Page 18 of Confused AF
“Chloe had an allergic reaction to the eye makeup you used this morning.”
“Oh, my god,” I gasped, my fingers flexing around his hands. “Is she okay? What happened?”
“She’s fine,” he assured me. “Just some redness and swelling. Nothing serious.”
“I need to talk to her.” I tried to stand, but he grabbed my arm and dragged me back into my seat. “What are you doing? I have to—”
“She’s not here,” he interrupted, shaking his head. “After she was treated, she went back to her hotel to rest.”
“Right.” I bobbed my head slowly, my mind a wild storm of thoughts and emotions. “That makes sense.” I stopped nodding and jerked my head up again. “How do you know all this?”
“Once I heard the rumors, I contacted her assistant.”
If it had been anyone else, I might have been surprised that he just casually had Chloe Rae’s personal assistant on speed dial. But Vaden had a way of making the impossible seem, not just possible, but almost mundane.
“I don’t understand,” I mumbled under my breath. “How did this happen?”
Every product I had put on Chloe’s face that morning had come from her own line of cosmetics. I had seen her use those exact shadows and gel liners in numerous videos and livestreams. Furthermore, I had personally used them on other clients during the expo without anything like this happening.
I took safety and hygiene seriously, always so careful to avoid cross-contamination. As such, I felt confident this hadn’t stemmed from a cleanliness issue. No matter how I looked at it, I just couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong.
“Otto, this isn’t your fault.”
I glanced at him with a raised brow. “It kind of is.”
Releasing my hands, Vaden leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful. “You know better than that. Something isn’t adding up here.”
His words hung in the air, heavy with implication. “Wait, are you saying you think someone did this on purpose? To what?Sabotage me?” It seemed so absurd, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Who would do something like that?”
“I can think of at least one person who would love to see you fail.”
A chill raced down my spine. “Kassidy.”
I let myself entertain the idea for a moment, but ultimately, I couldn’t believe it. Kassidy was a thief, but she wouldn’t do something like this. Right?
“No,” I said, more to myself than to Vaden. “That’s ridiculous. Even if she wanted to, she didn’t have access to my palettes.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course, I’m sure.”
I made sure to pack away all of my products at the end of every day and cart them back to the hotel. Granted, I did it to prevent theft, not betrayal, but the result remained the same. No one would have been able to touch them without my knowledge.
Even when I took breaks, I enlisted Vaden to keep an eye on things. Meaning that, at no point since our arrival had I left my table unattended.
Except last night.
My breath hitched, and I sat up straighter, my gaze darting to my mate. When Vaden had dragged me off to the conference rooms the previous evening, work had been the last thing on my mind.
“No,” I repeated, but my voice didn’t hold the same conviction. “Why would she do something like this?”
Vaden’s expression didn’t change, but he spoke with a sharpness that hadn’t been there before. “Gossip spreads like an infection in places like this. I don’t doubt she heard about the interview.”
“She knew,” I confirmed. “She stopped by my table last night while I was packing up to ask me about it. I didn’t tell her anything, but she sounded pretty upset.”
“Chloe Rae isn’t just anyone, Otto. Landing on her radar is a big deal, and that kind of visibility breeds contention.”
I swallowed hard, my heart racing as I took in his words. “But Kassidy couldn’t have known I would be using those products on Chloe. Hell,Ididn’t even know until this morning.”
