The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy 1)

FORTY-SEVEN

We were a public relations nightmare.

That much was obvious from how the publicist looked stressed. Instead of worrying about Cyclone and Seraphina sneaking in to eavesdrop, the entire group had transferred to a Phoenix Tech building downtown a few days later. Matt was deemed healthy enough to travel, and so here we were. We were around a conference table. My father. Kash. Matt. My mother. Even Marie. The only adult not present was Quinn. Peter was there to speak for her, and she had a luncheon to attend.

I’d started to zone out anytime someone mentioned where Quinn went. She was either doing charities or she was at a luncheon about a charity.

I honestly felt it was an excuse for wealthy socialite women to socialize, gossip, and wine.

I mean, I would have, if I was built that way.

I wasn’t. I was glad where I was, and in that moment, I was sitting between Matt on my right and Chrissy on my left.

When we came into the room, Kash had gone somewhere else to speak with someone. He’d slipped in just moments after the publicist team marched in.

The head lady was a shorter woman, blond hair in a blow-out framing a round face, eyeglasses perched high on her nose, and makeup on point. She was maybe around five three, with a more muscular build. She wasn’t petite, but she wasn’t overweight. She was solid, and as she went right to the front of the conference table, I saw her calf muscles.

The woman worked out in her spare time.

I was inspired by her. Slightly.

The rest of her team followed at a more sedate pace. A lanky guy with glasses, brown hair. Another two younger women, maybe a few years older than me. They were eyeing Matt, but also sending a few furtive looks to Peter as well. Matt was the only one who winked back, getting a sly grin in return. An older woman was with them, but she stood in the back with a stern face. Matt accidentally included her in his wink, and I swear he got a small growl back from the woman.

I liked her already.

I was also scared of her.

The older woman gave Kash an evil side-eye when he came in, but he gave her no attention. He walked to the end of the table and took a seat. He and Peter sat on the other side, three chairs between them. Just after, introductions were made. The head publicist was named Martha. The guy was Colin. Sly-grin girl was Coral. The other one was named Mia. Older publicist woman was named Poppy.

I really liked her now. Poppy. What a name.

Still scared, though.

She and Marie exchanged a heated look, extending into a stare-off, until somehow both slowly edged their heads up. A shared look of respect passed between them.

Chrissy was eyeing everything, like me. One eyebrow slightly raised, chin down as if no one knew what we were doing, and half turned toward the front of the room. Matt was still eyeing the sly girl but trying to get the other one to join in.

Glancing across the table, I saw faint amusement on Peter’s face as he watched my mother. Kash was not looking at anyone. His eyes were sharp, tired, and frustrated. They were trained on the windows behind Martha, but as if feeling my attention, they shifted to me. I felt a zap, like I always did when our gazes met. He gave me the slightest of grins before looking to Martha.

“Okay. Well.” Martha clasped her hands together, rubbing, those pink nails flashing together before she dropped them to her hips and braced her shoulders back. She stood up, a full inch from that gesture. “Let’s do this.” Her gaze swept over the entire table and her team. “We have multiple fires to extinguish here.”

She started with the smallest, reporting that a few articles were posted about the pending Bonham divorce proceedings. The guy moved fast.

She added, “But that story has not been linked to the smallest of our own pile.” Her eyes flicked to Matt and held. “Thanks to Mr. Colello’s employee at Naveah, no leaks came from the nightclub connecting Bonham’s appearance and Matt’s incident.”

Matt snorted at that. “Incident. Nice.” His mouth thinned. “I was poisoned. The fucker—”

“Matt.” A soft warning from Kash.

Matt swung his gaze over, and Kash met his with a not-so-soft glare.

A small breath out and Matt nodded. “Fine. Great.” His tone was biting, and he jerked his chair to face forward, noticeably not in Kash’s direction.

Peter was looking between the two, his eyebrows furrowed with a small amount of concern, but he didn’t say anything.

Chrissy, on the other hand—her hand shot up. “I have a question!” She was loud about it, too.

Martha was about to proceed, but paused. “Uh. Yes. Miss Hayes.”

“It’s Ms. Thank you.” Chrissy didn’t give her time to digest that. Her elbows rested on the table and she leaned forward. “What’s your plan of action when it comes out what Bonham did? Because it’s a matter of time. Court reports can be public, and I can see Bonham wanting that to happen, just to be a pain in the ass for Matthew.”