cameras in my face and bombarding me with questions about my alleged betrayal of both my husband and DRM. I make it free and clear into the private elevator, then close my eyes and take a moment to calm down as the car goes up.
Time to focus.
Luka and I have absolutely got to lay all our cards out, once and for all. All these lies of omission, all the secrets—not even secrets, really. Instead it’s issues that we think we’ll take care of alone, or problems we don’t want to bother the other person with, or that we tell ourselves we’ll just put off addressing until later when there’s a better time to discuss them. This is what has ultimately built the walls between us. We haven’t been a team.
No wonder we can’t seem to get it together. We’ve been working against ourselves from the very beginning. That has to stop now. I know we can figure this out if we put our minds to it.
I’m not ready to lose him.
The office is quiet, eerily quiet, as I stride in toward the reception desk. I don’t look around. I don’t want to see anyone’s eyes on me.
It only takes a second to realize that most of the employees are probably still out to lunch. Even Yvette, the receptionist, is gone. I head down the hall in the direction of Luka’s office, but on the way there I notice his assistant Damien is in the fancy break room. He’s reading XXL magazine as he eats takeout and sips an iced coffee. Thank God.
“Hi, Damien,” I say, popping my head in. I try to keep the panic from my voice and casually ask, “Is Luka around?”
He shrugs. “Our meeting ran late so Stefan offered to take everyone to lunch. Luka might still be in his office, though. He had a client call lined up right after.”
“Thanks.”
With that, I bolt down the hall, more thankful than ever that my husband has a private corner office where we can talk without an audience. The door is ajar, and I’m just about to knock when I hear his tense voice. Judging by the sound of it, it’s been a rocky conversation.
“I mean I can’t disagree, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to fire her,” he’s saying.
“You’re serious?” a voice I don’t recognize shoots back. “You honestly want to keep Monica on your roster after all this? I’m all for giving her the boot, truth be told.”
My stomach drops, and I go still at the mention of my nemesis.
“Just hear me out, Guy,” Luka says, and that’s when I realize he’s on the phone with the Maxilene exec who chose Monica for their huge campaign. “I know full well that Elite still has their hooks in Monica, or maybe it’s her that’s got them by the balls, but it doesn’t make a difference either way. She looks good as the face of Maxilene, and anyone who’s seen her in your products is racing to the store to buy them. Trust me, this won’t affect your bottom line.”
I tiptoe a few steps backward, still listening. It’s unbelievable that he’s fighting to keep Monica secure in her job after she pulled the rug out from under all of us. Whose side is he on?
Luka goes on, “This exposé frankly sucks and so do her ethics, but you know as well as I do that nothing in this industry is about ethics. It’s about glamour. DRM provides that glamour, and that’s the end of my involvement.”
There’s a pause as Guy seems to consider Luka’s words, but my pulse is still racing.
“Let me get this straight,” Guy says. “You don’t want Monica to face any repercussions? Because if DRM isn’t planning to take any action, I can advise the company to go full steam ahead on our end as planned. Though personally, I’d sue her ass. But that’s off the record, man.”
Luka laughs coldly. “I won’t go into detail about all the ways I’d like Monica to pay for this little stunt, but let’s face it—she’s a cash cow. She can face judgment day another time.”
Tears sting my eyes, not just at the injustice of Monica getting off scot-free after trying to sabotage my marriage and undermine the entire agency, but because my husband clearly still cares more about image and turning a profit than anything else. And what’s even worse than that? He’s right. This could sink Danica Rose. Sink everything we’ve worked for.
I clench my jaw, determined to