Page 117 of Best In Class
“You want donors, Tommy? Media coverage? Legacy?” I ask, gesturing toward the blueprint of the hospital framed behind his desk. “Then you better think twice before publicly pushing a woman out of the spotlight on the biggest hospital project Savannah’s seen in years.”
He scoffs and sits behind his desk. “No one’s pushing her out?—”
“You’re suggesting I lead. That’s pushing her out,” I interrupt smoothly. “And the presswillnotice. They already know Luna Steele was awarded the contract. She’s the face of Savannah Lace. Try to walk that back now, won’t be a good look.”
He crosses his arms. “No one cares about this woke crap.”
I drop my smile. “No, but everyone cares about optics.”Including you, you motherfucker.“And you’ll look like the dinosaur who sidelined a woman to stroke his own ego.”
“Donors don’t give a damn.”
“Oh, but they do,” I reply, voice even softer now. “Because donors hate bad press. And your name beingdragged through theSavannah Tribuneand picked up by every female-led architecture publication in the Southeast? Not the kind of attention you want, Tommy.”
His jaw ticks.
“And let’s not forget,” I add, “that you’re trying to sideline a woman who also happens to be Luna Steele. As in, daughter of an old Savannah family who still has enough pull to make headlines when someone sneezes. And whose boss, Nina Davenport, filed the most public divorce Savannah’s seen in two decades. You think going head-to-head with women like that is going to lead to victory? You think you can win that kind of PR war?”
He doesn’t say anything, which is the smartest thing he’s done since we came into his office.
“I don’t like it,” he finally grinds out, like each word is billing him by the hour at some overpriced architecture firm.
“You don’t have to.” I rise, tower over him, and take my advantage. “Here is some free advice, take it or leave it. Underestimating women in 2025 and thinking the world still works the way it did in 1980 is not going to win you any points with anyone, especially not me. Fucking with Luna Steele will bring you grief. Fucking with Nina Davenport will bring you war.”
His mouth opens. Shuts.
“I’ll be standing behind Luna,” I say over my shoulder as I walk to the door. “Literally and figuratively. You want to build a hospital that matters? Let her lead. And enjoy the press coverage when the stories start running with headlinesabout how Minton Memorial is setting a new standard in hospital design and social consciousness.”
I open the door and stop when I hear him bark my name. I hold the door and face him.
“You think you’re some hot shit because you won an award.” There is ugliness in his eyes now—one I have seen many, many times.
“No, Tommy, I don’t think I’m hot shit. I think I’m a decent human being and a good architect. I also think you need to be careful about how you talk to me.”
I stay calm and smooth. There’s no fire in my voice, but rather the kind of quiet storm that leaves the room rearranged. He just doesn’t know that, but he will.
“And why is that?” he asks insolently.
“Because people like me more than they like you. They like Lev Steele and Gabe Rhodes and Noah Carter, and Anson LaRue more than they like you. And those men stand behind me, a hundred percent. Don’t make me call Betsy Rhodes and let her know what you’re trying to do to her daughter-in-law’s best friend.”
Savannah society is built on who knows whom. I’m friends with the highest echelons of the city, both in terms of money, heritage, and reputation. I don’t use it unless I have to—and in this case, I know that my friends expect me to name-drop as required to protect Luna, to not allow her to be pushed aside simply because she’s a woman.
And, as threats go, this one is solid. Betsy Rhodes, Gabe’s mama, is Savannah royalty. She can destroy reputations and exclude people from society with a flick of afinger.
For a hospital like the one Tommy is building, having Betsy badmouth it will be a disaster. His donors will flee. The press will drop him like a hot potato. He knows that.
Seeing that my threat has landed the way I intended for it to, I smile politely like a Southern gentleman. “You have a nice rest of your day, Tommy.”
And then I leave.
Luna is waiting for me in the shade outside the Minton building. She’s on her phone talking to someone. She finishes her call when she sees me.
She raises an eyebrow. “You alive?”
“Did you doubt it?”
She gives me a wickedly pleased look. “Nah.”
I lean down and brush my lips against hers. She’s still wary of us being close physically in a work situation. I don’t give a shit. I lived for too many years without her, and now I’m not going to let any distance build between us.
