Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9) (11 page)

I need to try and clear
my mind for at least a few minutes, so I open my email and start
reading though the new offers my agent has sent me. More action
films, a romantic comedy, and the chance to direct a play. Nothing
exciting, at least not at first glance. When I look again, I smile,
and grab my phone to call him.

“Hey, Blake. Did
something jump out at you from my email.”

“It did. The high
school play.”

“Really? I sent that
because you tell me to send you everything, but it’s almost no
money, and will take months of your time.”

“Good thing I have
plenty of money and time to spare.”

“You really want to
move to Las Vegas for months to direct a high school play for some
low income kids? What about Jeanne and school?”

“She wants tutors,
and yes, there is no place I’d rather be than Las Vegas. Tell them
I’ll take it.”

“It’s your career,”
he grumbles.

“Yes it is,” I
remind him as I hang up.

It’s also
my
life. I once settled for less than the best because I was
young, and thought I needed to fit in. I’m not so young anymore,
and it’s time I finally listen to what my heart and mind are
telling me. Right after I show my daughter that I can’t have
forever with her mother without losing myself. The role of a
lifetime, and I’m not even being filmed.

* * *

Audrey

My friends are great,
but I need a little bit of time alone. I sent them all away, with
promises to call if I need anything at all. I walk around my
apartment, looking at all the cool stuff I have, that suddenly
doesn’t matter anymore. The chemistry themed paintings Owen Griffin
did for me, right alongside the photos of things from my lab that his
wife, Candi, gave me for my last birthday. The sleek furniture that’s
combined with Day of the Dead decorations, merging my past and my
present in a way that only Chloe Griffin could make work. Little
knickknacks and vintage chemistry equipment from my friends. This is
my life, and it’s a good one. A great one by most people’s
standards, even. I know now that it’s not enough for me.

My job, my things, even
my friends—they’re no longer enough for me. Not after I had the
one glimpse of what my life could be like with Blake in it. I know
I’ve always been waiting for him, even if I wouldn’t admit it to
myself. I’ve never let other guys get too close, because they
weren’t the boy who had broken my heart, but still had possession
of it, even if he didn’t know. For twenty years, I held out for a
fantasy I didn’t think I would ever really have, and for a boy who
didn’t deserve that kind of loyalty.

The man Blake has
become is worthy of that kind of loyalty, and I’ll give it to him
openly and freely this time. I’ll wait for him to figure out his
situation, and if he decides that he wants to stay with Misha and
make things real, I’ll accept it. Until then, I’ll consider him
to still be mine. It’s what we both want, and if we’re lucky, it
will all work out. I’m not naïve enough to think it will be easy,
but I’ll wait and see. It’s out of my control right now anyway.

There’s a knock on my
door, and then Reina pokes her head inside. “Hey, I know you wanted
to be alone, but I just got some information you need to know about.”

“What is it?”

“Blake took a job
directing a play at a local high school.”

“What? Are you
fucking kidding me?”

“No, and there’s
more. The city’s heavy hitters want to open their pocketbooks for
him and the school. There’s going to be a gala.”

“One I have to
attend.”

“As Director of
Communications for the Corrigan & Co. Foundation, yes.”

“Why did I let you
give me that fake title again?”

“Because despite your
super-powered brain, you got a degree in communications, and you’re
damn good at it.”

“Oh yeah, that. Can I
resign?”

“No.”

“You’re such a
hard-ass.”

“I know. Stella will
have dresses ready for you to try on in 48 hours, and we’ll get you
jewelry and anything else you need.”

“This isn’t a
competition. I told you it wasn’t his idea to bring Misha back. It
was mine.”

“Maybe so, but she’s
not going to play fair, so neither are we.”

“How I look won’t
matter. You know that.”

“It may not
matter
,
but
you
know that
clothes speak silently to everyone in a room. You’re going to make
everyone in the room wish they were going home with you. Male or
female.”

“In a classy way.”

“Of course. You’re
the classiest bitch I know.”

“Did I do the right
thing, Reina?”

“You’re asking
me
for relationship advice? I’m in the most epic fake marriage in the
history of the world.”

“You know you want to
tell me what you think. Go ahead. Hit me with the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.”

She plops down on my
couch, as I laugh. “What?”

“I was just thinking
about having the ever glamorous Reina Corrigan dropping onto my couch
with such little finesse. What would the world think?”

She tosses a pillow at
me. “’Ever glamorous,’ huh? Did you not see me when we came
back from Cyndryann, and I hadn’t bathed in days?”

“I think I blocked
that from my mind,” I say. “Seriously, Rei. Are you okay? Being
with Matt?”

“Not even a little
bit. Every night I go to bed hoping that the man lying next to me
will magically love me in the morning. And every morning I wake up to
mind-bowing sex and no substance. Why can’t I be enough for him? I
don’t know what else to do.”

“You
are
enough. That man loves you more than anything. I don’t know why he
fights it so hard, but there’s no one for him but you.”

“I can’t hear that.
I need to be strong, and remember it’s fake. There’s only a few
months left, and I need to be prepared,” she says. “Enough about
me. We’re supposed to be talking about you.”

“You don’t always
have to be strong,” I tell her, taking her hand.

“Yes I do. The nature
of the Society demands it. As long as I’m leading, I can’t afford
to show weakness.”

“To the world maybe,
but never to us. We all have your back, no matter what.”

“I know. Thank you.
Now, about Blake.”

“It hasn’t even
been a day, and I already miss him.”

“You did the right
thing, for now at least. I know you, Aud. You may be one of the
sexiest women on the planet, but you still see the girl in the
glasses when you look in the mirror. The one who wasn’t good enough
for the popular boy. Now that the boy’s grown up, and wants you,
you’re questioning it. Wondering if the cheerleader’s going to
swoop in and take him from you once again. You made the choice you
did for Jeanne, yes, but also for you. When he comes back to you this
time, you’ll know he’s really yours to keep.”

