Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series by Ainsley Claire (e ink manga reader TXT) 📕

“Thank you. He told my nephew he was on his way to San Francisco.”

“When he was arraigned, they would have held on to his passport. I’ll make sure, but if something changes, I’ll give you a call.”

I give Officer Fields my phone number and email address. “Please call me regardless of the time here,” I tell him. “We need to know if he’s coming this way.”

“No problem. Have a good day,” he says.

We hang up, and I look at the disaster of my living room. My sister needs help. I’m going to try to talk her into a nanny for a while. I also need to see if Jim Adelson can help me with Marco tomorrow.

I send him a message asking him to call so he’ll get it when he goes into his office in the morning. Seconds later my phone rings, and it’s him.

“Your ears must be burning,” I tell him. “I just sent you a message.”

“That’s why I’m calling. Is everything okay with Jeremy?”

“I believe so.” My scrambled mind races to remember something, anything about what’s happening with Jeremy. “Uh, he seems to really have settled in at Nate’s. I think he feels secure there. It’s a great fit. Anyway, this is a different matter. We can talk in the morning, but I need a little bit of help.”

“What’s going on?”

I walk Jim through my sister’s relationship with Marco, what happened to bring her and the boys here so quickly, and what Clay told me tonight.

I can hear Jim clicking a few buttons. “Where did you say he was?”

“Cairns, Australia.”

I hear more clicking from computer keys. “I don’t see him on any flight manifests yet, but we’ll keep an eye out.”

“Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate this.”

“We’ll also put him on the police alert when he arrives in the US. That will slow him down when he goes through customs. From there, I agree that we should find your sister some help. I have a few people who work for me who could offer both childcare assistance and security for her children. I’ll send Nina Sparrow over tomorrow, and you and your sister can see if you think she will work.”

When I disconnect the call, I feel a lot better. At least for a little while.

Once I’m lying in bed, my thoughts return to Mia. What on Earth happened tonight? I’m horrified by everything I saw online, but it just doesn’t match the woman I’ve gotten to know, and I don’t know what that means. I also don’t have any idea what to do with this information. Do her friends know who she really is? What kind of scam is going on here? Is she not the woman I thought she was?

Chapter 20

Mia

I look at myself in the bathroom mirror. Today just flat out spiraled into disaster. After lunch, Marci called to tell me a bunch of fake stories about me are all over the internet, courtesy of less-than-reputable sources—she suspects Russian trolls. Now major gossip sites are picking up the false information. It sure would be nice if they at least verified whether I’d been arrested. But Marci assures me that Jim and his team are working on getting them down, and it’ll blow over.

Then dinner with Axel went sideways fast. I hadn’t gotten the nerve to tell him anything about what’s going on—talk about baggage—when that man approached us. He was more aggressive than I’ve ever experienced. Thankfully, Peter and I have a signal. If I clasp my hands in front of me, he knows to intervene, and he was on it.

As I smooth cream over my face, my mind races through various things I should have said to that creep.

Get your facts straight.

Viviana Prentis admitted her guilt. Why do you believe the crap on your fake news?

Fuck you. What do you know?

That man clearly believed the false news reports. He believed them enough to say something, and the looks I got on the way out told me he wasn’t the only one. He was just the one brave enough—or dumb enough, actually—to speak out.

I hate knowing there are people out there who believe I had something to do with Cecelia’s death.

My stomach rolls. I left Axel on the sidewalk and jetted away. Who knows what he thinks right now. I didn’t explain anything. I rub my hands over my face. What a mess this has become. I was upset and embarrassed, but he deserves better. It’s after midnight, but I decide to text him. I find my phone and sit down on my bed.

Me: I’m really sorry about tonight. I’m embarrassed.

Axel: Don’t worry about it. My six-year-old nephew was outside when I got home. It was a good thing I came back early.

Me: Is your sister okay?

Axel: Just tired. Get some rest. I’ll catch up with you later this week.

I put the phone down and get into bed, but I still feel unsettled. He didn’t ask if I was okay and didn’t seem to want to talk. It’s late, though, and his house is full of family troubles. I wish I would at least have thought to remind him that not everything on the internet is true. Hopefully he didn’t pick now as the time to finally research me.

I sigh. I don’t know what to think. We don’t really know each other that well. This is a lot to throw at someone you’ve only known a couple weeks.

Damn it. I hate you, Viviana Prentis. I lay all this mess at your feet.

By Tuesday morning, four days later, the articles are still just as ugly, and I still haven’t heard anything from Axel. It was the world’s longest weekend. Claire and Ryder finally took me out last night and commiserated