Page 69 of Siren's Game

"I'm also happy to see you," I tell her with an eye roll and low chuckle, and immediately head for the kitchen where I put all of the food on her kitchen island. I really brought a mountain: Two plastic bags filled to the brim, plus various pizza boxes containing pizza rolls and the like.

Did I mention I’m hungry? Ordering at a restaurant hungry is even more dangerous than ordering.

"Yeah. That too.” She grins at me. “Hi." She comes to a stop on the other end of the kitchen island, setting down the one container she’s holding in her hands and looks at me with wide eyes. Then she clears her throat. "Let's eat at the table."

"Sure." I carry some of the stuff over and grab some cutlery while I'm at it, grinning to myself. Eating at the table seems damned sophisticated compared to the last times I was here.

We sit down and she immediately reaches for the box containing the carbonara to heap it onto her plate, not leaving any for me. I chuckle as I reach for the spinach-cheese-garlic rolls.

Good thing I saw that coming and got us two.

"So I heard you had an eventful day?" I ask her before popping one of the garlic rolls into my mouth.

"That doesn't even begin to cover it," she says with a deep sigh, exhaustion washing over her face as her shoulders sag and she closes her eyes for a moment, leaning her forehead against propped up hands.

"Seriously. Today was a shitshow. First, we had to do interviews, and for some reason, as soon as I get with a guy, it discredits all of my work and becomes all that reporters ask about." I bite down a grin at the 'get with a guy.' It sounds so real the way she says it. "Then my best friend gets fucking attacked in a coffee shop and our label and management are doing jack shit. As expected."

Another heavy sigh, then she reaches for her water and takes a big gulp. "Seriously, I'm sick of it. I've talked to Millie, and we'll be exploring our opportunities of breaking our contract after the match. Because I’m not staying with Starlet Sounds any longer than I have to. There's no way I'm going to continue let these dickheads make money off Millie and me when they do absolutely nothing to protect us."

"You mentioned being wary of your label a few weeks back," I remember and tilt my head. "I get it. So what's your plan?"

"What makes you think I have a plan?" I raise my eyebrow at her. Please. She’s probably the most level-headed person I’ve met in the industry. She has a plan.

She blushes, averting her gaze with a soft chuckle. "Okay, I might have a plan."

"Tell me about it."

She lowers her fork and picks at her food. "I hate having to depend on a label or management company," she admits softly, turning the spaghetti with her fork. "I really,reallywant to launch my own company if I’m being honest." Her voice becomes quieter with each word, until it's finally just a whisper, and she quickly puts the fork in her mouth as if that takes back what she said.

"That's a cool idea," I tell her, and she looks at me through her lashes, her cheeks flush. "Does it seem manageable? What do you need to do? Can I help?"

Her eyes grow wide, and she gulps down the food in her mouth, then takes a sip of water.

"We'd have to break the contract so there's probably a huge fine. Nothing we wouldn’t be able to handle but it's still a lot. I’m not sure it would leave the kind of funds we would need to start our own company."

"Honestly, I think you should comb through your contracts again first. Or have someone more versed with the law do it for you," I tell her and reach for my phone. "See if they've adhered to all of their responsibilities before you throw your hard-earned money at them. Want me to ask my dad?"

"How would your dad help?" She tilts her head, looking adorably confused. “He’s not a lawyer.”

"Well, he's kind of a big deal in his company, which has some cutthroat lawyers. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to help."

"That would be amazing." Her face lights up and she straightens her spine, her eyes darting from my face to her food excitedly as she scoots around on her chair. "Honestly, I'd resigned to just forking up the money, but if there's a way around it, I'd be more than happy because those assholes don’t deserve another cent in my opinion. Now hand me one of those garlic rolls."

"Why am I suddenly handing you a garlic roll?" I laugh and open the box to retrieve one.

"Because I could kiss you and I'm not doing that if you ate garlic and I didn't."

I freeze, my eyes shoot to her and meet a wide grin, then she winks at me and I shake my head at her, a grin tugging at me lips.

Fuck. The effect this woman has on me is unreal.

Before she changes her mind, I all but launch one of the garlic rolls at her. She catches it with ease and bites into it as I squirm in my seat, fighting the urge to adjust myself. She doesn’t need to know that a fucking flirt, grin and wink are enough to have me rock hard.

"I think we should talk about the other elephant in the room," she says with a full mouth that she covers with her hand as she’s chewing on that roll.

"Oh yeah?" I raise my eyebrow at her and lean my chin on my hand, giving her my full attention. "Which is?"

Is this the talk? The one where she breaks up with me because Luca and Millie are already public?

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