Beauty and the Boss Read online

can hand-deliver it.”

  “Call her,” Ellis said as she flagged down a porter.

  The tension in the large SUV rose to an awkward high by

  the time they reached the French Quarter, and Charlotte

  was afraid Ellis would end up strangling Rueben. She

  wanted to take in the sights, but she was too busy trying to

  decipher what the hell was going on.

  “Can I help with anything?” She spoke to Ellis since

  Rueben was on the phone again. “What’s wrong?”

  “Ruby forgot his book.” Ellis took a deep breath and

  seemed to force herself to smile. “Sorry about my mood, but

  we really don’t have that much time to finish our line.

  Having the only other copy of the bible out of my sight

  freaks me out, especially since it has all the changes I’ve

  made in it. After the experience I had last night, this isn’t

  the time to get sloppy.”

  “Wow,” Sawyer said when the car stopped so a gate

  could open. The house certainly deserved a wow.

  “I love this place.” Ellis got out and entered a code into

  the keypad located on the large stone wall that encircled

  the property.

  The courtyard was completely paved with ancient-

  appearing bricks, the only greenery coming from the

  multitude of potted plants dispersed through the area.

  Charlotte glanced around, but it was hard to take her eyes

  off the large Spanish-style house that seemed to span the

  entire block. The colors were muted, drawing her attention

  to the bright-red front door. It reminded her of their first

  conversation about color. Maybe red really was Ellis’s

  favorite hue.

  “It’s beautiful,” Charlotte said as she took Sawyer’s hand.

  “I’ll be happy to give you a tour in a little while, but I

  have to make a few calls first.” The door opened and an

  older man came out, his appearance the only thing that had

  made Ellis smile since they’d landed. “Hey there.” Ellis

  opened her arms, and the hug she gave him seemed

  heartfelt. “How are you, Uncle Malcom?”

  “Lonely roaming around here alone, but not anymore.”

  Whoever he was, Charlotte could tell he really cared

  about Ellis, and the feeling was mutual. “Wait, Sawyer,” she

  said as Sawyer tried to break free.

  “Let me introduce you.” Ellis let the man go but kept her

  arm around his shoulders. “Charlotte and Sawyer, this is my

  Uncle Malcom. He’ll show you out back to where you’re

  staying.” The short introduction was all they got before Ellis

  disappeared.

  “She’s usually not that obnoxious,” Malcom said, shaking

  his head. “God knows I love her, but sometimes she acts like

  she was raised by wolves.”

  “You’d better not let Amis hear you say that. She’ll tear

  your throat out with her fangs,” Rueben said as he took his

  turn hugging Malcom.

  “My sister only scares me when she’s standing right next

  to me.”

  Charlotte laughed and stuck her hand out, only to be

  pulled into a hug as tight as the one he’d given Ellis. “It’s

  nice to meet you, sir.”

  “Please, call me Malcom, and welcome.” Malcom held

  both her and Sawyer’s hand as they walked inside. Another

  younger guy and woman passed them smiling, and

  Charlotte guessed they were the staff.

  Charlotte stopped right inside and just stared at the

  paintings. The massive pieces that lined the grand

  staircases were stunning. Every one of them featured

  faceless women, since the subject of the art was actually

  the clothes. She recognized every single piece going up

  those stairs, but they appeared different painted in oil.

  “She did these?” Sawyer asked, finally wrangling free of

  her. “I’m not good at faces either.”

  Malcom laughed, which made Charlotte relax her cringe a

  bit. “I don’t think that’s why she did it like that, sweetheart.”

  “This is Ellis’s trophy wall,” Malcom said, the pride in his

  tone hard to miss. “The clothes were the winners, and

  everything else was never important enough to keep her

  interest.”

  “Is that a warning, Malcom?” The clothes were evidence

  of Ellis’s genius, but sometimes whatever higher power

  bestowed such talent demanded something in return. Ellis’s

  obvious heartlessness for anything else seemed to be the

  price in this case. Charlotte needed to remember that fact

  and concentrate on getting her start, yet keeping her

  distance.

  “What an interesting thing to say. Everyone seems to

  know that Ellis has a reputation—that’s not something I’m

  going to waste my breath defending. She is, though, my

  family, so I’ll tell you that no reporter or rumormonger ever

  concentrates on the positive. It’s not a warning at all. The

  next few months will go better if you open your mind and

  leave your preconceived notions at the curb outside.”

  “We’re staying here?”

  “Ellis figures you and Sawyer will want some space that’s

  your own, so you’ll be right out back.” He led the way to the

  other side of the good-sized pool. “We’re lucky in that it’s

  one of the only houses in the quarter with a pool and more

  than one building on the grounds.”

  The building close to the pool surprisingly wasn’t the pool

  house. It had a big common area and a nice kitchen, and

  according to Malcom, it also had two bedrooms. “What is

  this place?” she asked, dropping her purse on the brown

  leather sofa.

