Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
A low chuckle came over the line. “Well, not the doctor, though I’ll be happy to sue him.”
“I’m sure his brother will be thrilled.” Georgia could handle him. She handled assholes all the time. It was a wave through her head, the idea that if she couldn’t trust Bay and Shane to behave like normal humans, that she should go back to New York. After the Met, she could likely find another job and tell them all to fuck off.
Georgia had to deal with so many people wanting everything from her. She couldn’t be another person who used Georgia’s sweet nature for her own betterment.
“Here’s how it’s going to go, Mark. I’m not coming back. I’m going to be making Georgia’s gown, and it will be my name on it. I’ll rise or fall being Brooke Harper, but the honest truth is I don’t want to do fashion. It bores me. I stayed because my family spent so much money on it and I hated the idea that I could fail.” The truth of the matter was the worst had happened. Rye was absolutely ashamed of her. Max would never say it, but then his standards weren’t as high as Rye’s. For all his obnoxiousness, Max had always been the softer touch of her brothers. Rye was the one who had to deal with the day-to-day stuff.
A bit like Shane.
She was sure he would show up and try to cover for his brother. He would accuse her of overreacting.
Had she? Again, what the hell would she have done if she’d walked in and found some woman all over Bay? Or Shane? Would she have stood there and watched, or would she have gotten down and dirty and saved her man?
“Listen to me, you little bitch, I have a plan and I’m not going to let you fuck it up,” Mark snarled over the line.
Oh, she was not done. “And if you do decide to press charges against my boyfriend, I’ll press charges against you for assault. I said no. I said it loud enough for people to hear it.”
“No, you didn’t. You didn’t say a damn thing,” Mark replied. “It’s going to be he said/she said, and we all know how that goes. Now that I think about it, you might have tricked me. I think you set it up so your boyfriend would hurt me. Now why would you do that, Brooke?”
She sighed. “I’m certain this would work in New York, but buddy, we’re in my hometown, and I assure you Dr. Burke heard me say no. So did Stella. Hell, I’m pretty sure Stef Talbot happened to be walking by, and he heard me, too. Also, I’ll talk to our local judge. He’s like ninety, and he and his wife used to babysit me. That’s what happens when you’re one of four kids in the whole town. They become a village. You’re not going to get my village to turn against me.”
“You small-town folks sure don’t mind using corruption when it serves you,” Mark said bitterly.
“Not at all. I’ve learned that there’s no fighting fair with a person like you. You put me in a corner. You should expect me to fight my way out and not to give you a whole bunch of consideration about how I do it. Call the Sheriff’s Department. Tell him you made a mistake or this is going to go poorly for you. I can probably get Georgia to talk about how the House of Bianchi seems to be in a downward spiral.”
He paused for a moment as though trying to find any kind of way out. “But she would be talking about your line. It’s the next one out. It’s the one everyone is going to be talking about. You would be hurting yourself.”
“Oh, that line? It doesn’t have my name on it, asshole,” she shot back. “No one outside of Bianchi knows it’s mine, and if you try to say it is, I’ll explain to the press that I have no knowledge of that line. Do not assume that I work off the same principles that you do. Right now the only thing I care about is fucking you over as thoroughly as possible.”
“Fine. I think the deputy’s here.” There was a deep bitterness to Mark’s tone. “I’ll let him know it was all a misunderstanding, and I’ll be out of here as soon as possible. Shitty town. And you know what? I didn’t want to dress that cow anyway. I have no idea why the press is fascinated with that overweight bimbo. Good luck. If it works, maybe you’ll get more of the fatties to try to design for.”
There was a click over the line. Rage bubbled inside Brooke. How many times had she heard that? Fashion was supposed to be for everyone, but the truth of the matter was if you weren’t a sample size then you were a token.