Through the mirror, I looked for the person speaking to me. For a split second, I thought it was Corinne and my heart rate kicked up. Then I homed in on the face.
“Hello.” Turning, I faced Ryan Landon’s wife. When I’d first met Angela, she had worn her hair in an artful chignon, which disguised the length of her hair. With it down, the long black strands hung in a straight curtain that reached the middle of her back. She was tall and slender, her eyes a muted blue-gray. Her face was longer than Corinne’s and her features a bit less perfect, but she was still a knockout.
Her gaze assessed me so casually from head to toe I couldn’t swear that was what she had done. Nice trick. I hadn’t mastered it. It dawned on me that I would be constantly scrutinized by more than just the media as I took my place in the city’s new elite. I wasn’t ready. My mother’s debutante training and rules weren’t going to help me, that was for damn sure.
Angela smiled and took the sink next to me. “It’s good to see you.”
“You, too.” Now that I was armed with the knowledge of Landon’s vendetta against Gideon, I was on alert. But I wasn’t trying to land her husband’s account anymore. We were equals. Well, almost. My husband was younger, richer, and hotter. And she knew it.
Cindy and Lynn finished up and started moving toward the exit. I fell into step with them.
“I was wondering—” Angela began.
I paused and looked at her inquisitively. Giving us privacy, the other gals left.
“—if you’ll be attending the Grey Isles show this week? Your close friend—the one who’s living with you—he’s the face of their latest campaign, isn’t he?”
It was hard, but I kept my face straight. Why ask me that? What was she getting at? I couldn’t tell because her face was clear and innocent, with no sign of guile. Maybe I was looking for a hidden objective that wasn’t there. Or I just didn’t have the skill set I needed to play her game as well as she did.
Because she was obviously paying attention to me. Not just my relationship with Gideon, but all my relationships. She was following the gossip. Why?
“I don’t have plans to attend any of the Fashion Week shows,” I replied carefully.
Her smile faded but her eyes lit up, putting me further on edge. “That’s a shame. I thought we might go together.”
I still couldn’t get a read on her, which was driving me a little nuts. She’d seemed nice enough when I met her the first time, but then she had been quiet, letting her husband and the rest of the LanCorp team do all the talking. Would she say outright that her husband had a hatred for mine? Neither she nor Landon had given me any clue there was animosity with Gideon. But then again, it wasn’t something that would come up during a request-for-proposal meeting.
Or maybe she didn’t know …? Maybe Landon’s drive for vengeance was something he kept to himself.
“Not this time,” I said. I deliberately kept the door open because I might be able to use it. She could be as clueless and innocuous as she seemed or she could be more cunning. Either way, I wouldn’t be making friends with anyone whose husband wished Gideon harm, but Keep your enemies closer was an adage for a reason.
She dried her hands quickly and walked with me the rest of the way to the exit. “Maybe some other time.”
After the relative quiet of the bathroom, the restaurant was boisterous and noisy, filled with the sounds of voices and clinking silverware atop background music.
We’d just stepped out of the hallway into the main dining room when Ryan Landon climbed out of his booth and stood in front of us. There really wasn’t a bad seat in the house, but Landon’s wasn’t great. Had Gideon known he would be dining at Tableau One? I wouldn’t be surprised. After all, my husband had once tracked me down via a credit card I used at one of his nightclubs.
Landon was tall, though not as tall as Gideon. Six feet, maybe, with wavy brown hair and eyes the color of amber. He was alpha-fit and attractive, with an easy smile and quick laugh. I’d found him charming when I met him and attentive to his wife.
“Eva,” he said in greeting, his gaze briefly sliding past me to where his wife stood at my back. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Hello, Ryan.” I wished I could’ve caught the look that passed between them. If they were colluding against me, I really needed to know.
“I was just talking about you earlier today. Heard that you’ve left Waters Field and Leaman.”
The warning tingles that hit me in the bathroom intensified. I wasn’t prepared to play these dangerous social games. Gideon had the skill to take on anyone—hell, he ruled the playing field—but I didn’t. It took a lot of effort not to look over and see if he was watching us.
On new ground, I winged it. “I miss it already, but then Gideon and I are attached to Mark.”
“Yes, I’ve heard great things about him.”
“He really knows his stuff. It was while Mark was working on the Kingsman Vodka campaign that I met Gideon.”
Landon’s brows shot up. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
I smiled. “You’re in great hands. Mark is the best. I’d be more sad about leaving if I didn’t know that we’ll be working with him again.”
He visibly regrouped. “Well … We’ve decided to let LanCorp’s in-house team run with it. They really felt like they could knock it out of the park and since that’s what I hired them to do, I figured I better let them do it.”