Much by Michele Campbell

Author:Michele Campbell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

23

I got in bed and turned out the light. The bed itself was more luxurious than any I’d been in before—a fluffy duvet, acres of pillows, a feather topper that made the mattress just right. But I couldn’t relax. I lay in the dark with my eyes wide open, alert for any sound that stood out against the drone of wind and surf outside, exhausted yet utterly awake. I couldn’t get over the fact that Nina had slept in this bed. Touched these sheets. Made love with Connor here. Despite the heavy duvet, I felt a chill in my bones that I couldn’t shake.

Realizing that I wouldn’t sleep tonight, I flipped the light back on and dialed Connor’s phone. The call went to straight to voicemail.

“Hi, babe, it’s me,” I said. “Um, Juliet put me in the master. She said that’s what you wanted. I don’t mean to be squeamish, but it’s a little freaky, sleeping in Nina’s old room. I’m wondering, maybe if you could call her and ask her to move me somewhere else? Or, anyway just call. I miss you so much.”

Hours passed. I left the lights on and slept only intermittently. It was one-thirty when he finally called back.

“I’m so glad to hear your voice,” I said, huddled under the covers, my back to Nina’s portrait. “It’s strange being here without you.”

“You said Juliet put you in the master?”

“Yes. She said that’s what you asked for.”

“I didn’t ask her. Gloria should be handling everything.”

“Gloria was asleep by the time I got here.”

He made an annoyed sound.

“Don’t blame her. It was pretty late,” I said, worried that I’d gotten Gloria in trouble with Connor.

The housekeeper would hate me now, and we hadn’t even met. There was nothing I had resented more in my life as a server than another server ratting me out to management.

“It’s Juliet who’s the problem,” he said. “She was Nina’s personal assistant. I don’t know what she thinks she’s doing, hanging around you. You didn’t encourage her, did you?”

“Encourage? I mean, I don’t know. I’m really not used to having staff. It would be easier to navigate this stuff if you were here.”

“You’re going to have to fly on your own for a little bit, Tabby cat. I’m afraid I have to go to Riyadh.”

“Where’s that?”

“Saudi Arabia.”

“Seriously? Connor, no—”

“Baby, don’t make it harder, okay? You know I want to be with you. But this is important. I have to finesse things with Hank. I told him we got married, by the way.”

“How did he take it?”

“Better than I expected. He’s smart enough to realize I have the best claim to the estate, which includes Nina’s voting shares. As long as I play ball on the direction of the company, he has no interest in antagonizing me, or in swapping me out for some whackjob hairstylist. Better the devil you know, right?”

“Does he know about the lawsuit?”

“Everybody knows. It’s been all over the news. He offered to hook me up with his team of lawyers.

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