stood when she ended the call to retrieve his phone. She rounded her desk, and before he could prepare himself, she launched at him. He caught her, and the force of the hit had him stumbling back until he dropped to the cushions.
“Thank you.” She planted kisses over his face. When her mouth landed on his, he held her head in place to savor her lips. The earlier kiss had merely been an appetizer. He wanted the whole damn feast now. He’d never tasted anything so sweet.
“I see you two are getting along famously.”
Brooklyn gasped and jumped off him so quickly his head spun. He slowly rose to a sitting position. Unfortunately, with the current state of his lower body, he wasn’t in any shape to stand right now. Ginny Hurst grinned at them.
“It’s not what it looked like,” Brooklyn hurried to assure her mother.
“Really? Because from my vantage point, it looked like you were trying to inhale each other.”
Maybe it was how it looked. It sure felt that way to him.
“Mindy Robbins backed out of the show,” Brooklyn rushed to explain. “Gage was able to get Juliet LaRue to replace her and also Layla Brooks, who offered to hold a special concert for the contestants. I was so excited I was thanking him. That’s all.”
“Um,” Ginny said, clearly not believing her daughter. “That’s splendid news about Juliet LaRue. She’s a much bigger draw than Mindy. And Layla Brooks is quite a coup. So, while you handle the details, I’ll escort Gage to the penthouse and show him to his room.”
Gage felt like he was back in grade school, about to be reprimanded by the principal. He hoped his ears weren’t as red as he feared. Brooklyn flashed him a sympathetic look as he followed her mom out the door.
Ginny waited until they were in the elevator before she spoke. “I told you that Brooklyn is my daughter. Actually, she’s my half-sister.”
Gage couldn’t mask his shock. He had no idea.
“I’ve raised her from the day she was born. Her mother passed away due to complications during childbirth. Our father is a hedonistic playboy, flitting from one woman to another. I was twenty-one when she was born. My mother vehemently objected to me adopting her, but I did it anyway. It was tough, but we managed. Brooklyn was with me every step of the way as I built my company.”
He’d studied the background on Ginny Hurst and knew she’d worked hard to grow her empire. She’d wanted to do it on her own without relying on her father’s name. She’d married Glen Hurst when she was twenty-three, but the marriage only lasted a year.
“Our father passed away six months ago.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he murmured. He remembered reading about Charleston Fontana’s death at the time. He died of a massive coronary while helo-skiing in the Alps.
She waved a hand. “Thank you, but he wasn’t very involved in our lives. He has another daughter, Cheyenne. She’s five years younger than me, but she wanted nothing to do with him. She’s a respected surgeon. His will left almost everything in a fifty-fifty split to Brooklyn and me, including Fontana Tower, Fontana Island, and Fontana Enterprises. We had no desire to run the company, so we sold it. Then we found out he’d fathered a set of twins, Abilene and Austin. They’re twenty-five now. They hired lawyers to halt the sale until the courts could decide if they were heirs to the company, but they ran into a roadblock. Their mother accepted a lump sum payment to relinquish any rights she or her children had to Dad or his fortune. Nevertheless, Dad included them in his will, along with Cheyenne. They each received a sizable monetary gift, but the bulk of his estate was split between Brooklyn and me.”
He needed to dig into the twins’ backgrounds. Money was one of life’s biggest motivators. “You said their names are Abilene and Austin?”
“Yes.”
“Is their last name Fontana?”
“It wasn’t. They went by their mother’s name of Middlebrooks until they changed it right after our father died. They probably thought it would help their cause. They believe they deserve a bigger piece of the pie. They have no desire to form a relationship with Brooklyn, Cheyenne, or me. We tried when we learned of their existence, but they rebuffed us. They’re only in it for the money.”
Being denied a cut of a billion-dollar empire could definitely be a motive to target Brooklyn and even Ginny. “Have you been having any trouble?” If so, he’d request an agent to protect her.
“No.”
“Let me know if you do.”
She smiled at him. “I will.”
The elevator opened to a short hallway. Ginny inserted a key in the door and led him inside. He couldn’t mask his shock at the luxurious apartment. There were no outside walls, just floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan. Everything inside was expensive, including a painting that looked like it belonged in a museum. She showed him around, pointing out a kitchen that Kaitlyn Bradley, talented chef and the wife of his coworker Dan, would drool over. There was a living room with a gas fireplace, a library, a screening room, and a workout space.
