Page 15 of Let Me Say It Again

“No time to waste. I’ve done two jobs for long enough. We need you. I need you. I’m pregnant, you know,” she remindedme as she rubbed her barely there baby bump. “You won’t let me and my baby down, will you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but you can’t use the pregnancy card again for another three months.”

She sighed but smiled wide again. “Noted. I’ll be in my next trimester by then, so it’ll be perfect!”

“You’re deranged,” I replied and stood up. “And I’m leaving because I have some research to do about what it means to be a fashion editor.”

“While you’re researching things, you might want to see if there’s a way you won’t end up engaged to Red for real by the end of this.” She wiggled her brows suggestively.

But Maria was wrong. It was stupidly optimistic thinking on her part because Red and I were never going to be anything more than what we were to each other, which was nothing. Especially now that I was no longer his personal assistant.

Nope. I was officiallyBellissima’snewest fashion editor.

Boy, was I screwed, and not in the fun way.

Going to my text thread with Red, I decided I should let him know the good news.

Jade:I’ll be working atBellissimanow.

Reddington:Sisters working together. Now that’s what I like to hear.

Why did I even bother with him?

Chapter Seven

Reddington

Regina Morelli hadsome nice taste if theBellissimaheadquarters were any indication. They could make a pretty nice mint if they rented offices they weren’t using to self-employed tenants.

That wasn’t why I was here, though. I was here because we had zero time to waste. The fact was that if I was engaged to Jade, then we were already behind schedule. Which was why I’d remedied all of that with a few calls. One of which I’d made to Maria—sweet woman, obviously liked me—to ask permission to bring a hair and makeup crew and stylists to pay Jade a visit to get her ready for our engagement photo session. It was taking place in—oh, let’s see—a little over two hours.

Leading my entourage, I knocked on Jade’s door before merely walking right in.

Just as I’d suspected, she was in no condition to up and go take engagement photos to be featured in the paper. Her back was to us, but as I stepped aside and allowed my crew the space they needed to set up, she turned around, practically jumping and causing the stack of papers in her hand to fall to the ground.

Her hair was a disheveled mess in some knot that seemed to have started to come undone hours ago, and she’d never done anything about it. Her face didn’t have a bit of makeup on it, which was good actually because it’d make the makeup artists’ jobs a lot easier. And don’t get me wrong here, I had no problem with the way she looked. If anything, I thought she wasimmensely beautiful, but I also knew it wouldn’t fly for formal engagement photos.

And I felt like it went without saying, but she wasn’t wearing a bra, her nipples pressed up against the silky fabric of her top. I’d seen her wear it a dozen or more times when she’d worked for me, and I still had no idea what to make of it.

See, this was why I preferred custom suits tailored to me. Off-the-rack never did anything for me, and it sure as shit didn’t get across the message that I wanted—this suit cost more than the down payment you put on your house. It was all about exerting power. Sorry, it was just the way it worked. I didn’t make the rules, only followed them.

Jade’s eyes tried to throw daggers at me, forming the thinnest of slits that I was surprised she could have even seen out. That would cause strain on her eyes later, I mused. Not that it was my problem. Her stupidity, not mine.

“I’m going to close my eyes and when I open them, I sincerely hope for your sake, all of these people are out of my office, and you’re gone with them,” she warned, emblazoned with frustration.

“Should we leave?” the stylist asked, pausing in her endeavor to set up a rack of clothes in the corner.

I shook my head. “No.” I signaled for her to get back to what she was doing. “Continue. I’m calling the shots, not Jade.”

The woman nodded and went back to her job. Smart decision. She obviously had respect for the man cutting her paycheck.

Jade, on the other hand, stood her ground, slamming the papers onto her desk and causing an uproar. Everyone stared at her, and I placed my fingers on my forehead, pinching the bridge of my nose. “All right, listen up, there’s nothing to see here,” I nearly shouted, my voice booming in the space. Then I pointed to Jade. “Go sit in the chair, and let the professionals do theirjob. We’re taking engagement photos in less than two hours, and I have no time or patience for your bullshit. Our engagement announcement should have already been in the paper by now.”

She walked past me and stuck a finger in my face, pursing her full lips. “You piss me off, more than you’ll ever know,” she said.

I grinned. “Feeling is mutual. Now sit down.”

Begrudgingly, Jade did as she was told, setting her arms on the chair as a hair stylist began undoing the mop on her head, and the makeup artist stood in front of her, starting to add shit to Jade’s face.

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