Beauty and the Boss Read online

  what happened last night, we both know where it is, but

  unless I can prove it, I can’t legally accuse them.” She took

  a deep breath and glanced up at Rueben, who was now

  crying. “Did they offer to sell it to you, or are they giving it

  away?”

  “Actually, neither. They were being nice by sharing the

  news, but before you celebrate, it is going to be published,

  and soon, from what they said. If I knew who and when I’d

  move mountains for you, but they didn’t want to ruin the

  surprise.”

  “Thanks for the call then.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  The question made her want to laugh at the sheer

  absurdity of it. “I’m going to have a drink and think about it.

  We both know the likelihood of mounting a successful show

  with all the time in the world, much less when there’s no

  time at all.”

  “My darling, don’t disappoint an old woman who has a

  crush on you. Amis is one of my oldest friends, and that’s

  whose blood runs through your heart. She gave you more

  backbone than that, so skip the booze and concentrate on

  what you do best. Success is and always will be the best

  and most satisfying revenge.”

  “Thanks, my friend, and you’re right.”

  She hung up and walked around her desk to hug Rueben.

  “Never underestimate a bitch in heat, Ruby. That’s what

  Jennifer was from the beginning, and I should’ve paid closer

  attention. This isn’t your fault, so let’s see what we can do

  about it.”

  * * *

  “Mom, do you think Ellis will show me how to use all this

  stuff?” Sawyer had opened every package in her room and

  set up her easel.

  “Maybe, but don’t bug her about it, okay?” The hands on

  Charlotte’s watch hadn’t inched forward all that much, but

  she was determined to wait out the hour before moving.

  “You want me to go?” Sawyer said.

  “What? Sorry. I was thinking.” The knock was probably

  what Sawyer meant. “And I’ll go. Keep unwrapping.”

  She opened the door and stepped back when Ellis leaned

  against the frame. “I apologize for dumping you on my very

  nosy uncle when we got here.”

  “No need for apologies.”

  “I know, but Malcom will accuse me of being obnoxiously

  rude if I don’t,” Ellis said and smiled. “Since I have got a

  mountain of problems, I don’t need to add to that. Do you

  have a minute?”

  “You’re the boss, so sure.”

  “I know we just got here today, but I’m not holding you to

  the job if you don’t want to stay. Let’s start there,” Ellis said,

  and pointed to the table and chairs by the pool.

  “You’re firing me?” She didn’t want to go back to waiting

  tables and chasing Kyle for support. “Why?”

  “I’m not firing you.” Ellis put her hands up and shook

  them. “I’m giving you an option. You can stay, or you can go

  back to a paid internship in New York with Michelle Yuki.”

  “Why would I want to leave, even if it’s for another

  dream job?”

  “I can’t force you to keep quiet, but I’d appreciate if you

  didn’t share what I’m about to tell you with anyone.”

  Charlotte nodded, and Ellis started talking. Once she

  finished, Charlotte couldn’t help but stare at Ellis’s swollen

  lip. She’d of course noticed it on the flight down but figured

  Ellis’s love life wasn’t any of her business.

  “She bit you?”

  “As unbelievable as that story sounds, she did bite me,

  then ripped her shirt open. I’m having a hard time

  understanding that level of bat-shit crazy, but then I’ve got

  bigger problems.” Ellis’s smile wasn’t too wide, probably

  because of the cut. “All the work that started the second last

  year’s line came out is gone—I take that back. The work is

  somewhere, but it’s getting ready to become public. It might

  as well be gone.”

  “So you’re not mounting a show?”

  Ellis’s expression made Charlotte want to point in a

  direction that would lead Ellis out of the fog she seemed

  utterly lost in. “I’ll try to answer that, but not right now, so

  give me a day.”

  “I appreciate you getting all that stuff for Sawyer. She’s

  in heaven in there, and it feels like another Christmas. At

  least that’s how she’s acting.”

  “Sawyer seems like a special kid.” Ellis glanced away

  from her and fell silent for a while, as if thinking about

  something. “I’m not keeping you from anyone, am I?”

  “What do you mean?” It was almost funny that Ellis

  would’ve thought of this only now, so she asked simply to

  give her a hard time.

  “I doubt the kid hatched from an egg. If you’re here for a

  couple of months, won’t her dad miss her?”

  She did laugh at that notion. “Sawyer’s dad misses her

  all the time, but it’s mostly voluntary. He misses visits,

  support payments, and just mainly misses the boat on all

  things Sawyer. Don’t worry about us.”

  “I didn’t mean to pry.” For once Ellis looked

  uncomfortable. “I need to think, and sometimes that’s

  easier to do with a sketchpad in my hand. Maybe Sawyer

  and you would like to come on a walk with me?”

