back onto a nail polish bottle and blows on her wet nails, standing to greet us.
She’s a striking woman, short in stature but valiant enough to touch the ceiling with confidence alone. The sixty-five-year-old redheaded Italian woman wears tailored suits with long, straight creases to give an illusion that she’s taller than she is. She owns them in every color, texture, and fit. Today she’s dressed in chic gray slacks with a matching blazer, finished with a pair of black stilettos. And she’s just painted her nails metallic blue.
“Please, sit here, my dear.” Inez guides me to the seat in front of her desk. “I know you don’t like it when I call you in unexpectedly, but this will be worth it.”
Nodding in acceptance, I smile softly and cross my legs after I sit. Inez Ricci is the only person in this city I trust, so I take her word for it and wait for an explanation for why I’m here on my only day off this week.
Perched on the side of her desk, she motions for Naomi to sit beside me, snapping her fingers. “Come on, girl. We’re wasting time.”
The acidic scent of polish hangs in the air, a direct contrast to the soothing aromas from the rest of the spa. Drying lacquer carries me back to the days when I was a girl, sitting in a changing room with half a dozen naked women. As they waited for their turn to dance on stage, they fixed their chipped nail polish. Sometimes one of them would paint mine if there was time.
“You’re going to spoil her,” my mother would say.
Uncrossing my legs, I shift in my seat and lock the memory in a dark closet at the back of my mind.
“We’ve been given an opportunity,” Inez starts. Naomi sits up straight with a shit-eating grin on her face. “Ridge & Sons is the most sought out private equity law firm in the state. Those boys are loaded, and I’ve wanted to get a girl in there for years, but they’ve proven impenetrable. Approaching them has never worked, and they don’t seem to be interested in recommendations from outside colleagues. Their reputation is pristine.”
The entirety of California knows who Ridge & Sons is. David Ridge started his firm in a lowly downtown office space he shared with a check cashing store and a questionable accountant. Thirty years later, his building is the tallest in the city. David’s sons, Wilder and Talent, followed in their father’s footsteps while simultaneously earning the crown as Grand Haven’s most eligible bachelors.
Not that eligibility has kept many from seeking out paid sex from a Hush girl.
“Thanks to Naomi’s connection, we finally have a way in. After time spent with one of my girls, there’s not a chance in Hell they’ll be able to say no again. Their building is a gold mine, and I want a chunk of it.”
“What does this have to do with me?” I ask.
Naomi scoffs. If she thinks she’s going to get a pat on the back for deepening Inez’s pockets, she’s delusional. These day-to-day exploitations are no concern of mine. My clientele is full.
“You’re the best,” Inez says without a trace of humor in her tone. “Landing this date will take Hush to a new level, Cara. It will change how we conduct business and offer us a level of protection we can’t get otherwise.”
“No,” I say.
Inez inhales a deep breath in through her nose and slips off the desk to her feet. She’s not used to employees refusing her any request, but I’m not like her other employees. She knows it. “This isn’t usually your type of thing, but—”
“Inez,” I repeat. “I said no.”
She closes her eyes to pause time, like she can telepathically force me to agree if the world stops spinning on its axis for one moment. Tisk. Tisk, Inez. Millions of dollars are tied into Inez’s organizations, expectations from clients—legit and otherwise—and she has an image to uphold. I have a month-to-month lease on a two-bedroom apartment and no one other than Inez knows my real name.
In a battle of wills, I win. That’s how it goes when one of us has nothing to lose.
I can disappear tomorrow, and no one would remember me.
“I have to be the one—”
“Shut up, Naomi,” Inez commands.
“Naomi delivered this opportunity,” I say. “She should see him out.”
Shaking her head, Inez says, “No. It has to be you. You are the best.”