Page 13 of 7 Nights of Sin

"Believe me, I'm not looking to marry another narcissist actress."

"No? Planning on going for a nice underwear model the next time?" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, and I rolled my eyes again.

"I don't know why it matters so much to you what I do."

"It doesn't," she snapped. "Except for when it makes my job harder, and every time your ex-wife opens her mouth to another reporter, I have to work that much harder to keep up with it. I know more about your supposed indiscretions than I have ever wanted to know about anything. "

"Hey, you took the job," I said. "You knew what you were getting into. Anyway, why did you want to know?"

"I'm just wondering what her angle is. To try and gauge when she's going to stop. Eventually people will stop caring, of course, but she can do some real damage before she gets to that point. Is she after money? Or just trying to make you look bad?"

"Probably just trying to make me look bad. I don't know. We didn't part on great terms, as I'm sure you can imagine." I cocked my head to the side, looking at her. "I didn't think you cared."

"I don't care," she said quickly. "I care as much as I need to to do my job. That's it."

"Fair enough. Maybe she'll get tired of running her mouth sooner rather than later."

"I wouldn't count on it. She's at the height of her popularity right now. Everyone wants to hear what she has to say, whether it's true or not. I'm sure she's loving it."

"Wonderful," I muttered. "Well, I guess at least I get to spend time with you, again. That's a bright side to this whole mess. I missed you."

"I doubt that," she said.

We talked for a bit more about the things she wanted to do going forward and how she wanted to handle interviews and appearances.

For the most part I just let her talk, watching as she gestured with her hands, taking in the set of her shoulders and the way she seemed to be pulling statistics and information from out of thin air.

It was clear she was good at what she did. I'd looked up her firm when Kathleen had mentioned them, and they'd represented lots of famous people before. Musicians, actors, politicians, even.

Clearly she knew what she was doing, and I realized with a jolt that there was no one else I'd trust with something like this.

I knew Caro. I knew she was determined and headstrong and however irritated she was with me, she was going to keep working until she turned things around.

It was comforting to know that she hadn't changed all that much.

"Are you listening to me?" she demanded, mid-sentence, and I blinked before nodding seriously.

"Of course I am," I said back, sounding offended. "This is important."

She looked skeptical, but started talking again, and I kept my face straight to hide my smile.

All in all, things could be a lot worse.

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