The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard by Natasha Lester

Author:Natasha Lester [LESTER, NATASHA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2024-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

He’s on time to meet Alix. He doesn’t dare not be. And all he takes is Tylenol, which barely cuts through the pain in his head.

In the office, a man sits behind the desk. Alix waves a hand at him, saying, “This is my husband, Anthony. He insisted on being here because he doesn’t trust you. He wants to witness what we say.”

Anthony quirks a smile at his wife as if to say, That’s true, but you didn’t need to tell this loser that.

And Hawk, despite having showered and shaved and worn a nice suit, does feel like a loser standing in this lovely office with a woman who started a magazine all by herself and has kept hold of it for decades.

“I’m guessing you didn’t ask me here to abuse me,” he says flatly.

Alix holds out a piece of paper. On it is written a much lesser sum of money than the check he already has from Candace.

“That should cover the mortgage on your mother’s apartment,” Alix says. “And get you out of the catastrophe you’ve wandered into. It’s a four-strings-attached loan. One—I expect you to pay it back. Two—get rid of your business manager and employ someone you can trust. Three—design something. Four—cut back on all the licensing fripperies. That’s where you’re losing money. Who needs Hawk Jones hosiery, for God’s sake? Your target market hardly wears a bra, let alone hosiery.”

It’s the rudest offer anyone has ever made him. But he sits in a chair instead of leaving. “You’re Astrid’s godmother,” he says. “Astrid left me. So why would you give me money?”

The smile Alix throws to her husband is a beautiful thing. Anthony catches it and his own face becomes its mirror, and Hawk is witness to a moment of exquisite tenderness that hurts everything inside him.

“Astrid didn’t leave you,” Alix admonishes, sitting opposite him. “She left what she’d become. You happened to be a casualty of the process. I once did something very similar, so I’ve developed an interest in helping those who have to leave themselves behind to move on. And if you go out of business, Astrid will most likely be blamed. I don’t want her to have any bad publicity right now.”

None of that makes sense. Hawk watches her cast that smile at her husband again. Sees its reciprocation. And now Hawk pictures a dress, half black, half white. Two sides joining down the middle of a body. The pure light and its opposite.

He and Astrid.

Into his mind tumble a thousand pictures of Astrid and in each one, he draws a dress over her. If he stopped being angry at Astrid, he could design something radical.

Pride is a large thing to swallow. And it’s no small thing to take money from Astrid’s godmother. It hurts. He hates hurting. But he remembers the pink dress he drew last night, the one he actually thought for a minute he might sell, and he knows—he deserves to hurt.

“I accept,” he tells Alix.

“Good. I’ll send the papers over this afternoon.

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.