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“So why not work there?”
“We don’t have you.” I swallowed. That was way too personal. Lei Yeung didn’t seem rattled by the gaffe, but I was. “I mean, we don’t have your magic,” I added quickly.
“We...?”
“Yes.” I paused to collect myself. “I have three brothers. They can’t all take over Rossi’s when our dad retires and they don’t want to. The oldest will and the other two...well, they want their own Rossi’s.”
“And your contribution is a degree in restaurant management and a lot of heart.”
“I want to learn how to help them realize their dreams. I want to help other people achieve theirs, too.”
She nodded and reached for her glasses. “Thank you, Gianna. I appreciate you coming in today.”
Just like that, I was dismissed. And I knew I wasn’t going to get the job. I hadn’t said whatever she’d needed to hear to make me the clear-cut winner.
I stood, my mind racing with ways I could turn the interview around. “I really want this job, Ms. Yeung. I work hard. I’m never sick. I’m proactive and forward-thinking. It won’t take me long to anticipate what you need before you need it. I’ll make you glad you hired me.”
Lei looked at me. “I believe you. You juggled multiple jobs while maintaining your honors GPA. You’re smart, determined and not afraid to hustle. I’m sure you’d be great. I just don’t think I’d be the right boss for you.”
“I don’t understand.” My stomach twisted as my dream job slipped away. Disappointment pierced through me.
“You don’t have to,” she said gently. “Trust me. There are a hundred restaurateurs in New York who can give you what you’re looking for.”
I lifted my chin. I used to be proud of my looks, my family, my roots. I hated that I was constantly second-guessing all of that now.
Impulsively, I decided to reveal why I wanted to work with her so badly. “Ms. Yeung, please listen. You and I have a lot in common. Ian Pembry underestimated you, isn’t that right?”
Her eyes blazed with sudden fire at the unexpected mention of her former partner who’d betrayed her. She didn’t answer.
I had nothing to lose at this point. “There was a man in my life who underestimated me once. You proved people wrong. I just want to do the same.”
She tilted her head to the side. “I hope you do.”
Realizing I’d come to the end of the road, I thanked her for her time and left with as much dignity as I could manage.
As far as Mondays went, that was one of the worst of my life.
* * *
“I’m telling you, she’s an idiot,” Angelo said for the second time. “You’re lucky you didn’t get that job today.”
I was the baby of the family, with three big brothers. He was the youngest. His righteous anger on my behalf made me smile despite myself.
“He’s right,” Nico said. The oldest of the Rossi boys—and biggest prankster—bumped Angelo out of the way to set my meal in front of me with a flourish.
I’d chosen to sit at the bar, since Rossi’s was packed as usual, the dinner crowd boisterous and familiar. We had a lot of regulars and often a celebrity or two, incognito, who came here to eat in peace. The comfortable mix was a solid sign of Rossi’s great reputation for warm service and excellent food.
Angelo bumped Nico back with a scowl. “I’m always right.”
“Ha!” Vincent scoffed through the kitchen window, sliding two steaming plates onto the service shelf and ripping the corresponding tickets off their clips. “Only when you’re repeating what I said.”
The ribbing coaxed a reluctant laugh out of me. I felt a hand at my waist the moment before I smelled my mother’s favorite Elizabeth Arden perfume.
Her lips pressed against my cheek. “It’s good to see you smile. Everything happens—”
“—for a reason,” I finished. “I know. It still sucks.”
I was the only one in my family who’d gone to college. It’d been a group effort; even my brothers had pitched in. I couldn’t help feeling like I’d let them all down. Sure there were hundreds of restaurateurs in New York, but Lei Yeung didn’t just turn unknown chefs into name brands, she was a force of nature.
She spoke frequently about women in business and had been featured on a number of midmorning talk shows. She had immigrant parents and had worked her way through school, making a success of herself even after being betrayed by her mentor and partner. Working for her would have been a powerful statement for me.
At least, that’s what I’d told myself.
“Eat your fettuccine before it gets cold,” my mother said, gliding away to greet new patrons coming in.
I forked up a bite of pasta dripping with creamy Alfredo sauce as I watched her. A lot of customers did. Mona Rossi was closer to sixty than fifty, but you’d never know it from looking at her. She was beautiful and flamboyantly sexy. Her violet-red hair was teased just high enough to give it volume and frame a face that was classical in its symmetry, with full lips and dark sloe eyes. She was statuesque, with generous curves and a taste for gold jewelry.
Men and women alike loved her. My mom was comfortable in her skin, confident and seemingly carefree. Very few people realized how much trouble my brothers had given her growing up. She had them well trained now.
Taking a deep breath, I absorbed the comfort around me—the beloved sounds of people laughing, the mouthwatering smell of carefully prepared food, the clatter of silverware meeting china and glasses clinking in happy toasts. I wanted more out of my life, which sometimes made me forget how much I already had.
Nico came back, eyeing me. “Red or white?” he asked, setting his hand over mine and giving a soft squeeze.
