“So, we’re more alike than you realized, Uncle Marco.”
“Watch it, kid.”
We wrapped up and several minutes later I got the encrypted files giving me the time, place and several letters of permission and introduction to any of the government entities I might have to deal with to get permission to travel.
At the bottom of the document was a figure the sultan was offering, which I knew I could bump up if I needed to. But it was a figure that would pay for all my business expenses for the next three years.
I smiled, not at the number, but at the idea that I didn’t have to share one penny of that with Rebecca.
If I took the job, of course.
Chapter 6
Shannon
The newsroom was buzzing with local discussions and issues related to voter registration and challenges to politicians running in various runoff elections and pivots for posturing in the next general election, which was thankfully several months away. So of course weather was more important as residents of the greater Tampa area and beach communities planned their vacations, their fishing trips and outdoor events.
I allowed the makeup artist to finish, curling my hair and doing a soft blowout, when I removed the drape and stepped into the green screen. I demonstrated that the next hurricane would be heading west of them, heading right up the middle of the Gulf to land perhaps on New Orleans or Galveston, and not anywhere near my sleepy beach bungalow. I gracefully pointed to the string of “recruits” as I called them, lined up to run in and wreak havoc right behind Hurricane Eloise. Everyone was praying that Eloise would change her temperament and become a tropical storm. I told my audience that I was hoping she’d be a good girl and winked. The Program Director gave me a wide smile in return, followed by a thumbs up.
Of course, I couldn’t get off the stage fast enough to avoid bumping into Clarence Thompson, who pretended he didn’t see me. It gave him a change to feel my tits with the flabby upper chest of his. If his hands had been used to stop his forward momentum, I was prepared to slap him. Hard.
Luckily, Clarence was creepy, but somewhat on his better behavior. Besides, there were ten sets of eyes staring right at both of us.
“Shannon, glad you made it back to our beautiful little paradise. How was Boston?”
I was surprised he knew anything about where I was going.
“Colder,” I said, and made sure it sounded that way too.
He blushed pink from my subtle insult and then broke out in a wide smile. “Well, we’re all very glad you’re back. Things are just never the same when you’re gone.” He had placed his palm over his heart. He should have just been honest and grabbed his dick.
I imagined the scent, the feel of Marco’s strong body on top of me, beneath my undulating hips, and how he made me feel, and took secret pride in the knowledge that this cretin couldn’t take any of that beautiful memory away from me. It would forever be my secret, the most valuable thing I owned, at least for right now.
I ignored the comment and walked back to the green room for something to drink, awaiting my next performance. The room was plastered with big screens which not only showed content of tonight’s broadcast in three sizes, but several other news channels, several of them national and cable.
One of the stories a competing station was running was a story on the housing project Marco Gambini had started in Bellaire Beach and how there was some concern the project would no longer be built, due to complications resulting from Marco’s recent financial setbacks, without mentioning the contentious divorce. I listened by walking closer to the screen with my water bottle, as the newscaster played a quick clip of Rebecca Gambini’s interview done earlier that day. I watched the woman with new appreciation for what a mismatch she was for him, and it made me smile.
“Yes, well, there have been some restructuring measures taking place at the present time. Some of the Bone Frog Industries projects have been sadly neglected, and I’m rushing in to see what I can do to rescue them,” she said, her lying eyes trying to look all wide and doe-like. I knew exactly what kind of poison was brewing in her belly and I said a secret prayer that those acids would become lethal.
The interviewer asked her a question. “Forgive me, but wasn’t this a project your former husband had been working on alone? So now you’ve been given authority to carry the ball, so to speak?”
Rebecca clearly didn’t like that comment and glared at the young interviewer. She throttled the microphone placed toward her, squeezing her fingers over the young woman’s, leaned in, and said, “It’s called fruits of the marriage, Gaylee. I’m passionate about this work and how it is to go forward, so that’s why I’m here.” She outstretched her many-ringed and diamond-encrusted fingers with the bright red nail polish, motioning over the vacant lot that had an acre of palm trees cut down behind her.
The woman was here! She was in this area, spreading her venom all around her. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
This gave me an idea.
My Program Director, Jared Newsome, was shutting down his office when I arrived after my third weather report. His warm handsome face didn’t hide his appreciation that I’d graced his doorway.
“All done tonight?”
“You know I am.”
He shrugged. “Care to join me for a cocktail? You can tell me about your trip.”
Why was everyone at the station riveted on my personal life?
“No, thanks. I appreciate it, but I’m going to lay low for a few days and get my land legs back. I really don’t like flying.”
“Really?” He gave me a quick look over and then shut his eyes tight. “I’m sorry. That was—”
“What I would have thought too,”