“And when did mind
reading come into play?”

“Not mind reading,
just almost twelve years of shadowing the head of a secret society
that helps women. I’ve seen it all, and heard it all. I’ve also
watched you when you’re with him. You were scared when you first
saw him. Then you were nervous, and this morning before Ainsley
dropped her bomb, you looked happy.”

“I
was
happy.”

“No. You
looked
happy. You wanted to be, but I could see the little seed of doubt.”

“She’s a freaking
supermodel.”

“You’re a freaking
Nobel Prize worthy scientist, who also
looks
like a supermodel.”

“I haven’t won the
award, or walked a runway.”

“Not for lack of
trying by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, or every designer who
meets you. It’s hard work convincing them every year that you can
help more people if you stay in the shadows. One day you’re going
to have to let yourself be honored, and then you can own some
runways.”

“I’d never be able
to go undercover again. At least now, while I’m in the public eye a
little bit, I can still go incognito in most situations.”

“I have a plan for
that. Jane and the mentors like it, and I’ll be telling everyone
soon.

The mentors have kept
their promise and stayed away from us. I know what they did was
really bad, but I miss them. Maggie and I were extremely close, and I
wish I could talk to her about this, too.

“Call Maggie. She’d
love to hear from you,” Reina says, getting up and walking to the
door. “And one more thing. While I was watching you, I was also
watching Blake. He loves you, Audrey, and there is no doubt in my
mind that he’s going to choose you. He already has, and that won’t
change because his ex-wife is temporarily in the picture. Even if she
is a supermodel.”

Blake

“What is this?”
Misha asks as I unlock the front door of our rental house.

“A house.”

“No. It’s a suite.
Maybe a guest house, but this is definitely not a
house
.”

“Well, it’s home
sweet home for the next two months, so you should get used to it.”

“Our bedroom in La
Jolla is bigger than this whole first floor.”

“
My
bedroom might be, but yours was maybe half this size. Remember?”

“We both know that
was a temporary situation.”

“Stop. Please stop
arguing,” Jeanne says.

“I’m sorry, baby,”
I tell her.

“I’m going to go
set up in the master bedroom. This place has one of those, right?”

“Yes, Misha. It even
has a walk-in closet for you.”

“And a nice, big bed
for us?”

“
I’m
sleeping in a guest room. The one with the lock on the door.”

“You act like I’m
so desperate that I’d sneak into your room and try to molest you or
something.”

“You tried to pick
the lock on my door back home.”

She glares at me and
then stomps up the stairs. I smile at Jeanne, and try to pretend like
everything’s great. “What do
you
think of the place. I know it’s not big, but we don’t really need
all that space.”

“I like it,” she
says and then looks down at her feet. “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“All of this. Her.”

“She’s not easy,
but she loves you.”

“Not as much as she
loves herself.”

I can argue with that,
so I don’t try. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she
ever loved me. I was just a trophy for her to parade around.”

“Do you miss Audrey?”

“More than you could
possibly imagine.” It’s been two weeks, and every morning I wake
up feeling like someone’s stabbing me in the heart.

“I miss her, too. Do
you think I could go see her?”

“Yes. I think she’d
like that.”

“Even after
everything I did?”

“She’s not going to
hold it against you.”

“I made you break up
with her.”

“Is that what you
think? That I broke up with her?” I ask, and she nods. “I didn’t.
I already told you that. Trying to work things out with your mom was
her idea. I asked her to wait for me, because I knew then, just as I
know now, this won’t work. I’d do anything for you—and her—so
I’ve been trying. I honestly tried to see if there was anything
still between us besides you.”

“There isn’t.”

“No, baby. I’m
sorry, but there’s not.”

“Did she really try
to break into your bedroom?”

I chuckle a little,
“Yeah.”

“This house isn’t
as secure. Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?”

“You’d protect your
old man?”

“Of course.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now
we just need to come up with a plan to get Mom to leave, and convince
Audrey to stay with us.”

“Your mom won’t
leave before the charity ball.”

“Of course not.”

“In the meantime, I
wanted to head over to the high school and check things out. Wanna
come along?”

“Aren’t my tutors
coming over soon?”

“I think one day off
isn’t going to hurt my little genius.”

“I’m not little.”

“You have to keep
reminding me, don’t you?”

“Yeah. It’s my job
as your kid.”

“Smart-ass.”

“I learned from the
best,” she says as we walk outside.

“Get in the car,
brat.”

“Where are you
going?” Misha asks, walking briskly out the front door. Running
would be too “common” for her.

“I want to check
things out at the high school.”

“What am I supposed
to do while you’re gone?”

“Whatever you want, I
guess.”

“I
want
a real house. With a pool, and a housekeeper.”

“There’s a pool out
back, and someone will be coming in once a week to clean.”

“That’s not a pool,
it’s a giant bathtub. And who’s going to clean the rest of the
week? And cook?”

“Us.”

“Oh, okay. You and
Jeanne. Good.”

“No, Mish. We’re
all chipping in—you included.”

“Good luck making
that happen.”

I let go of the car
door, and stalk over to her, forcing her to move back a few steps.
“Can you at least try to be a decent human being for five minutes?
Or better yet, a decent mother?”

“Don’t talk to me
like that. You asked me to come back.”

“For our daughter.
Not for me.
Never
for
me.”

“She’s that good?
The Mexican bitch?”

“She’s better than
you could ever dream of being, and I don’t just mean in bed. But
say something else about her, and see how fast I drive you out to the
desert and leave you there.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh yeah, I would.”

I throw open the car
door, and get in. “I wish I’d never told you I wanted her to be
with us.”