He was a customer favorite at the bar, especially with the women. He was darkly handsome, with unruly hair and a wicked smile. A consummate flirt, he had his own fan club, ladies who hung out at the bar for both his great drinks and sexy banter.
“How about champagne?” Lei Yeung slid onto the bar stool next to me, recently vacated by a young couple whose reserved table had opened up.
I blinked.
She smiled at me, looking much younger than she had during our interview, dressed casually in jeans and a pink silk shell. Her hair was down and her face scrubbed free of makeup. “Lots of rave reviews about this place online.”
“Best Italian food ever,” I said, feeling my heartbeat quicken with renewed excitement.
“A lot of them say a great place got even greater over the past couple of years. Am I right in assuming that’s due to you putting into practice things you’ve learned?”
Nico set two flutes in front of us, then filled them halfway with bubbling champagne. “You’re right,” he said, butting in.
Lei caught the stem of her glass and stroked it with her fingers. Her gaze caught mine. Nico, who was good at knowing when to disappear, moved down the bar.
“To get back to what you said...” she began. I started to cringe, then straightened up. Lei Yeung hadn’t made a special trip just to berate me. “Ian underestimated me, but he didn’t take advantage of me. Blaming him would give him too much credit. I left the door open and he walked through it.”
I nodded. The exact circumstances of their split were private, but I’d inferred a lot from the reports in industry magazines and filled in the rest from gossip columns and blogs. Together they’d had a culinary empire comprised of a stable of celebrity chefs, several restaurant chains, a line of cookbooks and affordable cookware that sold in the millions. Then Pembry had announced the launch of a new chain of eateries bankrolled by A-list actors and actresses—but Lei hadn’t been part of that.
“He taught me a lot,” she went on. “And I’ve come to realize he got as much out of that as I did.” She paused, thoughtful. “I’m getting too used to myself and the way I’ve always done things. I need fresh eyes. I want to feed off someone else’s hunger.”
“You want a protégée.”
“Exactly.” Her mouth curved. “I didn’t realize that until you pointed it out. I knew I was looking for something, but I couldn’t say what it was.”
I was totally thrilled but kept my tone professional. I swiveled toward her. “I’m in, if you want me.”
“Forget about normal hours,” she warned. “This isn’t a nine-to-five gig. I’ll need you on weekends, and I might call in the middle of the night.... I work all the time.”
“I won’t complain.”
“I will.” Angelo came up behind us. All the Rossi sons had figured out who I was talking to and, as usual, none of them were shy. “I need to see her every once in a while.”
I elbowed him. We shared a sprawling, half-finished loft apartment in Brooklyn—all three of my brothers, me and Angelo’s wife, Denise. Most of the time we bitched about seeing one another too often.
Lei thrust out her hand and introduced herself to Nico and Angelo, then to my mom, who had wandered back over to see what the fuss was about. My dad and Vincent gave shout-outs through the service window. A menu was set in front of Lei, along with a basket of fresh bread and olive oil imported from a small farm in Tuscany.
“How’s the panna cotta?” Lei asked me.
“You’ll never have better,” I replied. “Have you already had dinner?”
“Not yet. Lesson number one—life’s too short. Don’t put off the good stuff.”
I bit on my lower lip to hold back a grin. “Does that mean I got the job?”
She held up her flute with a brisk nod. “Cheers.”
2 (#ulink_43794a4e-696d-529f-9fa8-63942eaccc3f)
One year later...
“GOD, THE RUSH,” Lei said, her feet tapping beneath the dining table. “It never gets old.”
I grinned, having caught the bug from her over the months we’d been working together. We’d experienced a lot of highs, but today—a cloudless late-September afternoon—was special. After months of finessing and wooing, we were going to close a deal that would snag two of Ian Pembry’s brightest stars. Payback for what he’d done to Lei long ago and a major coup for us.
Lei had dressed for the occasion and so had I. Her Diane von Fürstenberg wrap dress was vintage and her signature red. Paired with black boots, she looked fierce and sexy. I debuted a dark gold shell snagged from Donna Karan’s fall collection and the cigarette pants the designer had paired with them. The ensemble was chic and reflected a new me, a Gianna who’d evolved a lot over the previous year.
Impatient to finalize everything, I looked toward the entrance of the hotel bar and felt a surge of adrenaline when the Williams twins appeared as if on cue. Brother and sister made a striking pair, with auburn hair and jade-green eyes. They were a great team in the kitchen, having made a name for themselves with down-home Southern cooking updated with gourmet ingredients. The package they presented sold deluxe books and cute little tins of seasonings, but the truth wasn’t so pretty. Behind the scenes, they hated each other.
And that had been Pembry’s fatal mistake with his dynamic duo. He told them to suck it up and make it work, because they were making millions off their sibling success story. Lei had offered them what they really wanted—the chance to split up and shine on their own, while still capitalizing on their supposedly playful rivalry. Her plan was to build a chain of restaurants with dueling kitchens in the world-famous Mondego casinos and resorts.