  “We’d love to, and I want to stay. I thought we should

  settle that now.”

  “Are you sure? You could learn plenty from Michelle.”

  She nodded and grinned, wanting for some reason to

  make Ellis feel better. “That’s probably true, but I’m

  staying.”

  “Might be a boring summer.”

  “You really think that?”

  Ellis finally let loose a big belly laugh. “Not if you believe

  the National Enquirer.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “So this book,” the detective from the night before said

  as he took copious notes. “It’s important?”

  “Do you like football, Detective?” Amis asked, making

  him look up at her.

  “I happen to be a big fan, why?”

  “Imagine you design all your plays. Actually, you spend

  all year designing something no one who’s ever played has

  ever seen before. You do that, and then someone comes

  along and steals all your hard work and shares it with the

  world. That’s exactly what happened here, so yes, it’s an

  important book. We actually call it the bible for a reason.”

  Amis spoke slowly, trying to get this guy to understand, but

  she doubted she was getting through, considering he was

  dressed like he was allergic to starch and an iron.

  “So, intellectual theft?” he said, winking at her. “I’m

  smarter than my pay grade, ma’am.”

  “My apologies. I’m trying to keep my daughter from

  either jumping off the roof or committing murder, but I’m

  having a hard time not doing either myself.” She tapped her

  pen on her desk and had to drop it to stop. “Our attorneys

  said we needed to report it before we go forward.”

>   “I’ll rush the report and check with my federal contacts to

  see if they need to be brought in. Do you have any clue as

  to who has it?”

  “I have our security people going through footage to see

  if I’m right, but Ellis’s office is the only private office that

  has security cameras.”

  He pocketed his notebook and offered her his hand. “I

  promise we’ll give this our attention, but I need a hint where

  to start. Maybe with someone here in the office before we

  move on to your number-one suspect.”

  She wrote a few names and slid the paper across the

  desk. “Sorry again about my assumptions, and this list is

  something you found in the trash, right? I don’t want to be

  sued if someone gets insulted.”

  “I have got a feeling that I have a clue where to start and

  who to talk to without this. We’ll be in touch.”

  She walked him to the door, where the head of their in-

  house production team was waiting. “Ruby called me,” Opal

  Steele said, her hands pressed to her chest. “If I didn’t

  believe him, your expression confirms this cluster fuck. How

  in the hell did someone walk out with that, of all things?”

  “It’s not something I want or have time to rehash.” She

  waved Opal in and dropped into her desk chair. “What I

  need to know is the viability of a show. Can we pull it off?”

  “Ellis has to come up with a completely new line, and if

  she does, we’ll work our asses off to get it done.”

  “I’ll need you in New Orleans if she gets over the shock of

  it.” The door opened and her assistant held up a folder.

  “Now what?”

  “This just arrived by private courier.”

  The copies Amis found inside confirmed the theft. It was,

  from first glance, half of the designs in their lineup. “This

  must be the fuck-you to top off what happened. Was there

  anything else with these?”

  “No, ma’am. Well, only this.” The young woman handed

  over a yellow sticky note with a simple smiley face on it.

  “Get Jennifer and Dalton’s team in the conference room.

  I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She waited until she was

  alone with Opal again before she started trying to take the

  steps necessary to overcome this situation. “Get on the next

  flight to New Orleans and tell Ellis to get to work. When I get

  there, I’d better have something to see.”

  “You got it.”

  “Where are you?” Amis asked Ellis when she answered

  the phone. She heard a lot of traffic noise in the

  background, so at least Ellis wasn’t at home having some

  sort of breakdown.

  “At Café du Monde. It was either here or a bar, so I’m

  playing tour guide.”

  “I’m sending Opal, and the rest of the team should arrive

  soon. Obviously, you’re past me grounding you, but I want

  you to not let these people beat you. You need to embrace

  the passion inside you.”

  “Like I told Charlotte, I need a day.”

  “I’ll save my pep talk until then, but I know you well

  enough to realize I won’t have to give one. You should know

  that someone delivered half the designs in the book with a

  smiley-face note.”

  “No other hint as to what their plans are?”

  “I think they plan to destroy us, so I beg you not to let

  them do this to you.” She put her finger up when her

  assistant reappeared. “I love you, chéri, and I’ll be there

  soon but I have to run.”

  “Love you too, Mama.”

  Amis smiled briefly but not for long. It was time to make

  sure their house was in order. “Hello, everyone,” she said to

  the accounting team. “Until further notice you’re going to

  answer to me. If anyone here is still loyal to Jennifer Eymard,

  I’ll need to meet with you after this, but before you make

  that appointment, you should know Ms. Eymard is no longer

  with the company.” She stared down everyone in the room.

