Page 38 of Love Redesigned
“It’s not just about the four grand—”
“Are you confident your public image could stand the hit of being the guy who backed out of a charity event because of his own greed?”
“Now you’re just playing dirty,” Rizzo said.
“No, playing dirty would be including a picture of your multi-million-dollar mansion in the press release.”
He was silent for a beat before finally relenting. “Fine.”
I smiled. “Always a pleasure to talk with you, Rizzo. We’ll see you in December.” I hung up the phone and Isaac let out a whoop of victory.
He straightened an imaginary tie and slipped on a pair of imaginary sunglasses. “Always a pleasure to talk with you, Rizzo,” he said in an exaggerated Southern accent. “We’ll see you in December.”
I socked him in the arm. “You’re welcome.”
“Seriously, you are one convenient man to have around,” Isaac said.
“I have a list of things I need you to go over when you have time,” I said, moving to the fridge. I pulled out the leftovers from last night’s Chinese takeout. I opened the container and sniffed. Maybe it wasn’t last night. “When was the last time we had Chinese?”
“The fact that you can’t remember probably isn’t a good sign.”
I tossed the leftovers into the trash, instead grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter. “I talked to the event planner this morning. She had questions about the food and sent over a few different designs for the decorations. She wants you to pick the one you like the most.”
“It’s happening on Christmas Eve. I assumed it’d be decorated for Christmas.”
“The designs are all holiday-themed, just different styles. You’ll see what I mean when I send them over.”
“Cool. I’ll take a look. But you know you could probably just decide and never tell me we’d actually had options and I wouldn’t know the difference.”
“You and Dani really aren’t anything alike, are you?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not hardly. You should sendherthe designs. She’d know exactly which one to pick.”
A pang of regret pulsed through me. Daniwouldknow. She’d be the perfect person to consult. Instinctively I reached for my phone.
She hadn’t texted, not since she’d asked me about Sasha. But that didn’t stop me from compulsively checking for new messages. I dropped the phone back on the table, annoyed that I could so easily forget the reasons why I’d left. I’d only ever wanted to escape the LeFrancs and the world they lived in. I couldn’t do that with Dani. She was too connected. Too loyal.
An image of my mom flashed through my mind, one arm looped through Alicio, the other resting casually on a ten-year-old Victor’s shoulder. Gabriel stood beside him, his hand holding onto the hem of my mother’s jacket. It was a popular photo—one of the first ones that popped up when you googled Alicio’s name.
Just the four of them.
Their perfect little happy family.
Dani hadn’t been the only person to choose LeFranc over me.
My phone dinged with an incoming text and I lunged for it, grateful for the distraction, hating that I couldn’t tamp out the hope that the message might be from Dani.
My shoulders fell, but I typed out a response anyway.
“Who’s texting?” Isaac asked. “Somebody terrible?”
I shook my head. “Jasmine. Confirming our date for this weekend.”
“Wow,” Isaac said, his expression even. “I can already tell it’s going to be a party and a half.”
“Shut up,” I said, tossing my apple core into the trash. I left the kitchen, grabbing my laptop off the table on the way, and headed to my room.
I would go on a date with Jasmine.
