glossy onyx hair behind both ears before leaning closer. “If it doesn’t work out with this guy, you call me and I’ll see if I can find a place for you on my team. It might not be in Malibu and it might not be a lead designer position, but if I can fit you in, I will. That’s how much I believe in you, Irie.”
The tension in my shoulders seems to dissipate with her words and I find myself breathing a little easier all of a sudden.
I didn’t come in here expecting anything from Kira.
Now I’ll be leaving with a safety net.
“Are you sure?” I ask her.
“Two hundred percent,” she says.
“Wow … thank you … so much.”
“Of course, of course.” Kira checks the Hermes Apple watch on her left wrist. “I’ve got a phone call in a few minutes, so if there’s anything else you wanted to go over …?”
“There is one thing,” I say as I rise from the chair.
“Shoot.” She stands.
“My boyfriend’s mother is Camilla Masterson,” I say.
Kira smiles. “Oh, Camilla. Right. I interned for her back in the day. We still keep in touch sometimes. What a small world!”
“Right.” I gather my thoughts and a hard breath. I debated bringing this up at all but with my future at stake and Kira’s generous offer, it seems like the right time. “Her son is Talon Gold, the quarterback for PVU.”
“That’s your boyfriend? Lucky …”
“He’s going to be playing football for Richmond, which is why I’m moving out east,” I say. “But he almost didn’t accept the contract … and Camilla thought it had to do with me, so she asked me to break up with him. She told me if I didn’t, she’d make a phone call to you and then she’d have me blacklisted.”
The loudness of Kira’s laugh sends a small startle to my heart. I wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. A second later, she dabs the tears from her eyes.
“Oh, Camilla,” she says, chuckling and rolling her eyes. “She always had a flair for the theatrics. Anyway, I’m sorry if she scared you but rest assured, Camilla Masterson has no pull in this industry, not anymore, not since she married that developer and became a Real Housewife of Laguna Cove. And besides, I didn’t get to where I am today by letting other people tell me what to do and who to hire.”
Camilla walks around her desk, slipping her lithe arm around my shoulder as we head out of her office.
“Anyway, Irie, best of luck,” she says. “And remember, if it doesn’t work out with the quarterback, you call me.”
Chapter 46
Talon
I sign my name a grand total of eleven times, sliding the completed contract across the table to Ira, who grabs it like he’s Indiana Jones and it’s some priceless crystal skull.
The energy is tense. No one has said more than a couple of words.
“There,” I say, glancing around the packed restaurant. An hour ago, I asked them to meet me here. I didn’t want them in my apartment again—that place is sacred ground, intended for good times—and good souls—only.
Ira folds the stack of papers neatly in half before tucking it into his inside jacket pocket.
Mom and Mark exchange looks, and I watch as he reaches for her hand across the table, giving it a squeeze as if to say, “We did it!”
I try not to think about how happy this makes them, instead focusing on what this means for Irie and me.
“We’re so happy you came around,” Mom says before attempting to flag down a waiter, presumably for some champs. “You have no idea how proud Mark and I are of you, Talon. Truly. We can’t wait to watch you play in Richmond. In fact, I was thinking maybe sometime this month we could take a trip out there and do a little house hunting? Something for you … something for us …”
“Just give us a budget, Tal. We’ll try to stick to it.” Mark wears the smuggest smirk I’ve ever seen, one that makes all his others pale in comparison.
Mark’s real estate development empire is one of the biggest in all of Southern California. He doesn’t need my money. He doesn’t need handouts or a free McMansion—he feels entitled to it.
He thinks he earned it.
“Yeah, that won’t be happening,” I say before rising from the table.
“Talon, where are you going?” Mom asks, peering up at me with brows too Botoxed to furrow.
“I signed the contract. Now I’m out,” I say, dropping the