Page 70 of Blue Moon

“You’ve never been to a McDonald’s?”

“Mom said fries were bad for me, remember?”

“You buy your food at the counter and then sit wherever you want. One day, I’ll take you to a McDonald’s.”

“Me and the dirty dozen.”

I glanced out the rear window, and yup, they were still following. The skinny blond guy was riding with Danny Mills, so at least they were carpooling to help the environment.

“Virginia will be quieter. Moon, if you need support next year, I earn good money. Not your kind of money, but enough that you won’t have to worry.”

“You’d do that? You’d look after me that way?”

“Don’t sign that fuckin’ deal.”

“I won’t sign that fuckin’ deal,” I said and then giggled. Giggled with joy and utter relief because if Ryder meant what he said, then Julius could stuff his damn chequebook up his perverted ass.

I’d be free.

Free.

The next stop wasn’t so fun. In line with Ryder’s “keep your enemies closer” suggestion, I’d agreed to get coffee with Jubilee. He’d arranged a private room at the Black Diamond where we wouldn’t be overheard. Plus he said the security was excellent there, so he planned to use the gym while I caught up with my cousin.

I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Before San Gallicano, the quiet time I spent with Jubilee had been the thing I most enjoyed, just the two of us, no Mom, no paparazzi. We’d book a room in one of the big hotels to have lunch out of the public eye. Now not only was I too poor to spend money like that, but I also wouldn’t be able to relax in her presence. Not when she’d betrayed me the way she did.

Two weeks after I got back to Vegas, she’d written a long email trying to justify her actions. She’d sided with Cordelia because she was worried I’d ruin my reputation, she claimed, and what harm had it done? Besides, that was the reason Mom had hired bodyguards, so it was a good thing really. Blah, blah, blah. Words couldn’t make me trust her again. Okay, yes, I’d forgiven Ryder, but that was different. He’d told one lie at a time when we barely knew each other, and although it hurt, he’d been helping me ever since. Jubilee, my lifelong bestie, had conspired with my third-worst enemy and then gone running back to Mom when she got found out.

Jubilee was already waiting when the host showed me through to the dining room. She must have started a new yoga class because she was dressed in sportswear and there was a rolled-up mat on the floor beside her.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said.

“I said I would, and I don’t let people down, unlike some people.”

“Luna, I’m so sorry. I only did it because?—”

“Stop. Just stop. You already wrote everything in that letter, and I’m never going to agree with your reasoning, so don’t even try to justify it. What do you want?”

A waiter glided up. “Ladies, can I get you something to drink?”

Jubilee scanned the menu. “A chamomile tea, please.”

“I’ll have a watermelon and mint smoothie. Actually, no…” Mom wasn’t here to lecture me anymore. “…make it chocolate and banana.”

I didn’t miss Jubilee’s sharp intake of breath, but I ignored it.

“Anything to eat?” the waiter asked.

“Ask us in ten minutes.”

Because if Jubilee got on my nerves, I’d be gone by then. Ryder had arranged a safe place for me to wait if I left before he finished in the gym.

“Well?” I asked once the waiter had departed. “What do you want?”

“I guess I just wanted to check you were okay.”

“As you can see, I’m absolutely fine.”

---