Page 45 of Scripted for Love and Poison
“And are you sure you don’t know who Simon Smith is?”
“The name sounds familiar.” Victor pointed upward, making a circular motion with his finger. “But nothing more than that.”
“We also talked about him during the interview,” Sol told him.
“The only thing I remember about our interview is you, darling.” Victor was clearly making Sol uncomfortable. Luke had always considered himself patient and calm, but the director was irritating him to no limit.
“So you don’t know the man who wrote the review that destroyed your movie?” Luke said, andagain, he knew he was approaching the conversation the wrong way. And yet he couldn’t stop himself from antagonizing Victor Lago.
“My movie is notdestroyed,” Victor said. His words came out strained, and Luke felt the thrill of victory. He’d finally managed to aggravate the filmmaker as much as Victor Lago was aggravating Luke.
“What Luke meant to say is that Simon Smith was one of the really small group of journalists who had access toHaughty Horizonswhen no one else had,” Sol said.
“As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, the PR team takes care of that sort of stuff,” Victor said, as if promoting a movie was a dirty business beneath him. “But perhaps you should talk to Claudia.”
“Claudia?” Sol said.
“Claudia Hopkins. I think she did some freelance media consulting for the movie. She advised the team on how to promote it. Not that it had any positive outcome.” Victor chuckled. “If you’ll excuse me now, my glass is empty, I need a refill. And I’m reallyboredwith this conversation.” With that, he made exaggerated gestures to get the barman’s attention.
···
“That man is a consummate liar,” Sol told Luke ten minutes later when they were both snugly seated in a more secluded part of the Roosevelt, going over everything Victor Lago had told them. “He pretended he didn’t know anything about things I’d already told him or asked him about in our interview. He told me he never forgot a face.”
“Either he was lying to you then or he was lying to me now. But he clearly was lying to someone,” said Luke. “Abbie said he hated Simon Smith. Yet he’s feigned indifference and even ignorance when we’ve both asked about the critic.”
“You think he did it?” Sol asked him. “All of it?”
“I think I don’t like him one bit.”
“Yeah, but is it because he’s a potential killer or because you didn’t appreciate how he checked me out?”
“Both,” declared Luke.
“I have to say, I’ve never been into the whole possessive alpha thing,” Sol said, moving her hand in a wide circle infront of his chest, “but it’s sort of—perhaps—mildly turning me on.”
“Mildly?” Luke arched one of his eyebrows.
“Considerably.” Her lips parted, and she inched toward him. Her eyes were filled with desire. And that would have been the perfect moment and almost the perfect place for a kiss.
But it wasn’t.
“Look at you, all cozy in a private corner. Am I interrupting something?” Claudia’s voice filled the space.
This fucking city. Never a bloody moment alone.
“Not really,” Sol said, although he could see that she was as disappointed as he was. “We actually wanted to talk to you.”
“Really?” Claudia said. “I’d have said you’ve been avoiding me for the past week, and now you—and the beau—want to talk to me?”
“We just wanted to ask you about something Victor Lago mentioned,” Sol started tentatively. “He said you advised on reaching out to Simon Smith to reviewHaughty Horizons? And that you did some freelance media consulting for the movie?”
Claudia’s complacent features faltered for the briefest of instants, but the editor efficiently pulled her façade back on.
“You know as well as I do that would be a conflict of interest, as my employment as an executive editor atPerformance Weeklyprevents me from getting paid by movie studios. My objectivity as a journalist could be perceived as breached,” Claudia said.
“As a veteran journalist and a smart,oldwoman, I also know that this city is fucking expensive and some consulting jobs pay well,” Sol said, a pleasant manner never abandoning her demeanor.
“I can trust that you’ll be discreet,” Claudia continued.
