Page 27 of One More Made Up Love Song
I grin. There is no love lost between my former agent and my assistant. And rightly so.
“I can text him,” I say. “Or I can ask Sloane. She probably knows someone who could track down Margot.”
“Don’t.” Ivy sits up a little taller. “I don’t trust Kevin not to leak that you’re looking for her, and that’s not news your reputation can handle right now. And Sloane shouldn’t have to deal with my family drama. That’s not her job.”
“I’mher job,” I say. “And I don’t mind asking. This is my fault. You should let me help.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s Carina’s fault. And I’m not letting you get anywhere near Margot Valemont just because my sister is making questionable choices. It’s not worth it.” She breathes out a frustrated sigh. “I just wish Carina would answer my freaking messages. She’s never ignored me for this long before.”
“Have you tried calling her?”
“Multiple times,” Ivy says. “She’s not answering those either.”
I drain the last of my water bottle and gather up the trash from my dinner. “Could something be up with her phone?”
“I don’t think so. If it were dead or broken or lost or whatever, it would just go straight to voicemail. But it’s still ringing when I call, and my messages are marked as delivered.”She stands and takes the trash out of my hands, carrying it across the hotel room to throw it away. “I might worry less if I didn’t know she was with Margot. But I’ve just got this feeling in my gut, you know? She’s never ignored me like this.”
Ivy is always telling me I’m too trusting, but if I had a sister, I wouldn’t want her hanging out with Margot Valemont either. And itissuspicious that Carina is ignoring all of Ivy’s attempts to reach out.
“You have to trust that feeling,” I say. “I don’t like that she’s ignoring you either.”
“So what do I do?” she asks.
“Let me ask around,” I say. “I’ll talk to Sloane. Or even ask Wayne. He knows a lot of people. Someone will know someone who knows where they are and could help us get a message to Carina.”
“I’malreadygetting messages to Carina, and she’s ignoring me,” Ivy says.
“Then we’ll find out where she is and go confront her.”
Ivy quickly shakes her head. “Absolutely not.Wewon’t do anything. You cannot afford contact with Margot. Besides, this is probably just Carina being Carina.”
I lean forward, propping my elbows on my knees. “Maybe. But with the way Margot parties, I’d still be worried about Carina spending so much time with her. Just let me make a few phone calls. I could at least find out if she’s okay. Safe.”
She bites her lip, narrowing her gaze the slightest bit. “Why are you so worried about this?”
I shrug. “Carina only knows Margot because of me.”
“That’s a false equivalency,” Ivy says, shaking her head. “Margot showed up to your release party uninvited. The factthat she ran into Carina outside was terrible luck, but it wasn’t your fault. There’s no reason for you to play the hero here.” She reaches for her phone. “I’ll just message Carina again. If I threaten to go searching for her, she might respond just to keep me from doing it.”
Ivy’s probably right, but I’d still feel better if we had a way to make sure. I don’t want any contact with Margot, but I’m pretty sure Wayne knows someone working on her security staff. It can’t hurt to at least ask.
Ivy stands and lifts her arms over her head, arching her back as she stretches. My eyes drop to the subtle curve of her hips before I force them upward again. The woman knows how to wear a pair of jeans, but somehow, I’ve never really noticed until now.
How have I not noticed?
And how am I going tostopnoticing?
“Oh, hey,” she says. “I forgot to mention I got a text from Mira Stapleton this morning.”
I lift my eyebrows. “You did?”
“Are you ignoring her, Freddie? It’s the only reason she would text me. She asked if your number changed.”
I breathe out a sigh. “She wants to see me when we’re in LA next week.”
Ivy folds her arms across her chest. “How do you feel about that?”
“Like if I wanted to see her, I probably would have texted her back by now.”
