Page 71 of A Conflict of Interest

Kelcey laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I know how to get results! Don’t worry, Miss Preston and I are best friends now.”

“Nothing to bring a couple of business rivals together like a fight in the middle of an event hall,” I said. “Isn’t that right, Anna? You know all about forming a good relationship with a rival by fighting them.”

Anna put her hands up. “I’m not a part of this conversation,” she said.

At the sound of footsteps—pointed footsteps, the kind that I recognized from too many years of getting people angry enough to track me down—I glanced over to where I got an uncomfortable twist in my stomach at the sight of mister self-important president Michael Berg striding my way, together with Liam Danielson, and that vague smirk on Danielson’s face looked like trouble.

“Ah, well, I gotta go to the bathroom, I had way too much champagne and I’m about to pee myself,” I said, backing away, but I bumped into the table, and Miranda didn’t recognize the importance of the situation fast enough to move and clear the way for me to escape before Berg’s voice cut through the noise and the music playing overhead.

“Hi, Miss Preston—Anna, Veronica,” he said, turning to me. “Veronica, can I talk to you and Mister Danielson in private one second?”

This was probably why Danielson had gotten me to take his car—getting me in trouble somehow here and cutting off myescape routes. Little did he know I was difficult. “Nah, sorry,” I said. “I was just about to head to the bathroom, about to pee myself, previously established.”

Danielson narrowed his eyes a little with a dangerous smile. “Pretty sure you just went. It’ll only be a second.”

“Think I’ve got a stomach bug. Actually think I’m going to start throwing up. Must have been that sketchy sushi I got for lunch.”

The situation instantly turned frommanageable problemtounacceptable crisiswhen I heard the last voice I wanted right now, barging in on the scene: my fucking mother’s voice, pushing through the crowd towards me. “Oh, god, Anna, I just got here and you’re sick?”

Anna straightened instantly, going marble-pale. “Mom—what are youdoinghere?” she said, looking at where Mom pushed through the crowd and came over to where she lit up at the sight of Kelcey.

“Oh, god, Kelcey, it’s so good to see you, it’s—oh, you look beautiful tonight,” she said, going in for a hug, and Kelcey met her hug gladly.

“Oh, Mrs. Preston, you too! Don’t worry about Veronica, she’s just about to go throw up.”

Anna massaged her temples. “Mom, for god’s sake, I told you not to—”

Mom waved her off. “Don’t be silly! Of course I’m attending. You know wherever Matthew and Chelsea are, your father and I are here too. I think you sent the wrong address by mistake, but luckily he was able to clear things up.”

Berg shifted awkwardly, looking between everyone. “This is nice and all, but Veronica—”

“Veronica’s really sick,” Kelcey said, nodding at him. “She’s been throwing up since the morning.”

“I have,” I said. “It’s been awful.”

Miranda scowled. “I thought it was since lunch.”

“I thought the sushi would help the throwing-up situation,” I said quickly. “You know how it is—like dissolves like.”

Kelcey nodded. “She had a whole lot of bad sushi last night, so it felt natural.”

Danielson looked at the situation like a kid whose favorite toy had just broken. “Can we focus on the task at hand? There’s an important situation we have to talk about.”

“Veronica,” Berg said. “If we can’t get a second, I’ll have to talk to you here. Your employer Danielson was talking to me about some questionable transactions between you and Kelcey Huntington…”

Mom beamed at him. “Aren’t they so wonderful?” she said, and Berg frowned.

“Miss Preston—” he said, and she laughed.

“Oh,Miss Preston,like I’m young and free again. Well, I feel like it. I’ve been in a wonderful place lately.”

I nodded quickly. “Oh, yeah—I’m sure you have. I mean, you and Dad and the Goulds—why don’t you take a second to talk about that whole situation while I go throw up real quick?”

Anna turned her gaze to the middle distance, looking like she was waiting for the chandelier to fall on her head. Kelcey nodded excitedly. “Oh, absolutely,” she said, turning to Mom. “Now’s the best time, right? I mean, everyone’s here.”

Danielson cleared his throat, speaking louder. “Veronica—I’ve been talking with Berg and with a certain someone you’ve been in contact with lately trying to jump ship and get a job at their firm,” he said, standing up taller. “Apparently trying to do it behind my back, which is understandable, because your work with Kelcey Huntington raised some flags,” he said. “So before we get distracted any further—can you tell me what exactly the Huntingtons gave you in exchange for your private work?”

Ugh, god, was that what this was? I should have figured the guy with the suspicious look my way from the magazine would have contacted Danielson trying to look for dirt on me. It getting out that Kelcey and I were dating… or whatever we were… was one thing, but if he was setting this up to look like I’d been bribed, that was objectively worse.

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