  “A long time ago, when the house was built, it was the

  caretaker’s shack. It’s been upgraded through the years to

  become a guest cottage. Everything you need is here, but

  you have an open invitation to eat at the house with us. It’s

  not mandatory, though, so do what’s comfortable for you

  and Sawyer.”

  “It’s beautiful, thank you. Will we start work tomorrow?”

  “I’m sure Ellis will be down here once her calls are done,

  so why don’t you unpack and wander back in an hour for

  lunch. Sawyer, your room is the one on the right.”

  “Mom, look,” Sawyer said, making Malcom smile before

  he waved and left.

  The corner of the room was filled with blank canvases, an

  easel, and all the supplies Sawyer would need to make art.

  Now Charlotte understood Ellis’s allure. She certainly had

  the ability to zero in on what made people happy and had

  the resources to deliver it. She also had the looks and the

  kind of personality that made you want to be close to her—

  the kind of allure that made you want to be the center of

  Ellis’s attention even if only for a brief second.

  “I see,” Charlotte said, and the display of generosity

  made her think of Kyle. What a difference from one human

  being to another when it came to Ellis and Kyle. Ellis realized

  not only that Sawyer was alive but had figured out what

  made the kid tick after spending less than an hour with her,

  tota
l. The only downside would be that, in a couple of

  months, Ellis probably wouldn’t remember who they were.

  “I see,” she said, more softly, trying to think of a way to

  let Sawyer down easy when that came to pass.

  * * *

  “And how do I know this is legit?” Benson Norwood asked

  as he eyed Jennifer and the book she was holding. As a

  reporter for the monthly Styles and Trends, he was familiar

  with both Jennifer and the pet she’d dragged along, Dalton.

  If Jennifer’s claim was right, he’d talk his boss into

  running a special issue as payback for the lawsuit Ellis had

  slammed him with a couple of years prior. The exposé he’d

  written about Ellis’s sexual exploits for once wasn’t true,

  and she’d had plenty of ways to prove every word was

  fiction. It was a miracle he’d been able to keep his job, but

  he owed that to Dalton. When the judgment that would’ve

  shut the magazine’s doors came down, Dalton had talked

  Ellis into a token settlement. He knew he’d have to return

  the favor one day, and this was the price, he guessed.

  “Since when do you ask if something’s legit?” Dalton

  turned from staring out into the alley, and Benson figured

  the man had been hitting the bottle pretty hard, judging by

  his haggard appearance and swollen features. “You owe

  me.”

  “Hey, I appreciate what you did, but we both now know

  the consequences of printing something that’s not true.”

  The urge to open the book was making his hands itch, but

  he had to cover his ass first. “I hear even Vogue is writing

  about you two getting fired yesterday. Any comment on

  that? If it’s true, then we both know you didn’t get that as a

  parting gift from Ellis.”

  “You little son of a bitch.” Dalton crossed the room

  quicker than Benson thought possible, and he was even

  more shocked when he couldn’t break Dalton’s hold on his

  lapels. “You think you get to walk away for free after I saved

  your ass?”

  “Owing someone something is one thing, Dalton, but

  getting sued for theft of intellectual property is some other

  colored donkey altogether. Hell, the court wouldn’t even buy

  a confidential informant the last time around. I print this,

  and it’ll be a fucking disaster—a fucking disaster that I could

  end up doing jail time for.” He couldn’t get Dalton off him,

  so he stood up in case he had to defend himself.

  “You’re going to print this or I hand these over to the

  cops and then to every rag like yours that’s interested.”

  Jennifer dropped a large envelope on his desk with no

  explanation—he didn’t really need one, and it was like

  Dalton could read his mind. “She was only fourteen, Benson,

  and it was just two years ago. Still enough time for the cops

  to be interested in your little hobbies.”

  “You were there, you bastard, and not as a bystander,”

  he said to Dalton.

  “I’m not in the picture though. You can look if you don’t

  believe me.” Dalton shoved him toward the envelope.

  “I believe you, since I figured you’d fuck me over

  eventually.” He tossed the envelope into the trash since

  Dalton and Jennifer weren’t about to hand over the file the

  pictures were stored in. “So how does printing these help

  you?”

  “You let me worry about that, but they’ve got to hit within

  the week. It won’t do me any good if you sit on them

  forever.”

  “I’ll print them, but I can’t say when. If you want fast, I

  hope you’ve got glossy prints of my boss doing something

  he doesn’t want published.”

  “We don’t need that, honey.” Jennifer laughed and

  dropped another big envelope on Benson’s desk. “We’ve got

  glossies of you doing something colossally stupid that you

  don’t want printed.”

  Benson’s glare only made her laugh harder as she picked

  up her box and waved over her shoulder on the way out.