  “I doubt anyone will take me up on that offer, but let me

  warn you. Anyone I can prove is sharing company

  information will not only be terminated but prosecuted.”

  After the first group left quietly, Amis repeated the

  exercise with Dalton’s people. “Now to find that damn book

  before my hair turns any grayer.”

  * * *

  Ellis relaxed after dinner with everyone, trying her best to

  not telegraph how pissed she was. She was in a world of

  shit, but it was of her own making, so she couldn’t lash out

  lest she hit herself. No way would she be able to sleep, so

  she put on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and went down

  to what was originally the ballroom.

  She often wondered what the parties in this room were

  like when the place was built. A large room with tall ceilings,

  wood floor, and silk wallpaper must have been something,

  but for now she used it as a workroom. She made the last-

  minute adjustments in here before all the pieces were

  packed and sent back for Fashion Week.

  “Do you want me to go back and try to fix this?” Rueben

  said, startling her.

  “Ruby, unless you gift-wrapped that thing for those

  bastards, get off your sword. I’m not blaming you, and I still

  love you.” She walked to the long table and pulled out a few

  sheets of sketch paper. “I’m pissed, but not with you.”

  “Are you planning to start over?” Rueben came closer, his

  kimono dragging behind him.

  “That’s the million-dollar question of the day, isn’t it? My

  plan for now is to run you ragged, so go to bed and let me

  see if there’s any magic left in here.” She tapped the side of

  her head. “Even if we show only two things, we’re not going

  down without a fight.”

  “We can still get it back.”

  “Tomorrow might bring a miracle, but tonight I’m going to

  indulge the pessimist in me. That ship has sailed, and

  considering who’s probably steering that pirated vessel,

  there’s no way we’ll see its return. Hell, they’ve already sent

  some of the designs to the office as a taunt. Jennifer won’t

  give it back with a big apology. She wants to fuck me over,

  and she has page after page of ways to do it. All I’ve got to

  figure out is how to block her from doing that.” She snapped

  her fingers after kissing his cheeks. “Do you mind

  babysitting for a little while?”

  Charlotte didn’t seem to mind being dragged out of bed

  or leaving Rueben on her sofa in case Sawyer woke up.

  “Bring your book.”

  Charlotte looked around the ballroom as she held her

  book under her arm. “Can I see what you had for this year?”

  Ellis indulged her by taking all her sketches out and

  taping them along the wall. When she stepped back and

  studied the swatch of paper, she came close to crying at the

  thought of all the hours that had gone into creating them.

  Usually, she was always happy with what she put out, but

  this year was different.

  “Thi
s year we’re closing Fashion Week. We finally got that

  spot, so I was inspired to take it up a notch. Of all my stuff, I

  think these were my best.”

  “They are beautiful,” Charlotte said as she touched each

  sheet. “I want to help you however I can.”

  “How about a blow to the head that’ll get my creativity

  going?” She took Charlotte’s book and flipped through it

  again. “Every year my interns usually get one piece in the

  show, but this might be your breakout year. If you end up

  with a couple or more, you have to start thinking about a

  style that’s yours alone.”

  “That’s my safe I’m-going-on-an-interview set of

  sketches.” Charlotte spoke like a four-year-old caught with

  both hands in the cookie jar.

  “So you don’t think I’m edgy enough to appreciate that in

  a designer and you didn’t share?”

  “No,” Charlotte said loudly, bringing her head up. She

  relaxed visibly when Ellis winked at her. “That’s not what

  most people want to see. Most people go for the safe.”

  “You’re right about that, but I’m not most people.” The

  blank page usually was a kind of ticket to a new adventure

  she always was ready to take. Sometimes, though, it

  symbolized the door to everything that terrified her. “Let’s

  forget all that tonight and do something else.”

  “I’m not interested in anything but work.” The way

  Charlotte put her hands up made Ellis want to laugh.

  “I’m crushed, but I totally understand. Go to bed, and

  we’ll start again in the morning.” She turned off the lights

  and walked Charlotte to the door.

  “You’re mad?” Charlotte asked incredulously.

  “I’m amused that you think that’s the effort I put into

  someone I’m interested in. That makes me sound like either

  I’m a rapist or I have magical powers. In case you didn’t

  understand the sarcasm, I’ve got neither.” She opened the

  door since Charlotte wasn’t leaving. “And it sounds like

  you’ve already got an asshole in your life—you don’t need

  another one.”

  “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”

  Charlotte had an obvious problem looking at her, but she

  was in no mood to let her off the hook. “You’ve got to have

  feelings to incur damage, right? I’m sure you’ve heard the

  rumor about how I’m sorely lacking in that department.”

  She stepped back when Charlotte moved to touch her arm.