Page 135 of Ruthless Ambition
“You’re both weird.”
“Says the girl running from her mother,” Chrissy deadpanned. “So, when are you coming to meet your nieces and nephew?”
“I’m . . .” I slowed. “Nieces and nephew?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, I told the girls about Aunt Angel, and of course, now they think you’re anactualangel, and Jer said you were, asshole.” She took a breath. “So, they think you’re an angel, and I just had to order you wings.”
“I feel like I have a concussion again,” I admitted.
“Just adopt my kids, okay? Come Saturday. It’s Sophia’s birthday — wear the wings.”
She hung up and left me staring at the street with my hands on my hips, feeling like I had run a marathon, and I hadn’t even had the chance to break a sweat. Shaking my head, I resumed my run.
I was due back at work on Monday. Maybe a weekend out of Nashville was what I needed. I’d been working from home, but since the doctor had told my mom I needed rest, she hadn’t let me out of the house.
If I went to Chrissy’s, Mom and Dad could go home. I was a bad daughter.
I might also see Onyx.
I didn’t want to see Onyx, did I?
No.
Yes. So badly.
I ran harder.
When Cooper told me Johnathan had been arrested, I hadn’t believed him. Cooper told me that Johnathan had caught Will trying to sneak into my office, and Will had told him why. Will must have been a snake charmer in a former life, becauseaccording to Johnathan, he had completely convinced him I was the devil. Johnathan thought I deserved everything I got, andhewould get my clients when I got what I deserved for ruining Judd’s life. Will had an inside man.
The path to hell was paved with good intentions.
Bullshit.
The path of false intentions was paved with gold.
I really do wish I had been there when he told theactualDevils, men who had low or no scruples — for the right reasons — what he had thought was going to happen to me.
I hadn’t spoken to Onyx, but I had seen the gleam in Cooper’s eye, and that had been enough.
It seemed Johnathan was a bit of a whiz on computers — who knew? Because he was a mediocre agent.
As I ran around my block, I took in the nice lawns, the pretty gardens, and the small stores. There were people everywhere. I wasn’t a fan of people. The house in Belle Meade was large, the grounds spacious for my needs, and my neighbors far enough away.
It also had a pretty complex security device with a very thick manual. My dad had been salivating over it.
I was going to buy the house, I decided.
I wanted to move.
As I approached my house, I saw my mom waiting for me at the door . . .andI was going to Chrissy’s for the weekend. It was time to take back control of my life.
* * *
“I can’t believe you actually made me wear these,” I hissed at Chrissy as her children played around a giant unicorn made of white, pink, and blue balloons. Her yard was filled with gorgeous children, sophisticated-looking women, and a platter of pro stars that had to be seeking an agent, surely. My summer dresswas pretty, white, and floaty, with little dandelions drifting over it, and a splash of pink. My hair was in its normal low ponytail, the section I’d had shaved by the doctors for stitches in my head and where Burt had ripped hair from my head carefully covered.
However, as presentable as I was, I couldn’t really approach a potential client wearing feathered wings on my back.
“Can I take them off?” I asked her as I sipped a glass of champagne, which I hated, but Chrissy was breastfeeding and not allowed to drink, so she was living vicariously through me. Or some such bullshit excuse that made me wear heels on grass and sip champagne.
