Annihilate Me (Vol. 1) (The Annihilate Me Series) (15 page)

“How
romantic.
 
You met over art.
 
Probably mooning over one of the
pastels.
 
Did you just strike up a
conversation?”

“We
did.
 
Over the Impressionists.”

“You
don’t say?”
 
She turned to me with
venom in her eyes.
 
“And here I
thought Alex and I had a connection.
 
I feel so silly right now.
 
I
came here alone tonight because I thought he was coming alone.
 
So much can change in a week.
 
Or two weeks.
 
Who’s counting?
 
Is that Valentino?”

“It
is.”

“A
gift from Alex?”

I
wasn’t going to let her get the best of me, so I went there.
 
“It was.
 
Along with the jewels.
 
Don’t you love them?
 
He chose them specifically for me.
 
He’s so good to me.”
 
I leaned over and kissed Alex on the
cheek, and thereby broke my own rules.
 
When I kissed him, I smelled the faintest scent of his cologne.
 
It coursed through me because it was
masculine and understated, just like he was.
 
When I pulled away, I sensed his
surprise, especially when I began to rub off the lipstick I had left on his
stubbled cheek with the back of my thumb.
 
“Thank you again, darling.
 
No more lipstick.
 
You’re
good.”

He
looked at me in such a way that wasn’t unwelcoming.
 
“It was my pleasure,” he said.

“Anything
that comes from Alex is a pleasure.
 
I can only imagine how pleased you are with his gifts and with him.”

“You
have no idea, especially when we’re alone.
 
What do you do, Immaculata?”

“I
go to parties.
 
I attend
events.
 
I sit on boards.
 
I don’t work because I don’t have
to.
 
Work is a four-letter word to
me.
 
Yourself?”

“I
work.”

“Oh,
my dear, that’s like saying ‘fuck.’
 
Not that I say that word often.
 
But it’s true.
 
It’s like
saying ‘fuck.’
 
Who works?”

“I
work in business and I love it.”

She
pressed her hand to her chest and laughed again.
 
“That’s so unusual.”

“Why
is that?”

“None
of my female friends work.
 
I just
find it unusual, that’s all.
 
They
also would.”

“It’s
probably just your generation.”

“It’s
probably just my what?”

“Your
generation.
 
I’m twenty-five.
 
When it comes to
my
generation, we can’t imagine not being creative or
contributing something to the greater good.”

“I
think I need a martini.”

“Servers
are swarming, Immaculata.
 
Just keep
your eye out for one.
 
Are you a
Gibson girl?”

“Am
I a what?”

“A
Gibson girl.”

“I
don’t know what that is.”

“It’s
a cinematic reference.”

“Why
can’t I understand you?”

“It’s
not important.”

“Who
do you work for?
 
If you’re with
Alex, I’m assuming a Fortune Five of some sort.”

“Not
at all.
 
I work for myself.
 
I’m a consultant.”

“A
consultant!
 
And an
entrepreneur.
 
At twenty-five.
 
So impressive, Jane.”

“Jennifer.”

“Jennifer.
 
My mistake.
 
On what do you consult?”

“Business.”

“Of
course, you do.
 
Why didn’t I think
of that?”

“Because
it’s a natural extension of working in business?”

“I
wouldn’t know.”

“Why
would you?
 
All those parties to
manage.
 
It must be dizzying.”

“I
have an assistant.”

“Someone
once said that a managed life is an unstructured life.
 
Or something like that.”
 
I felt spears of hatred coming in my
direction when I said, “Your dress also is cute.
 
Who are you wearing?”

“Darling,
at this point, I’ve lost count.
 
Somebody somebody.
 
I’m sure
they’re very successful and in all the right magazines.
 
All that matters in life is beauty.”

“I
wonder what the people in some third-world countries would feel about
that?
 
Or the homeless in our own
city?”

“The
what?”

“The
homeless.”

“I
don’t know them.”

“It’s
never too late to educate.
 
As for
me, my vote for what matters most in life would be love and relationships.
 
Never beauty.
 
That wouldn’t be first.”

“So,
I see.”

I
touched a hand to my necklace, and the ring on my finger glinted in the
light.
 
I smiled at her.

“Well,”
Alex said.
 
“It was good seeing you,
Immaculata.”

“Just
good?
 
You’re leaving?”

“We
have business to attend to,” I said.

“Business,
business, business.
 
Since when are
you all about business, Alex?
 
I
used to talk to you for hours at events such as these.
 
Business sounds so boring.
 
Business sounds like Ambien to me.”

“It
sounds like what?” I asked.

“Like
Ambien.”

“I
don’t know what that is.”

“It
assists with sleep.”

“Oh,
a sleeping pill.
 
Like the ones
Michael Jackson took?”

“I’m
sorry?”

