atop her desk. She doesn’t respond and stares at Naomi, letting the tension in the room grow so thick, I suffocate. Anxiety crawls up my arms like spiders, but I keep it internalized. The girl beside me comes undone. Where I’m calm, cool, and collected under pressure, Naomi’s face burns and she fidgets, avoiding eye contact.
“You see, Naomi,” Inez finally says. Her expression remains glacial. “Talent Ridge turned out to be a dead end. Cara and I have sat here for the last hour trying to figure out where things went wrong, but we’re left scratching our heads. Help clear this up for us.”
Fish Mouth immediately cuts her eyes to the floor. “What do you mean?”
“You know what she means.” It’s all I can do not to wrap my hands around her throat to throttle the answer out of her.
“What perplexes me the most is Mr. Ridge’s persistence that he never hired an escort.” She waves her hand back and forth in nonchalance. “Of course, this was after services rendered, so I’m hoping it’s a simple case of miscommunication. Since you’re the one who arranged the date with him, please, enlighten us.”
Naomi finds no comfort in my cold posture. She returns her attention to Inez and says, “The date was supposed to be with me, but you—”
Inez smacks the palm of her hand on the desk before pointing a finger at Naomi. “Choose your words carefully, girl.”
“You decided it would be better handled by Cara.”
“Yes. Yes, these are things we’re well aware of. What was never clearly explained—and I blame myself for this. I’m not typically so careless—was how you found yourself in the company of Talent Ridge. So, start there and end with the part where he hires you to fuck him.”
Greed makes people sloppy. It’s obvious this deal was bad from the start. Inez heard Ridge and dollar signs spun around her head like a silly Sunday morning cartoon character. The desire to have her hand in the back pocket of Grand Haven’s most powerful person left boxes unchecked, and now she’s scrambling for answers and a way to correct her recklessness.
Naomi speaks up. “Do you know who Phillip Vogel is? His dad is—”
“His father is Lance Vogel. He owns a fleet of concierge yachts,” Inez finishes for her. “He’s seen a couple of my girls, but go on. He’s a dirtbag.”
“I met Phillip at a club a few months ago. He wanted to hook up, but when I told him it would cost him, he refused. That didn’t stop him from trying, though. Phillip took my number and we became friends.”
That was her first mistake.
Naomi’s not Phillip Vogel’s friend. His type doesn’t befriend escorts. He tricked her in his conquest to nail someone who had the audacity to tell him no.
And from the sounds of it, she became his plaything.
“We met up a few times. He took me on this amazing yacht cruise up to San Francisco.”
Her second mistake was being foolish enough to believe he’d do anything nice for her out of the kindness of his heart. Flashy motherfuckers like Phillip are sickening. That amazing cruise was nothing more than an opportunity to wave his privilege around and tease her into a life she’ll never afford and never have with him. I bet they were alone, out of sight from prying eyes of anyone who might recognize them together. She’s an idiot for falling for it.
Inez rolls her eyes and falls back into her oversized chair. “Basically, you had sex with him for free.”
Naomi’s jaw tightens, but she isn’t foolish enough to deny it. No one’s judging her for having sex with a playboy. It’s her body, her choice. But to pretend that it’s anything more than a game of cat and mouse shows lack of character. Not that I ever believed she was a person of great character, but can she really be that desperate?
“Like I said, we’re friends,” Naomi insists.
With a subtle nod, Inez urges her to continue. “Great. Fine. What does your friendship with Phillip Vogel have to do with Talent Ridge?”
“Phillip and Talent are friends, too.”
“Oh!” Inez straightens her posture. A smile spreads across her face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. They stay stoic. “Everyone’s friends. How lovely.”
“They went to school together,” Naomi says.
“Let me guess,” Inez interjects. “Their families vacationed together on those luxury yachts while the dads smoked cigars and the moms, before Pamela tragically passed away, gossiped below deck. Did Mr. Vogel tell you a lot of stories