A Shameless Little Con by Meli Raine

Author:Meli Raine
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 14

The taste of basil from the sauce vierge on the salmon at Alice’s place is still on my tongue as Silas and I walk into the office wing of The Grove. In less than six hours I’ve gone from posing for Alice to returning for an emergency meeting that puts me right back where I was.

Accused.

This would be so much easier if I knew what people assume I’ve actually done.

You might think I’m about to find out, but that’s not how these meetings work. I go in and I’m an object. A thing. A bother. A symbol.

It’s the opposite of how Alice views me. Of how I feel when I am posing.

Here, my physical presence is an indictment of their power. In regular life, you know who your friends and enemies are, mostly. Tara, Mandy, and Jenna were supposed to be my friends, and they turned on Lindsay and–by extension–me. They’re an exception.

In high-powered meetings with politicians and their “people,” you have no idea who is good, who is bad, and who is driven by some agenda you can’t even see.

When I sit in conferences at The Grove, all I know is that I’m about to be managed, sent somewhere new, turned into a hot potato.

And right now, Silas has me in his hands.

He escorts me to the conference room, but no one is there except for Marshall, who has a tighter-than-usual look on his face. In his hands are the ever-present folders he carries, plus a cell phone. When he and Silas exchange nods, I go cold.

Marshall looks at me clinically. “Jane.”

“Marshall.”

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Am I imagining that he’s looking me up and down in some sort of robotic fashion? It’s not the look you give a woman you’re evaluating for sexual interest. It’s the same strange inventorying that happens to me whenever I come to one of these meetings.

Usually it’s Monica Bosworth who does it with precision, but Marshall might be taking lessons from her. His eyes narrow and he squints, blinking hard as Drew enters the room, followed by Monica.

Oh, boy.

This meeting just got harder.

Drew doesn’t sit, handing Marshall a slim envelope. “Exam room set up.”

“Exam room?” I squeak, my gut turning to liquid. “What kind of exam room?”

Monica frowns at Drew as if he’s created the conflict. “They’ll explain,” she says.

“Why are you here, Monica?” Drew asks sharply. “You’re too busy to have time for this.” His tone is perfunctory. She’s a problem he’s managing.

Like me.

Her tongue migrates to her upper lip, puffing it out slightly as her jaw tenses. As always, the senator’s wife is perfect. Not a hair out of place, her makeup expertly applied, the wrinkles hidden to the extent that modern technology can manage. A pale cinnamon lipstick with a slightly darker lipliner outlining her mouth looks like an artist painted it on. At the thought of painting, I feel a half smile creep over my face, the right corner of my mouth rising.

“What’s so funny, Jane?” Monica asks, her voice an accusation, acrimonious and taunting.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.