Page 69 of How to Get Even

‘Yeah, but would Chase be any good with kids?’ Astrid asked sceptically.

Bella thought back to the way he was with Sascha, and okay, she wasn’t a kid, but Bella believed that he would be. She could see how much he would enjoy their unfiltered and uncensored creativity.

Chase disliked people for their duplicity. Something she was beginning to understand more and more, after Tej told her about his wife’s betrayal. Children – young children – were much less likely to be duplicitous.

‘But who in New York would let their children anywhere near Chase at the moment? He’s toxic right now,’ Paige pointed out.

Bella anxiously nibbled the edge of a nail bed that she promised to file down properly later.

‘What if they think it won’t get out?’ Sienna suggested.

‘What do you mean?’ Bella asked.

‘Like, what if you do an event that isn’t an event, but then you’re “found out”?’

‘Ohh,’ Astrid cooed, ‘I get it. Like Chase is “caught” doing “good works”.’

‘Yes,’ Sienna replied.

Finally catching on, Bella’s mind moved at a million miles an hour. Words from all the research she’d done on Chase, sentences, opinions, the conversation at the gallery warehouse, the divide between who got to see art, to do art…

‘What if we did something at the gallery with a local school?’ she began. ‘If we invited them to the gallery, got them to create some art and then while they’re at lunch, we could hang their pieces on the walls and after lunch they can tour their work in our gallery?’

‘Ohh, you could invite the parents too,’ Astrid added.

‘But how do you get that news out?’

‘You don’t have to,’ Astrid said smugly. ‘In fact, the harder you try to keep it a secret, the more likely the press will uncover it, especially if you do this soon.’

‘But we can’t guarantee that, can we?’ Sienna asked.

‘And I’m not actually sure I want to subject children to anything remotely press related…’ Bella realised, backing away from the idea.

‘No,’ the girls all hastily agreed.

‘But if we could make sure that it wasn’t a press gang? If the news didn’t get out until after the event, so the press would be nowhere near it. And of course, the “source” would want to protect the children and wouldn’t name the school, but I’m sure some “photos” could leak.’

Bella could see it in her mind. Could see how much fun the kids would have. How good it would be and how well it fit with what Chase wanted for the gallery, for art, for a mechanic and a school teacher…

‘Okay. What would that look like?’ Bella asked and the girls got to planning.

14

In a position of this sort […] it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat.

THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU

OPERATION PHOENIX RISING

Restore Chase’s reputation.

Make the gallery a roaring success.

Stop crying when I see CM.

Buy the next book in Delia’s series.

‘I cannot believe that you talked me into this,’ he grumbled.

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