Page 65 of Darling Beasts

“I know you’re a real stickler for promises and rules and... mad respect.” Gabby walked the rest of the way into the room. “But is there any way you could find it in your heart to tell me about the twenty-five-year gift?”

Talia’s eyes narrowed. Rightnow? Before the most important meeting of the campaign? Gabby’s timing was impeccable.

“The amount, specifically,” Gabby blathered on. “And if you received it on your actual birthday, or is there paperwork to fill out, or... ?”

“I’m not telling you,” Talia said. “A promise is a promise, and Ustenya has cameras and microphones all over the place.”

“Wait. What?” Gabby said as Talia threw her junk into her bag.

“Your birthday is in a few weeks. It’s not like you need the number rightnow.”

“No. I mean,Idon’t.”

Talia froze. Everything clicked into place. “This is about Ozzie.”

“Yes but don’t get mad! He’s in the lurch, and I want to help him. It’s a timing thing. Most of his assets aren’t liquid, and he’s in a lockup period for some stock—”

“Do you even know what a lockup period is?”

“No, but it sounds tricky. Red-tape-ish.”

“Do not fall for it,” Talia warned. “God. This is so Ozzie. Expecting others to fix his problems but refusing to take personal accountability. At some point, everyone’s going to have to ask themselves whether they’re helping or hurting by giving him all these free passes.”

Talia picked up her phone to check her reflection, more annoyed with Gabby than her brother. Of course Ozzie would ask for someone else’s money. And of course Gabby would drop everything to help. Didn’t she remember he’djustcalled her out for being fake?

“The worst part is...” Talia said, pulling her hair in front of her shoulders. She reconsidered and threw it back. “The worst part is, he could easily solve this. Like, tomorrow.”

“It’s four hundred thousand dollars,” Gabby said.

“Yeah, I know.” Talia put down her phone. “Someone offered to buy hisWinnie the Poohmap,” she said, and Gabby’s eyebrows jumped. “The price was agreed to and everything, but he backed out at the last minute.”

“Maybe he thought it wasn’t market value—”

“Seven hundred fifty thousand,” she said, and Gabby’s eyes were now bulging out of her head. “And it’s not like he had to recoup the sales price. He inherited it from Yvonne! The nicest thing she ever gave me was a thirty-piece silver set.”

“I got the name of a plastic surgeon who could fix my nose,” Gabby muttered. “But I talked to Ozzie yesterday. If someone had offered him seven fifty, he would’ve taken it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, other than he didn’t. The potential buyer is a partner at Spencer’s firm. His wife wanted it for a nursery. Second wife, obviously.” Talia studied the pair of wedges stashed under her desk, already doubting her ability to walk all the way to the main house in them. She thought of what Gabby had said, about her tendency to wear heavy shoes. She bent down to retrieve them. “We have to stop playing into this. We’re all guilty of it. Hell, Spencer bought not one, not two, butfourwatches from his collection. Spent six figures even though he only ever wears an Apple Watch.”

“Wow. That’s really sweet.”

“It is. Spencer is a great guy.” Talia checked the time. She now had five minutes to get up to the house, and good luck with that.

“Who are you meeting?” Gabby said. “You look cute, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Talia said. She’d chosen a short-sleeved navy blue jumpsuit and heavy gold necklace in hopes it’d look appropriatelydoing business in San Diego, but she’d never been good at these things. Neither had Gabby, but it was nice to have one person’s stamp of approval. “I didn’t want to mention anything in case he canceled, but...” She flashed a grin. “I’m meeting the mayor of San Diego.”

“Talia! That’s amazing!” Gabby said. “Are you meeting him solo?”

“Yes!” Talia snapped. “Why? You don’t think I’m up to the task?”

“What? No! Why would you say that?”

Talia closed her eyes, reminding herself not everyone was as hard on her as she was. “I asked Raj to join me,” she said, looking at Gabby again. “But he declined for the oddest reason. Apparently he had a run-in with the mayor? I can’t fathom. The entire conversation was strange.”

He’d also invited her to the Padres game Saturday night to celebrate filing the lawsuit against the housing commission. A guy at BMWU had given him two tickets as a thanks for their work. Was it meant to be a date? Talia didn’t think Raj would try to swipe someone else’s woman, but also, she hadn’t brought up Spencer much, only that he was so against California he’d threatened to break up with her. Talia let Raj draw conclusions from there, which was admittedly very questionable. Feeling awful for somewhatwishingit was a date, and apprehensive about returning to Petco Park, Talia put off the decision, saying she’d let him know.

“I need to go,” Talia said to Gabby, cramming her feet into her shoes. “I’m a bundle of nerves. Will you walk me over?”

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