“He
died from some sleep-inducing methods.
 
I assume Ambien was involved.”

“This
has nothing to do with that.
 
Or
with him.”

“I
hope not.”

“Ambien
is very well known.”

“I
haven’t heard of it, but I sleep well at night.
 
My conscience is clear.
 
I just drift away in seconds, unless
Alex has other ideas.
 
Anyway, to us,
business is exhilarating.
 
It’s what
gets us up in the morning.
 
And it’s
probably one of the reasons we fell in love.
 
We have something in common that we
adore.
 
Actually, many things.
 
I think we complement each other well.”

“I’m
sure you do.”

“Good
night, Immaculata,” I said.
 
“It was
swell meeting you.”

“Swell?”

Before
I could respond, Alex said good evening to her, and we moved forward.

“What
was that?” he asked quietly.

“The
end of Immaculata.
 
Isn’t that what
you wanted?”

I
could sense him trying to suppress a laugh.
 
“Yes.
 
I just didn’t know you had that in
you.
 
Who are you, Jennifer Kent?”

Apparently,
I continued to surprise.

CHAPT
ER EIGHTEEN

We
entered the Pool Room, which was more impressive than the photographs I’d seen
of it.
 
The pool was in the center
of the room.
 
It was square and
glowed with bubbling light, and lovely, fully grown trees were along its
periphery.
   

I
spotted Darius Stavros almost at once.

I
leaned toward Alex’s ear.
 
“Stavros
is with a group of people at two o’clock.
 
Cyrus is behind them looking bored.”

A
photograph was taken of us before I could pull away.

“We’ll
be seeing that somewhere tomorrow,” he said.
 
“Shall we go over and say hello?”

“Why
not?”

“I’m
going with your plan.”

“I
hope it works.”

“I
think it will.”

“Look
at him.
 
As good looking as he is,
Cyrus is a shadow in his father’s limelight.
 
He needs that plan.”

“That’s
twice you’ve said that he’s good looking.”

“He
is.
 
He’s got that Greek thing going
on.
 
It works for him.”
 

And why do you care if I find him
good looking?
 
You’ve been kind,
Alex, but I’m your employee.
 
I’m
just here to keep the wolves at bay.
 

“But
back on topic,” I said.
 
“He has to
give his father something substantial soon, or even more disappointment will
settle in.
 
I have to say that as
wealthy and as irresponsible as he is, I kind of feel for him.
 
He’s the heir to everything his father
built, yet he might not want to be part of it.
 
From what I understand, Darius has no
other sons.
 
Because of that, he
might be forcing his business on Cyrus.
 
So, let’s help him out.
 
Let’s give him something to hand to his father.
 
Something sweet.
 
Something he can feel good about.”

He
looked as if he was about to say something, but checked himself.
 
He seemed conflicted to me.
 
Was it something I said?
 
I wasn’t sure.
 
It occurred to me that he might need to
believe in the illusion we had created, and I may have broke it when I
commented on Cyrus’ looks.
 
He had,
after all, just called me out on it.
 
I wouldn’t do it again.

“You’ve
noticed that—with the exception of Immaculata, whom you shut down—I
haven’t been bothered tonight, haven’t you?”

“I’ve
noticed.
 
I’ve also noticed a few
angry women along the sidelines.
 
Daggers have been fired at me.
 
Knives and cannon balls.”

“Which
means this is working.
 
Thank you
for that.”

“My
pleasure.
 
And thank you for the
job.”

“I
hope it doesn’t feel like a job to you.”

There
was a new note to his voice that I couldn’t define.
 
Why do I feel as if
this is sliding in the wrong direction?
 
Keep it light.
 
“Look
at me.
 
I’m all dolled up.
 
This is fun.”
 
I nodded across the room.
 
“Darius is parting company.
 
Now’s your chance to say hello.”

And
Alex did.
 

After
a few minutes of introductions and conversation, in which Alex only talked
family with Darius, he turned and looked in surprise at Cyrus, who was standing
behind him.
 

“Cyrus,”
he said.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t see you.”

“How
are you, Alex?”

“I’m
fine.
 
And I’m happy to see
you.
 
This is Jennifer Kent.”

Cyrus
looked at me longingly and openly, leaving no doubt that on some level, he
found me attractive.
 
“I’ve been
watching you since I first saw you,” he said.
 
“I think you noticed.
 
Or I hope you did.
 
Sorry, Alex.
 
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
 
You’re lovely, Ms. Kent.”

For
whatever reason, Alex’s hand tightened around my own.
 
It wasn’t just a squeeze.
 
It felt possessive.
 
There was a definite shift in the air.
 
“We recently began seeing each other.”

“Congratulations.
 
I can see why.
 
A friend of mine, Constantine, also
noticed you, Ms. Kent.
 
I have a
feeling he and I are not alone.”