Page 165 of Secret Weapon

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NINE

“Got a minute?”

I could hardly say no, could I?I was a guest in Emmy’s home, and ignoring her would be rude.I opened the door of the pool house wide enough for her to enter and then walked back to the dining table.

“You’re painting a sweater?”she asked.“Is that a gift for Tabby?”

“It’s for Esme Santoro.”

I lied when necessary, but I didn’t break my word, and I wasn’t going to disappoint a child on her birthday.Rad used to talk about balance, about kismet, and how we were both in negative equity when it came to building up karma points.More than once in the later years, we’d sabotaged a job—very, very carefully—but I was still so deep in the hole that I’d never dig my way out, no matter how many craft sessions I ran at the hospital, no matter how many cats I saved or sweaters I decorated.

And yet, somehow, I had Alex.

Last night, he’d taken me out to a Japanese Fusion restaurant—not just our first date, but my first real date ever.Previous efforts had all been work-related, although I’d taken a certain comfort in knowing the endgame—usually death—and pre-planning the steps I needed to take in order to get there.At times with Alex, I’d felt as if I was falling into the dark.

But at least the landing had been pleasurable.

“That’s nice of you,” Emmy said.

“No, it’s a self-serving endeavour.I’m trying to influence the gods of fate.”

Emmy barked out a laugh.“You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel bitchier.”

“Is there an actual point to this conversation?”

“Yeah, there is.”Emmy settled herself into a chair and leaned forward, elbows on the table.“I’d like to offer you a job.”

“I—”

She held up a finger.“I’d like to, but I’m not going to.”

I’d told myself I didn’t want to work for Blackwood, didn’t want to be at Emmy Black’s beck and call, so why did I feel a pang of disappointment?

“Because I know that’s not what you want,” she continued.“You spent most of your life working for a despot, and one I unfortunately happen to be related to.You barely know me, and you don’t much like me, and you’ve got no desire to let anyone have that much power over you again.Accurate?”

“Much of it is.”

“But you want to spend more time with Alex.”

“Yes.”

“Alex gets five weeks of paid time off per year, and we’re pretty flexible about the days he works.But that’s not going to be enough for you.Maybe he loves you enough to move to Baldwin’s Shore, although truthfully, I’m not sure he’d be happy there.He has a lot of friends in Virginia, and he enjoys his job.”

“You think I don’t know this?”

“No, I think you do.Which is why I have an alternative suggestion.Actually, it was Bradley’s idea—I can’t take all the credit.”

The groan slipped out unintentionally.Bradley meant well, I understood that, and I had to concede that the boots he’d dumped outside my bedroom door yesterday were superb.But we were talking about my future happiness here, and I had enough glitter in my life already, courtesy of Paulo.

“Yeah, that was my first reaction too.But surprisingly, it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was going to be.You want a coffee?I need a coffee.”

No, I wanted to get on with this conversation, but Emmy was already heading to the kitchen, leaving me with little choice but to follow.

“So, Bradley’s always had this dream of owning a craft store.In reality, he’d get bored after a week because he’d hate sitting behind a register and ordering stock and having to answer the same questions over and over, but the key thing is that he likes theideaof owning a craft store, and we can use that to our advantage.”Ouradvantage?“And when he spent the day helping out at the Craft Cabin, he talked to Brooke about her Thrive group.Empowering women has always been a cornerstone of the Blackwood Foundation’s work—that’s the charity Black and I started years ago, but his niece runs it now.”

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with me?”

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