“We have a housekeeper who comes in every afternoon to clean and do laundry. Her name is Irene, so don’t freak out if you see her.”
She led him to an interior elevator. “The bedrooms are upstairs.” It was a quick trip up. She showed him the door to her suite and the one to Brooklyn’s. “This is your room with a private bath. There are two additional rooms down the hall. If you take the elevator to the top, you’ll find a rooftop deck with a hot tub.” She glanced at her watch. “Brooklyn’s meeting is in two hours, so I’ll let you get settled. Feel free to use anything in the house.”
With that, she was off. He entered his room, and again, he was blown away with more glass walls showcasing incredible views. Just looking at the place confirmed what he’d been thinking earlier. Brooklyn Fontana was so far out of his league, he wasn’t even in the same galaxy.
His luggage had been delivered, so he unzipped the garment bag and removed his suit. He’d have to call BeBe Davis, the COBRA Securities office manager, and ask about finding a tux for the gala on Thursday. He was so not looking forward to it.
It was too early to get dressed for the meeting, so he checked out the rest of the penthouse. As soon as the elevator opened to the rooftop deck, he stood in awe. There was an array of comfortable seating surrounded by plants and lights strung along wires to provide a friendly glow during the evenings. He’d be using the jacuzzi at some point.
Heading back inside, he decided to return to Brooklyn’s office. He didn’t like having her out of his sight now that he was on the job. As he headed for the door, it opened, and there she was. His eyes drank her in like a man staring at an icy glass of water after being stranded in the desert for weeks. When she smiled at him, he had to take a step back. It was almost like a physical blow. Then he noticed the worry lines on her usually smooth forehead, and his protective instincts roared to life. In two steps, he stood in front of her, itching to smooth the wrinkles with his thumb. He managed to keep his hands to himself. Barely. “What happened?”
She shook her head, and when tears flooded her eyes, he didn’t think. He just gathered her in his arms. Gage was no good with sobbing women, but he didn’t have to worry. She inhaled deeply but didn’t fall apart. He led her to the living room and eased her to the comfortable couch. “Tell me what happened.”
“I was still on a high with Juliet…I mean, Jade and Layla agreeing to be a part of the show when Stella came back and told me we lost two more guests.
Everything has been planned for months. They’d been told we didn’t need them, and neither can come now. Thankfully, none of the photographers received a call.”
“Who did you lose?”
“Vito Wolski. He’s a choreographer. He was going to teach the women how to use their bodies to pose for better pictures. The other was Maris Condon. She’s a media trainer and coaches people on how to give and conduct interviews.” Her lips twisted ruefully. “I don’t suppose you have a dance instructor and a media coach in your little black book.”
“How about Cassidy Swain? And though she isn’t a media coach, Harlow Duquesne has dealt with the media since she was young. I’m sure she could give pointers.”
#
Brooklyn stared at Gage, trying to decide if he was serious. She’d been joking about him having a dancer contact, but he looked confident. She wasn’t sure where the twinges of jealously came from, but they were there. “You know the Dancing with the Celebrities pro and the granddaughter of the president?”
He nodded. “What days were Vito and Maris scheduled?”
“Next Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.”
Pushing to his feet, he punched buttons on his phone and moved to the wall of windows. She stared at him, marveling again at his masculine perfection. He’d been a SEAL, one of the elite soldiers who took on dangerous missions to keep the country safe. He was a national hero. He was quickly becoming her personal one.
She needed to get up and shower for the meeting, but she felt the pressure of taking on too much pushing down on her. It might not have been so bad if things had gone smoothly, but someone within her operation sabotaged her efforts. She searched her brain but couldn’t come up with anyone within her company wanting to destroy her. She needed to find the traitor and fire them immediately.
“Cassidy’s agreed to do it.”
Shock rendered her speechless. Cassidy didn’t even know the terms or the payment, and she’d readily agreed because Gage asked her. The same with Jade and Layla. Who was this man?
“Do you want to talk to her now?”
“Yes.” She took his phone and spoke with the professional dancer. She explained what she needed, including the part about Cassidy serving as the evening judge, and promised to email a contract. She also made sure to let Cassidy know not to believe a call saying the gig had been canceled unless it came directly from her. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this.”
Dressed to Kill (COBRA Securities Book 22) Page 4