Page 50 of Guarded Hearts
“You’re in the clear, I’d think,” Amy said, her finger skimming across the posts. “Pasha? Well, how much does Mia love him? This is a PR nightmare.”
“Maybe his contract didn’t have the same clause.” We’d talked about it, but I didn’t remember if our contract language was the same.
In the end, Mia was the boss, and she didn’t have to listen to some social media post from a dancer who’d been legitimately fired, no matter how much they shouted their version of events out into the world. I couldn’t believe she’d fire him.
Amy sighed and gestured to the center of the room. “Looks like Mia’s seen the post.”
I followed Amy’s hand, and Mia had her fingers pressed to her forehead. She was headed for Pasha through the crowd. I’d have to cut her off, take the blame. Throw myself on whatever sacrificial altar existed because I didn’t want Pasha going back to Russia. Mia couldn’t fire him. Without saying anything to Amy, I pushed through the crowd. By the time I got to Mia and Pasha, they were already engaged in a fairly heated argument.
“I asked you not to do this!” Mia’s voice was raised above the still-blaring music. Behind her, Tyler squeezed her shoulder.
“Tomorrow, on the island,” Tyler said. “We’ll have a meeting tomorrow in Bellerive. All of us. Figure this out. Damage control.”
Mia whirled to me. “All the two of you had to do was wait until now, tonight. That’s it. Just, like, stay professional until tonight. I didn’t say ‘no.’ I didn’t say ‘never.’ I just said ‘wait.’”
Tyler drew Mia to his side. “Tomorrow, Mini. Okay? We’ve all been drinking, and I wouldn’t want you to say something you’d regret.”
“Fine,” she said, throwing up her hands. “Fine.” She stormed off in a huff.
“We might all be in deep shit tomorrow, since I knew and didn’t tell her earlier.” Tyler grimaced and then sighed. “Maybe tomorrow, this won’t seem like such a big deal. She’s probably more pissed that you lied to her. She’s also drunk. End of the tour. Wedding in two weeks. Lots ofmoving pieces right now, and then Jazz is like this persistent thorn in her side.”
“Yes,” Pasha said. “Tomorrow we’ll talk.”
I tried to catch Pasha’s gaze, but his jaw was set in a rigid line. Tyler took off after Mia, leaving us alone together with what felt like at least half the ballroom focused on us. “Should we—should we talk?”
Pasha gave his head a sharp shake and scanned the crowd. “Not here. Tomorrow.”
“Will she fire you?” I couldn’t help the question, but they’d been fighting. I’d never seen them exchange anything other than teasing barbs, inside jokes.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Pasha
Mia massaged her forehead and looked stressed. Tyler stood behind her, and Victoria was nowhere in sight. Anger vibrated off Mia in waves that hit me full force in the chest.
Last night, she’d refused to talk to or acknowledge me, even though I’d worked until the party had ended. Then, I’d gone to Alyssa’s hotel room. She’d let me in without a word, and we’d held each other in bed, lost in thought, not speaking. When her head had settled into the crook of my neck and her lips had skimmed across my skin, I’d sighed out a breath. No matter the cost, I wouldn’t change the choices I’d made, the moments we’d shared.
“You realize you’ve put me in a really awful position, right?” Mia made eye contact. Her eyes were bloodshot. She’d had a lot to drink last night, and Tyler had practically carried her back to their room. During the plane ride, she’d slept, ignoring everyone but Tyler and her daughter. Once we’d arrived in Bellerive and her hotel room had been swept, she’d hidden out there until she’d summoned me, just now.
“Yes,” I admitted. One of the consequences of pursuing a relationship with Alyssa had always been this reckoning. I’d hoped to avoid it. No such luck.
“That’s all you have to say for yourself? Aren’t we beyond the one-word answers?”
“At the hospital—”
“I asked if anything was going on, and you said ‘no.’”
I searched her expression. Maybe I’d read that exchange wrong. I’d come to know her facial expressions, could read her emotional reactions at a distance. Had my anxiety over Alyssa clouded my judgment that day?
“I didn’t think you really wanted to know,” I admitted.
She bit her lip and glanced at Tyler over her shoulder. With her hand, she drew her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “I didn’t want your relationship with Alyssa to be happening. I’m happy for you, of course, if you like her or whatever. We’re friends. I want my friends to be happy. But I’m running a business, and that business has a contract.”
“I understand.” My chest tightened. I understood the contact and its consequences, but none of that made this conversation easier.
“Do you? My lawyer says I should fire you.”