  The magazine’s offices weren’t in the best neighborhood, so

  Dalton was glad they had a car with a driver running and

  waiting. Wherever they were going, though, wouldn’t keep

  them safe from Ellis’s wrath—that he was sure of.

  In all of Jennifer’s calculations and scheming, that was

  the only thing she hadn’t factored in. Ellis Renois wasn’t

  some trust-fund spoiled brat doing this out of boredom. No,

  Ellis was street-smart and vicious when she needed to be.

  “Now what?” His phone rang again and he silenced it, but

  really wanted to throw the damn thing out the window.

  Since the night before, his wife had called him every ten

  minutes, it seemed.

  “Now we go home to really get the rumor mill going, and

  then we renegotiate new contracts.”

  Despite his urge to run away, damn if Jennifer still didn’t

  have an effect on him as her hand slid up his thigh. “You

  think Ellis is seriously going to offer us another job?”

  “Lover, in about a week no one will remember who Ellis

  is. No, we’re going somewhere that’ll appreciate us. It’s time

  to hook up with someone who’ll see how valuable we can

  be, and we start over.” She squeezed him so hard he

  thought of begging her to go down on him, but he didn’t

  want to give the driver a show. “It’s time for you to start

  fresh all the way around.”

  “That’s not as easy as it sounds.”

  “It’s exactly that easy, if you want it enough.”

  * * *

  “It’s not there,” Amis said calmly.

  The second time she said it, Ellis closed her eyes and

  rested her head on the edge of her desk. The second time

  was a necessary confirmation since the first time Amis had

  said it, she’d thought she misunderstood. Every year, for

  security reasons, she made two copies of the upcoming line.

  She kept one and Rueben the other, and she’d thought to

  question Rueben about it only after they’d landed. During

  the trip to the house he’d simply thought he’d forgotten it.

  “It can’t be gone. Did you go through his desk?”

  “Chéri, aside from a large number of ketchup packets,

  there’s nothing else in Rueben’s desk—nothing. The bible is

  gone.”

  “That bitch had to have taken it, and if she did, we’re

  totally screwed.”

  “Before we panic, let’s make sure that’s the case. Don’t

  jump off the ledge just yet.”

  At first she wanted to fly back to New York and beat the

  crap out of Dalton and Jennifer for sheer satisfaction. She

  was stupid to think this situation would end so easily and

  neatly by simply firing them. “Keep looking and keep me

  posted. If I’m right, working to finish this show is a complete

  waste of time.”

  “Did Rueben’s book have all the latest changes?”

  “For once they were both up to date.” She raised her

  head when she heard the door open but kept her eyes

  closed. “Whoever has it can share our entire
line for the

  upcoming year with the world.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, so let me organize

  my search party.”

  “It’s gone?” Rueben asked, his expression a perfect

  example of horror. “Ellis, you have to believe that I locked it

  up. I would’ve never just left it out.”

  “I’m not blaming you, and there’s only one viable

  explanation for all this.” She relaxed her expression when

  Rueben’s eyes grew glassy, and she would’ve ignored the

  phone to comfort him, but that wasn’t an option. Sigrid

  Nymand, the former Swedish model, was still beautiful, but

  now she was the grand dame of Vogue. Her influence was

  legendary, but her friendship was one of Ellis’s most prized

  assets.

  “Sigrid, how are you?”

  “Right now I’m guessing I’m doing a hell of a lot better

  than you, darling.” Sigrid’s accent was one Ellis could listen

  to all day, but her comment was the first nail in her coffin.

  “Do you have time to talk?”

  “For you, always. You know that.” A long conversation

  initiated by Sigrid and not one of her minions meant the

  nails would keep coming until Ellis was buried.

  “What the hell happened last night?”

  Ellis couldn’t lie or try to evade the facts—Sigrid wasn’t

  asking to fill in the gaps. She was calling to confirm all the

  facts. “Are you asking out of curiosity, or in a more official

  capacity?”

  “Ellis, drop the stoic act and don’t bullshit me. I’m calling

  because one of my people got an anonymous call from

  someone who claims you did plenty of naughty things.”

  Sigrid laughed, and Ellis put her head down again. “I wish I

  were a little younger so you’d be interested in doing

  naughty things to me, so that I don’t give a damn about.”

  Sigrid had been married to the same man for close to

  thirty-five years, but Ellis always enjoyed her flirtatious

  personality. “Don’t count yourself out of that game, Sigrid.

  I’m one of the teenage boys at heart, with your swimsuit

  picture on my wall. But it’s been a while since I’ve been

  either naughty or nice to anyone.” She told Sigrid what had

  happened and heard the sigh when she was done.

  “The caller also said they had your bible. Please tell me

  that part of all this nonsense isn’t true.”

  “My mother’s looking, but I think it’s gone. Considering