“What gets me,” Meredith said, “is how this bitch asked the internet to identify you and they were able to do it so fast.”
“I know,” she rubbed her forehead. “What a cluster fuck.”
“Are you going to respond?”
“I think I want to sleep on it.” She grimaced, “I’ll call Elise. What’s the point of having a lawyer BFF if you can’t use her when you get caught in a night club with a billionaire’s tongue down your throat.”
“I think it’s a very good idea. Don’t answer anyone or anything until you talk to her.”
She sighed. “I’m going to go to my room to call her and Janka.”
Meredith asked curiously, “was it at least worth it?”
“He took me to the Met today. I spent six hours staring at paintings and talking his ear off.”
“I meant the sex.” Meredith squealed when Fred pinched her arm.
Liesl gave a sad smile, “I feel despite how amazing all of it was, keeping this,” she wiggled her phone, “from me and not warning me of what was waiting for me when I got home, ruined it all.” Her happy vibe destroyed she made her way to her room to lick her wounds. Ruined.
“I can’t believe he didn’t warn you,” Janka said quietly as they sipped coffee in the back room of the gallery on Monday morning. “The press outside the gallery this morning was insane.”
“I’m sorry, Janka.” She whispered sadly. “I feel terrible you had to close the doors. I could go home.”
“No. It’s better they are here than at your brother’s house where your niece plays.” Janka refused to let her go.
Liesl’s phone buzzed again, and she groaned looking at it. “Fuck off!”
“Which one is it? Merl? Sandy? Your mom? Trent? Torrie?”
“Sandy.” She grunted. “Last night Granny said she was a load mom should have swallowed and I don’t disagree.”
Janka giggled. “Your granny is something else. My granny sits in a rocking chair making slippers. Yours runs the bingo mafia.”
They all giggled at Janka’s playful words. Granny had once gotten into a fistfight with a woman at bingo for trying to cheat.
“This morning I had all of my aunts at Fred’s door with hugs and loving support. They all also wanted details on the hot man I was making out with on the internet.”
“At least the video was gone this morning.”
“Yes, but the damage is done. The bitch sent out a call to arms to find the girl who ruined her dreams of being Mrs. Isaias Machado. I had to shut down all my social media accounts. I had death threats for being a homewrecker.”
Her phone buzzed again and this time it was Merlin demanding she call him. She almost wanted to respond. For eight years when things went sideways in her life, he had been the person she turned to. With Isaias not reaching out since he’d dropped her off the night before, a strange need for comfort filled her. She remembered Janka telling her she had daddy issues, and she shook her head, exhaled, and put her phone down.
Pounding on the door made Janka curse under her breath, “it better be Elsie bringing alcohol.”
“It’s not even nine in the morning,” she shot her best friend a shocked expression.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Janka mumbled back.
A few moments later she came back with Elsie on her heels.
“Guess who called me on my way over?” Elsie made wide eyes at her. Before she could answer she responded, “Isaias’ legal team. They must have heard I was working on a cease and desist. They told me to drop it and they would deal with the situation.”
“What?” Liesl was stunned.
“I told them to go hell because according to my client, Isaias has not made any attempt to communicate with her and thus the trust he would appropriately manage the situation does not exist.”
“What did they say?” Janka said as she grabbed a bunch of glass jars Liesl usually used for rinsing her brushes and dumped them into the sink and rinsed them out. “Voila,” she muttered as she dug through a cupboard and found a bottle of whiskey. “This will do.”
Liesl shook her head at Janka while she waited for Elsie to respond as she shoved her jacket onto the back of a chair and dropped her briefcase on the floor. Looks like they were going to be day drinking.
“He said that Mr. Machado will be in contact with Ms. McGrath shortly and they would appreciate my cooperation in the matter.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, go fuck yourself, and I hung up.” Elsie took the glass and stared at it as if questioning whether she genuinely wanted to drink from it. She shrugged and tossed the entire contents down her throat. “Also, Merlin called me begging to get you to call him. He’s quite concerned for your wellbeing.” She shivered as the alcohol coated her insides, “he too, also got told to go fuck himself.”
“What I can’t comprehend, is how fast this whole thing spiraled out of control,” Liesl complained as she did the shot of whisky and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She gagged as the liquid hit her stomach and wanted to immediately come back up.
“Craven France is an influencer socialite who posts stories and videos all over the world. She has a following of over two million. It was nothing for her plea for assistance in trying to find the person breaking up her fake relationship to reach millions in minutes,” Elsie complained.
Liesl’s phone buzzed again, and she looked and grunted. “Merlin again.”
“Why don’t you shut it off?” Elsie asked as she rolled her sleeves up and waved at Janka to keep pouring.
“She’s waiting for Isaias to call her and explain why the fuck he didn’t give her a head’s up last night before dropping her off.”
“Do you actually think he’s going to call Liesl?” Elsie swirled the dark liquor around the glass container and grimaced.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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