Page 62 of Love Redesigned
“Dani, Sasha is very good at manipulating people. Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault. You shouldn’t feel—”
“I made a wedding dress for Paige,” she said, cutting me off. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made, and it was perfect.”
She pulled out her phone and opened up a picture, handing it over for me to see. It was a photo of Sasha in what I assumed was the wedding dress Dani had made.
“Chase sent that to me yesterday. She just showed it to the design team. It’s the first in the Sasha Wellington Collection, LeFranc’s debut line of wedding gowns. That’s the one she plans to wear at her wedding.”
“Except you made it,” I said.
She nodded. “For Paige. Sasha saw it and promised that if I let her have it, she’d make me lead designer on her new team. I thought she just wanted it to be a part of the line, that she for sure already had her own dress designed, but I was wrong. I caught herwearingthe dress, having it altered to fither.She stole it. And she never had any intention of letting me design with her. It was a lie just so she could get her hands on the dress.”
I cursed, familiar frustration welling up inside. The woman was rotten from the inside out. “She can’t really get away with it, can she? Surely someone would believe you if you came forward and told them what happened.”
“Why would anyone believe me? Sasha’s a powerful woman. She threatened to ruin my name in the industry, and she could, too. Negative feedback from LeFranc? There’s not a designer in all of New York that would hire me with that on my resume.”
I hated to admit it, but she was right. Sasha really did have that kind of influence. Not that she deserved it.
“What about Paige? Can you make her the dress again?”
She shook her head. “I can’t. It would cost me hundreds of dollars to buy the lace and fabric I would need. Plus, where would I work? All my sewing stuff is still in a trailer parked at Mirna’s house in Brooklyn. What’s more, I’m pretty sure if I made the same dress, Sasha would find a way to sue me for stealing her idea.”
“Paige is just one person. How would Sasha even know that Paige wore the same dress?”
“That’s just it. Paige’s mother is a Pinckney. You know what that means around here. Debutante balls, big society events, private schools, yacht parties, all of it. Her mother has already hired Southern Royalty magazine to come and photograph the wedding. I mean, I can’t know for sure Sasha would do anything, but I’m not sure I’m willing to risk everything to find out.”
“That probably would have been some nice publicity for a new designer. Paige wearing your dress.”
Dani only shook her head and let out a disheartened laugh. “Yeah. It would have been.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Paige’s mom made her buy a back-up dress anyway.” She looked at me. “Great that she had so much confidence in me, right?”
“I bet Paige loved the dress you made,” I said.
Dani offered a small smile, almost enough to lift the frown lines creasing her forehead. “Yeah. She really did.”
The smallest seed of a plan took root in my mind. It was ridiculous. And probably wouldn’t work. But just maybe... “Did she love your dress more than the back-up dress?”
“I don’t know why it matters, but yes. I’m pretty sure she loved it even more.”
I reached over and grabbed Dani’s hands, pulling her up so we stood facing each other beside the bed. “I think I have a plan.”
Her eyes narrowed. “A plan for what?”
“I have an invitation to the wedding,” I said as if that were explanation enough.
“And?” she prompted.
“And I can bring a date.”
Her narrowed eyes turned into a frown. “What are you getting at?”
“Let’s go to the wedding. Me and you. Let’s go get Paige’s dress.”
Dani’s eyes went wide. “What? Like, steal it?”
“It’s not stealing if what you’re taking already belongs to you.”
She remained silent for a few moments, as if considering my plan, then shook her head. “No. It would never work. They’ll have security at the wedding and I’m not exactly Sasha’s favorite person right now. I’d never get close enough.”
“That’s where I come in,” Alex said. “I’m not technically still family, but they’re getting married at Alicio’s house in the Keys. I know that house. If Alicio still uses the same security firm he always has, I’ll know people there. And Iwasofficially invited to the wedding. They can’t stop me from going home. I have a room there. Full of things that belong to me. I have a right to show up.”
