Page 36 of Obsessed Heir

Well, it takes all kinds. The likely scenario runs through my mind, leaving me speechless on the matter. “Okay. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be right down.”

“No, Barron,” she insists, apologetically. “I didn’t mean to take you away from your visit. I just want to see if you can find out more about Bronwyn.”

“You did a background check, right?” Considering the registrations include more stars than a red-carpet event, we deemed it necessary. We did the same for every employee on board, at a considerable cost.

“We did a standard review,” she says, as if she just realized that isn’t nearly enough. “I need someone to flip over stones and see what they can find,” she admits.

“Seriously?”

“Call it woman’s intuition, but something isn’t sitting right with me now that I’ve met her. This behavior is raising all kinds of red flags for me.”

The level of scrutiny might be over the top, but I understand she wants peace of mind. “You said yourself she’s drunk.”

“I don’t want a PR nightmare on my hands.” This sounds more like the Holly I know and put up with. “She started throwing your name around when everything went down. That could easily come back and blow up in our face.”

“My name? How the hell did I end up mixed up in this when I’ve hardly said two words to the woman?”

“Which is partly why I want to get ahead of this.” The steely determination in her voice is much better than the note of insecurity I heard earlier. “I have enough to juggle without trying to clean up a mess.”

That’s more like it.

“Do you want to get rid of her?” I suggest, admittedly feeling trigger happy over the opportunity. “If you think this will end in a mess, maybe we shouldn’t bother to work with her at all.”

“At this point, it’s all just a feeling.” She grows pensive.

While Holly may be overreacting to a simple drunken indiscretion, I can’t dismiss her instincts so easily. So far, Bronwyn hasn’t shown the best judgment.

“Look at it this way, she’s here on a contract for the photo shoot. Anything else she’s angling for would make it a more prestigious position.” The face of Maiden Cruise Line. “The way she’s been acting, she’s willing to do anything for it.”

“Then why would she get drunk and cause a spectacle at a club the first night?” Her nail tapping comes through the line. “Does she realize she isn’t doing herself any favors?”

“Could it be a stunt to call attention to herself?” I suggest. “She could think there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

Holly scoffs. “She can’t be that naïve?”

“Can’t she?” I give her a few seconds to think about it. “We’ve seen much worse when they know Daddy can make trouble go away.”

“True.” She blows out another breath. “We’ll take the pictures because we already have someone scheduled. We can still use her for the website, if nothing else comes up. But I say we nix the spokesperson position.”

“Okay,” I agree, knowing Holly will worry this to death. “I trust your judgment.”

“Thanks.” Her relief is unmistakable.

“Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you.” We hang up, and I immediately scroll through my contact list. For the kind of information Holly wants, I’ll likely need to call in the big guns.

I press the button on the screen and glance back at the print. I’m able to own that little piece of heaven, thanks to my association with this particular group.

“Barron,” Dante answers, seemingly unperturbed by my calling in the middle of the night. “How’s the maiden voyage?”

“Hey, Dante.” It shouldn’t surprise me that he remembers what I’m doing today. “It’s going as well as can be expected.”

Dante has made a lucrative living catering to businessmen with questionable practices. I doubt I’m anywhere near his biggest client, or the one with the most challenging business ventures.

“Glad to hear it.” To his credit, he doesn’t sound the least bit skeptical. Though he knows that if I’m calling, especially at this hour, something has to have gone sideways. “Now, how can I help you?”

“I need whatever you can find on Bronwyn O’Neal.” I slip into the no-nonsense tone I use for business dealings. “She’s an up-and-coming fashion model we brought on for a layout.”

“Got it.” The short, simple acknowledgment is all I receive in response. That’s one of the many reasons he’s at the top of his game.

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