Lynn Montagano - Unravel Me

“It’s a perfectly normal question to ask. What is it?”

“Some damaging information has come to light about a prominent figure. That’s all I can say right now without giving too much away.”

I squirmed in the chair. His pompous attitude irked me.

“Alright,” I said. “How do you want to do this?”

“Have dinner with me tonight and we’ll discuss the details.”

I drummed my fingers on the desk. “There’s always an underlying scheme with you, isn’t there?”

He laughed. “Come on, Sparkle. It’s a business meeting. My treat, of course.”

“We don’t need to have dinner to finalize an interview. We can hash it out right now on the phone.”

“No, we can’t.” His tone was clipped. “I have a conference call that started five minutes ago. Felicia will email you with the restaurant information. I’ll see you at eight.”

He killed the call before I had a chance to react. Dinner with him? My skin crawled. I didn’t want to be in the same city as him, let alone share a table at a restaurant. A notification appeared in my inbox. Grimacing, I read the message from his assistant. He’d made reservations at Norman’s in the Ritz. Our restaurant. Rubbing my temples I stood up and walked to Bruce Singleton’s office.

“Lia. I was just going to call you.” My news director hunched over his computer, squinting at the screen. All the frizzy mad scientist hair on his head bobbed as he nodded at an invisible request. “Sit, sit.”

“I’ve heard from Nathan Greyson.” I didn’t wait for Bruce to initiate whatever it was he wanted. “He says he’ll give us an exclusive interview about something. Did you reach out to his public relations team recently?”

“No. Did he tell you what it was about?” Bruce eyed me curiously.

My mind raced. What does he want?

“Something about information coming to light involving a prominent figure. I’m going to meet, um, call him back later. As soon as I know anything more, I’ll fill you in.”

We chatted for a few minutes about the evening show before I went back to my desk. I had some down time before the broadcast went live and decided to call Stephanie.

“Hey,” she answered after the first ring.

“Hi.”

The awkward pause between us made me cringe.

“What are you doing tonight?” She broke the silence first. I slumped in my chair.

“I’m supposed to have dinner with Nathan, believe it or not.”

“Are you shitting me? Why?”

“He wants to give us some exclusive interview about something,” I sighed.

“So where does the dinner come in all this?”

“You know him. There’s always an ulterior motive.”

“Are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re not going. Simple as that.”

I tapped my fingernails on the desk. “If it were just him asking me to dinner, obviously I wouldn’t go. But this is—”

“Lia, he’s an asshole. If he wants to give you guys an interview you can talk to him on the phone about it. He knows that. You know that. Come on.”

I’d just about had it with Stephanie’s attitude in recent days so her proclamations, although correct, pissed me off. I’m not a helpless animal .

“Look, I appreciate your concern or whatever but I’m going. End of story.”

“Do you need me to book a table at the same restaurant in case he tries something?”

“No. Your covert operations aren’t necessary but thanks.”

Silence. Again. My eye twitched.

“Did Alastair go back to Glasgow?”

“Yeah. He left this morning.”

“That was quick,” she muttered. “How long was he here? Two weeks?”

“Yep.”

“Well, be careful,” she said, sounding grim. “I still don’t trust him.”

“Let’s not start this again, okay?”

“I can’t help it, Lia. It’s like you’re ignoring everything that happened at the estate.”

“We’re working through all that,” I said, my jaw tight.

“Right. I forgot. He collared you with a diamond necklace and all of a sudden he’s Prince Charming.”

“He didn’t collar me.”

“Whatever. He’s manipulating you. He’s using your feelings for him to control you.”

I played with the diamond-encrusted ‘A’ hanging from my neck. “And you know this how? You barely acknowledged him when he was here.”

“I hear things. His reputation isn’t the greatest when it comes to women.”

“You hear things. From who? Darren?”

“No.” She paused. “Cassie.”

I rolled my eyes. Cassie Zanor was the graphic design manager at the company that recently hired my best friend, Stephanie. They happened to be located in Glasgow and did most of the marketing campaigns for Alastair’s company. For some reason, Stephanie had been taking everything this girl said as gospel.

“She doesn’t know him,” I replied smoothly. “Neither do you.”

“How well do you know him, Lia?” she shot back. “From what I’ve heard, he’s a master at concealing his motives. He takes what he wants and disposes of it when he’s had enough. Look how easily he pushed you aside in England. You think he won’t do that again?”

My heart rate increased making the blood pound in my ears. Stephanie always knew how to play on my deepest fears with precision. Taking a few cleansing breaths, I stamped down my burgeoning anger.

“I appreciate your concern but you have to stop. I’m not doing this while I’m at work.”

The message line on the rundown beeped. One body found at the scene. Not explosion related. Cradling the phone against my shoulder, I typed a quick reply to Tyler’s message asking him to send more information when he talked to the police.

“You sound busy. Give me a call later.”

“Yeah. There’s a breaking story. Bye.” Annoyed, I slammed the phone down and tried to focus on the rest of the show.

* * *

I sat at the impeccably set table in the restaurant, dreading Nathan’s arrival. I hadn’t seen him since he thought letting himself into my apartment was a smart way to win back my affections. I shivered. Not even the soothing shades of ivory and yellows calmed me. Of course he’d arranged it so we were sitting at our table by the picture window. Glancing around the cozy, circular dining room I watched other patrons enjoy their meals, drinking with ease and engaging in relaxed conversation. I sipped my Prosecco, hoping it would take the edge off.

A low hum of chatter vibrated through the room. Looking up, I saw Nathan striding toward the table. All eyes were on him. His tall, powerful body was complimented by a stunning double-breasted gray suit which had been paired with a sapphire tie to match his eyes. He looked every bit the privileged son of a U.S. Senator. Too bad he’s such a possessive, controlling asshole.

“Lia.” His smile spread easily. Unbuttoning his jacket, he sat across from me. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.”

“Like I had a choice,” I muttered.

“You always have a choice,” he said softly. I shot him a skeptical glance. I knew this act far too well.

“What do you want? I’d rather not spend my entire night here.”

“Relax. Have some more wine. This won’t take long but I’d prefer not to jump right into business.” Something in his tone made my hair stand on end.

He waved the server over and ordered a bottle of champagne, along with oysters and shrimp ceviche. My guard sprang up, rigid and unyielding. He’d ordered my favorite appetizers. What’s going on?

“How’s married life treating your sister?” He ran a hand through his short, sandy blond hair.

“Dayna’s fine,” I snapped. “What do you want?”