Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,44
with Mina was on the verge of ending, anyway. I walked to the door and shut it myself. And then, I returned to my desk, where I spent the next ten minutes explaining to Mina what I expected for my money.
I didn't sugar-coat it either, because the last thing I wanted was for her to get caught flat-footed down the road.
In a couple of months, she'd be in the spotlight, and she needed to be ready.
And me? I needed to lay the groundwork.
The first step? Getting Mina to sign on the dotted line – or more accurately, two dotted lines.
Chapter 31
Mina
On the phone, my sister said, "So…what was it?"
I was sitting in my car, parked on the same street where I'd parked yesterday. My meeting with Chase had ended only fifteen minutes ago, and my head was still spinning.
I'd spent five of those minutes – all of them inside my car – giving Natalie a quick rundown of what I'd just learned.
In reply to her question, I said, "What was what?"
"The catch," she said. "You never told me what it was."
I winced. "I know, and there's a reason for that."
"Which is…?"
"I signed a non-disclosure."
"You mean this morning?" She sounded surprised.
I'd been surprised, too. Near the end of the meeting, Chase had pulled the document from his desk and told me that I needed to sign on the dotted line before we could proceed any further.
When I'd asked why, he'd explained that we'd be discussing some sensitive issues that weren't meant for public consumption.
And boy, had that gotten my attention.
To my sister, I said, "Yeah, I had to sign it before he'd tell me the catch."
"Seriously?" She hesitated. "So, this catch…it must've been pretty awful then?"
Actually, it wasn't.
Not really.
But I was dying for a second opinion. "First, I've got to ask you something."
"Sure, what?"
"Well, you know how you're studying to become a psychologist?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I be your first client?"
Natalie laughed. "Oh, come on. Be serious."
"I am," I insisted. "I'll pay you and everything."
"You don't need to pay me," she said. "You've been my psychologist for years."
I knew what she meant. Natalie and I had always been close. She wasn't just my sister. She was my best friend – and the person I went to whenever I needed advice.
"But just listen," I said. "If you're my therapist, I can tell you anything, right?"
"I'm your sister," she reminded me. "You can tell me anything, anyway."
"I know. But with the non-disclosure, isn't there some sort of code of ethics where if I tell you something as my therapist, it's like telling a priest or maybe a lawyer?"
"Maybe," she said. "But even if there is a code, I'm not a therapist yet."
I tried to smile. "Oh come on, Nat. Work with me here."
"Alright, fine," she laughed. "I dub thee my first client. But I wouldn't blab anyway. You know that, right?"
"Sure, but I'm just trying to stick with the rules, you know?"
"Then consider them stuck. Now come on," she urged. "Tell me."
"Alright." I paused to collect my thoughts. "The thing is, Chase has this ex-girlfriend—"
"Just one?"
"Yeah, no kidding," I said. "He didn't even call her his girlfriend. He just said she was someone he'd dated for a while. Anyway, she apparently wrote this book where she makes him sound like a total monster."
"And he told you this himself?"
"Sort of. But he didn't use the word 'monster.' He just said the book wasn't flattering."
"Did he go into any detail?"
"Not personally," I said. "But he did show me a printout of the back cover."
"And…?"
"Apparently, Chase Blastoviak is a lying, cheating dirtbag."
Natalie laughed. "He's too pretty to be a dirtbag. Now, if she'd called him a cad, I could see it."
Funny, I could, too.
Cads were dangerous in a different way. They were charming and sexy, except when they were being total jerks.
I told Natalie, "And there's more. The way it sounds, their relationship was pretty rocky."
"Yeah, no doubt, with all the cheating."
"And fighting."
"What are you saying? That he was abusive?"
Technically, I wasn't saying anything. I was only repeating what I'd read on the back cover. "I don't think so. The blurb on the back mentioned screaming matches, but honestly, I can't see it."
"Why not?"
"I'm not sure," I said. "I guess he doesn’t strike me as a screamer. Or even a yeller." He did, however, strike me as exactly the kind of person who'd make other people lose it on a regular basis, but that was hardly the same thing.