Page 21 of The Revenge Plan

“Yes,” I said mid text, “I really do have a job.”

“Who do you work for?” The thought of me working was clearly doing a number on him.

“Three months into the marriage, you ask what your wife does?” I looked up at him, “I work for a foundation if you must know.”

“As what? Their social media manager?” I knew it was a dig at me and social media marketing in general, which was a genuine job that deserved to be respected, and I wasn’t going to take the bait.

“Right now, I’m kinda like an intern, but I’m working up to a more permanent position.”

He continued to gawk at me as if I had two heads, trying to square the information I had told him with whatever image of me. His features returned to their usual smirk when he said, “Is that how your family launders its money?”

“Sure. Whatever makes you sleep at night, Caiden.”

A few minutes later we were in the plane ready to go. Caiden’s private jet was bigger than my family’s. Well, bigger than the one my family used to own. As soon as we were in air Caiden had told one of the attendants that I needed food. A few minutes later I was eating a Michelin star food while Caiden took to his laptop.

He was engrossed with whatever he was doing. I realized then that this was the first time he had included me in his work stuff. He had made no inclination to invite me to any function of some sort, even the ones that were held in New York. For all his needing me to open the doors to him, he seemed to be doing fine all on his own.

Personally, I was fine with that. He could leave me out of his work for all I care. But Bryce had been ringing again, asking for more information. Should I take this opportunity to understand what he was doing. I went for it.

“You never said why you need me on this trip.”

“I did. My client likes you and he would make it so much better for me if you’re there.”

“So, I’m to stand there and smile. Is that it? You’re not giving me much to work with.”

He lifted his head from his laptop and closed the lid, “He’s a new designer. Marco Clies. You must’ve heard about him. His designs have been making noise on the fashion circuit.” I did know about him. Marco was one of the people I used to party with back in the day. He did like my party habits, but I was no longer that person, and I wasn’t sure if the new me could woo him.

“He’s launching a few stores, and he wanted them to have other lines of products and not just those from his fashion house. Mainly accessories. He likes our brands. Or at least I hope so. But to get him to sign the contract, we might need to sweeten the pot. We aren’t the only one courting him you see.”

The last time I met Marco, he had been a party animal. When he said he was going to launch his fashion line I had taken it for granted that he was doing the thing a lot of rich kids do, get their parents to launch a shitty fashion line with horrible clothes and ditch it after two seasons when they realize what a tough job working in the industry is. “He specifically asked if you were coming,” Caiden said, “Naturally, I had to say yes.”

“Wow. I had no idea he had done well for himself,” I said more to myself than to him.

“Yes. Some people try to work hard for their money.”

“Careful now. I’m here to help you, not the other way around.” Satisfied at the turn of face he made, I reclined in my seat and closed my eyes. The next time I opened them, we had landed.

When we got to Paris, Caiden whisked me to a new upscale hotel with modern decor and abstract art and sculptures. It looked like the place that young, rich people would love staying in. I noticed a little later that everyone here knew Caiden and were greeting him at every turn. We didn’t even check in. Instead, they ushered us straight to the elevators as soon as we came in.

The rooms were a penthouse suite with black and white furnishings. It made you feel more like you were at home than in a hotel. A million-dollar home, that is. There was even a kitchen that I was sure we were never going to put into use.

After the bellboy had gone, I turned to Caiden, “The staff seems to like you. Do you own this place too?”

“In a way. Nate’s company owns the place, we own a large part of Nate’s company.”

“Ah. That would explain the odd reverence.” Caiden clearly was no longer the housekeeper’s kid that I had grown up with. He was a force to be reckoned with.

11

Ihad almost finished taking a bath and was about to order some room service when he knocked on my door. He looked like he had showered as well. His hair was wet and he had changed into slacks and a thin sweater that clung to his muscles. I had to force my gaze to move away from his chest.

“You must be hungry. Wanna eat?”

My stomach growled in response.

A few minutes later we were dining at one of the hotel’s restaurants. It was quieter at this time of the hour and had few patrons left. That didn’t mean the food wasn’t good though, it was superb.

“Why did you never say anything. I would have thought that you would have made a move back in the day considering how forward you were.” I was in the middle of chewing my lobster when Caiden sprung that on me I almost choked.

---