“Chad. Stacy,” Lei greeted, rising to her feet along with me. “You’re both looking fabulous.”
Chad came over and pressed a kiss to my cheek before he even said hello to Lei. He’d been flirting with me for a while and it had become part of our negotiations with him.
I’ll admit I’d been tempted to do more than flirt on occasion, but thoughts of his sister retaliating held me back. Chad wasn’t a saint by any means, nursing a fierce ambitious streak. But Stacy was a real piece of work and she hated me more than her brother. Despite all my friendly overtures, she’d taken an instant dislike to me and that had seriously hindered the whole process.
Personally, I suspected she was sleeping with Ian Pembry—or had been once—and was carrying a torch for him. I thought that was why she didn’t like Lei, either, but maybe she was just one of those females who hated other women.
“I hope your rooms are comfortable,” I said, knowing damn well they were. The Four Seasons didn’t have its five-star reputation for nothing.
Stacy shrugged, her glossy hair sliding over her shoulder. She had an angelic face, pale with a smattering of freckles that were adorable. It was disconcerting how someone so sweet and innocent-looking, with a syrupy Southern accent, could be such a raging bitch. “They’re all right.”
Chad rolled his eyes and held out my chair for me. “They’re great. I slept like a rock.”
“I didn’t,” his sister griped, sliding gracefully into her chair. “Ian kept calling. He knows something’s up.”
She slid a side glance at Lei, as if gauging the impact of her words.
“Of course he does,” Lei agreed easily. “He’s a smart man. Which is why I’m surprised he didn’t do more to keep you both happy. He knows better.”
Stacy pouted. Chad winked at me. Usually I didn’t find winking cute, but it worked for him. Part of his good-ole-boy charm that was tempered by how sexy he was. There was something about him that hinted he might spank you with a spatula as expertly as he cooked with one.
“Ian did a lot for us,” Stacy contended. “I feel disloyal.”
“You shouldn’t. You haven’t signed anything yet,” I said, having learned reverse psychology worked best with her oppositional nature. “If you feel that your identity as the Williams twins has more potential than being Stacy Williams, you should absolutely go with your gut. It’s got you this far, after all.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Lei’s lips twitch with a repressed smile. It gave me a thrill that she was pleased, since she’d taught me pretty much everything I knew about herding egos where we wanted them to go.
“Don’t be an ass, Stace,” Chad muttered. “You know this casino deal is a prime opportunity for us.”
“Yes, but it may not be the only opportunity,” she argued. “Ian says we need to give him a chance to deliver.”
“You told him?” her brother snapped, scowling. “For fuck’s sake, the decision isn’t just yours to make! This is my goddamn career, too!”
I shot a worried glance at Lei, but she just gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head. I couldn’t believe how cool and unruffled she looked, considering this deal would be the one to finally even the score between her and her mentor-turned-nemesis.
The Hollywood eateries Ian had pulled out from under her went bust when the celebrity investors got over the novelty of it and went looking for other tax shelters that didn’t involve personal appearances. And two of his heavy-hitter chefs had gone back to their home countries, leaving a lot riding on the young shoulders of the Williams twins.
“The Mondego deal is exclusive to Savor, of course,” Lei said. “What’s Ian offering you?”
What the hell had gone wrong? I glanced between the two siblings, and then at my boss. I had the contracts in my lucky satchel under the table. We were in the home stretch and suddenly our prime bet was backing away.
Later on, I’d recognize the ripple of awareness that shimmered across my skin for what it was. At the time, I thought it was foreboding, my instincts warning me that the deal had tanked long before we’d sat down at the table.
Then, I saw him.
Everything in me stilled, as if the predator couldn’t see me if I didn’t move. He came into the bar with a sultry stride that made my hands curl into fists beneath the tablecloth. That walk of his was easy and smooth, confident. And yet it somehow signaled to the female brain that he was packing heat between those long, strong legs and knew how to use it.
God, did he.
Dressed in a gray V-neck sweater and dress slacks of a darker hue, he looked like a successful man with the day off, but I knew better. Jackson Rutledge never took a day off. He worked hard, played hard, fucked hard.
I reached for my water glass with a shaking hand, praying he wouldn’t recognize me as the girl who’d once fallen hopelessly in love with him. I didn’t look the same. I wasn’t the same.
Jax was different, too. Leaner. Harder. His face made more stunning by the new sharpness in the angles of his jawline and cheekbones. I took a deep, quivering breath at the sight of him, reacting to his presence as if I’d been physically struck.
I didn’t even realize Ian Pembry was walking beside him until they stopped at our table.
* * *
“What are the chances Jackson Rutledge is related to Senator Rutledge?” Lei asked with silky evenness as we slid into the backseat of her town car. “Or any of the Rutledges for that matter?”
Her driver pulled away from the curb and I fumbled with my tablet just to have an excuse to keep my gaze averted. I was afraid to reveal too much, that her perceptive eyes would see how shaken I was.
