Page 100 of Anyone But You
She snorted. “If you say so.”
“Where did you get this idea that Victoria’s only with me for my money?”
She opened her purse and pulled out a glossy magazine, showing me the cover. It was a gossip rag with our faces on the front and a headline that read,Barely legal secretary snags millionaire! Inside sources claim she’s bleeding him dry!
Well, that’s a defamation suit if I’ve ever seen one.
“Gio, is what this magazine is saying true?”
“I don’t know, Ma. It looks like they also wrote an article expressing that Tupac and Anna Nicole Smith are alive and well, living their retirement together on a private island. You tell me,” I said, drawing my words. I was over the ridiculous conversation and miffed about the article.
Victoria’s my executive assistant, not my secretary. And I’m a billionaire, not a millionaire. Doesn’t anyone fact-check anything anymore?
She huffed and folded the magazine before returning it to her purse.
“May I offer a suggestion?”
“Go ahead,” she said.
“How about you put the magazines down, turn off your television, trust your son, and get to know Victoria for yourself? You might actually enjoy her. I see a lot of you in her.”
She perked up with interest. “How so?”
“You should apologize and find out for yourself.”
My mother looked ashamed of herself, and I was confident she wouldn’t cause any issues moving forward.
“Very well. I’ll apologize.”
I smiled warmly.
“Good. I’ll see if she’s up for company.”
31
Hussies
Victoria
I ate a few bites of my meal and set it aside when I lost my appetite. I knew there was a 50/50 chance Mrs. Ramsey and I would get off on the wrong foot, but it still sucked. Could I have slapped a smile on my face and ignored the slight hostility? Sure, but I allowed myself to be a punching bag for too long for the sake of peace.
I stared at my phone and tried to convince myself not to call my sisters and give them a piece of my mind. It was tempting, but what would that achieve? What would be the outcome? They’d probably try to gaslight me and claim they did what they did because they thought I was dead, thinking there was no harm.
“Mrs. Ramsey is under the impression you’re a gold digger,” Amelia relayed, her ear pressed against the crack of the door.
I rolled my eyes. I had expected the cliche gold digger label. I was young and hot, and Knox was a crusty older gentleman with the personality of a mop head.
“Get away from the door, Messy Boots,” I chastised.
“Very well,” Amelia agreed with a disgruntled sigh. She closed the door before dramatically dropping onto the bed. She retrieved her special drink tumbler from the nightstand and took a long pull from the pink straw. “We need to talk strategy. We have to spin this around.”
“No, we don’t.”
“I beg to differ.”
“Listen, Knox’s mom will either come around or she won’t. Either way, that’s her business. I won’t be the first woman in the world to be disliked by her mother-in-law. And that’s okay. I understand that your job is to make our lives seem glamorous and hunky dory, but it’s irrelevant at this point. As of twenty minutes ago, I received my pink slip, and That Man Over There is retiring. Who are we trying to impress? We’ll both be bums in six months.”
Amelia blew out a frustrated breath through her nose and sipped from her tumbler again.
