Page 116 of The Cinderella Secret
“There’s that Deveraux look,” said Nowitsky with a nod. “It was only one phone call and it lasted less than five minutes. But I figure that’s long enough to get a name and a number. Granger hired mercenaries to go up against you guys, right? If MacKentier wanted to get a connection that could help him hire a crew, it seems plausible that he’d dial up Granger.”
“Yeah,” said Jackson, “it does.”
“Anyway,” said Nowitsky, “I know they’ve got Granger up on charges. But he’s a rich guy with a lot of lawyers and it looks like he’s still interested in causing trouble for you. If I were you, I’d stay on my toes.”
“Yeah,” said Jackson, “I think we should.”
“Fortunately,” said Nowitsky, turning back to his pie, “all three of you boys seem to be able to punch your way out of trouble.”
“It’s Dominique you have to look out for,” said Jackson. “She’s got a baseball bat.”
Nowitsky laughed. Everyone always did.
Dominique Deveraux
Dominique entered her grandmother’s office and tried not to show her trepidation. She always felt like she was being called on the carpet when she went into Eleanor’s office.
Eleanor was standing by the window, the pale autumn sunlight gilding her hair a silvery gold.
“Hey, Grandma,” said Dominique, flopping into a chair in front of the desk. She knew the casual pose would drive Eleanor nuts, which was rather the point.
“I do not understand how you and Jackson can be so much alike,” Eleanor said.
“Are we?” Dominique asked, surprised.
“Yes, you’re both very careless about posture.”
Dominique laughed and sat up in the finishing school pose that Eleanor preferred. “Is this better?”
Eleanor came to the second chair and sat down there instead of at the desk. Her pose mimicked Dominique’s own.
“It’s not that it’s better,” she said. “It’s a matter of audience. One must select the audience in which to be casual.”
“Yes, Grandma,” said Dominique. “I know.”
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed and her chin tilted down, assessing Dominique. “You do it on purpose to annoy me then?”
“Yes,” said Dominique, relaxing and leaning back in the chair. “Of course.”
Dominique expected some sort of rebuke, but instead Eleanor’s head tilted, still assessing Dominique. “Jackson says that I baby you too much,” said Eleanor.
“No, not enough,” said Dominique. “I would prefer to be much more spoiled, really.”
A surprised laugh escaped from Eleanor, but then her face grew serious. “Your mother,” Eleanor paused as if picking her words, “needed your father very much.”
“I hope so,” said Dominique. “She had two kids with him.”
“No, I mean… I think, she frequently felt overwhelmed by life. Your father provided a buffer and a… safe place, I suppose?”
Dominique frowned. Getting Eleanor to talk about their parents was like pulling teeth. She could see what Eleanor was talking about now that it had been said, although she had never previously been able to state it. “Dad loved her,” said Dominique, uncertain what Eleanor was getting at.
“Yes! Yes, of course. It’s just that needing someone is sometimes dangerous. You can’t rely on people.”
“Yes, you can,” said Dominique. “I rely on Max and Jackson all the time. And Aiden. And even Evan,” she added as an afterthought. “I mean, I usually only rely on him for financial and wine advice. But he does a bang-up job at those.”
“Yes, I rely on them too,” said Eleanor. “I’m not saying this very well.” She paused and Dominique waited. “Jackson keeps telling me that you have a plan and you’re fine and that I should just let you have your...”—she waved her hand and Dominique took that to be the sign language equivalent ofsilly—“job. But you are very much like Genevieve, and I worry that you’ll get out there and you’ll get hurt.”
“Oh,” said Dominique. “Well, I suppose I might, to be perfectly honest. Max could break up with me or I could get fired or… I can’t think of anything else horrible, but either way I would recover. And then I would probably wreak horrible vengeance upon them.”
