Champagne Brunch: The Stiletto Sisters Series Ainsley Claire (primary phonics books .TXT) 📖

thousand text messages with Viviana in the year before she was arrested—and that was ten months ago. Claire would pull me out anyway, because when she was ghosted by her fiancé, that’s what I did for her.

I straighten my back and resign myself to pretending today was a good day.

Me: Fine. I’ll be there shortly.

My friends and I share our shock and grief over cocktails often. We were all tight with Viviana, and the only comfort I feel is that I’m not the only one blown away by the news.

We are fierce women. We’ve mastered our careers, and most of us are self-made billionaires in a city where men outnumber women—and unfortunately, shrinking the pool even more, men tend to be intimidated by women who are smarter and more successful than they are. We’re all shell-shocked and need each other for group support to manage this Viviana aftermath. But today just happens to be a lousy day.

I gather my things and ride over to the Tiger Den, a small bar downtown that we’ve taken to meeting at regularly, in the back of my G-Class Mercedes with my security guard. I look at the text that my now-former boyfriend, Justin Price, sent me this morning. I’ve read it over a dozen times, and I still can’t believe it. Stunning.

Justin: This thing with your friend has gotten out of hand. I think it’s time we be realistic. You’re not moving to Austin, and I’m not interested in moving to San Francisco. Let’s stop wasting each other’s time. Good luck.

Good luck? What the fuck? Who says that in a break-up text? Who breaks up with a text? Justin had been avoiding my calls for a few days, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, but it’s still a kick in the gut. I mean, grow a pair and break up with me over FaceTime at least. That used to be your favorite way of communicating with me and my bare breasts.

Whatever.

I can’t wait for this day, week, month, and year to be over. I’m done with it.

My driver stops in front of the Tiger Den. I get out and start to run across the sidewalk, and somehow I bump into a man walking by.

“Oh, excuse me.”

He smiles. “A beautiful woman runs into me while walking into a bar. Maybe I should buy her a drink?”

I blush. He’s stunning as he towers over me with his six-foot frame and three-piece suit. “Not necessary. I should just watch where I’m going.” I flash him my most brilliant smile, and he smiles back. It takes my breath away. Almost reluctantly, I walk into the bar to join my friends and leave him grinning on the sidewalk.

I don’t look over my shoulder, though I wonder what he would have done if I’d taken him up on his offer. How would I explain it to my friends?

I look over the crowd of happy-hour revelers.

“There she is,” Claire announces from the corner. “You finally made it!”

I look at my watch, and it’s hardly after six. As far as I’m concerned, this is still the workday. I don’t often leave my office before dark. That’s the problem with running a Fortune 50 company that I created and built.

Claire hands me a glass of champagne. “We’re here to celebrate.”

I survey my friends, and we appear unassuming, but if you look around the bar, each of us has at least one bodyguard with us. Caroline Arnault is an heiress by birth but also runs one of the country’s largest independent cosmetic companies. She’s been traveling with a female bodyguard, but the rest of them are like a Navy Seal convention, and they do attract the attention of the single women in the bar.

Claire raises her glass. “To wonderful friends.”

“Wonderful friends,” I repeat and raise my glass.

Caroline smiles from her spot next to me. “How are you doing?”

I paste a plastic smile on my face. “I’m doing great.”

She looks at me thoughtfully. “You don’t have to put a brave face on with this crowd.”

I shrug. “Everyone knows my best friend was arrested. It’s not like wallowing in self-pity is a wise use of my time.”

“No, but what about getting drunk and getting your man to meet you at your place to ravish you until he has to fly home tomorrow?”

“I agree. Meet halfway between Austin and here—maybe your place in Colorado. Get down and dirty and come back with a smile,” Toni Lo says. Toni made her fortune as an early employee of Chirp and has been so supportive as we’ve navigated the mess with Viviana. She most likely won’t be deposed or called as a witness, but she’s been a great friend through everything.

“As fun as that might be, Justin has decided that all the drama with Viviana, it’s time for him to move on.”

“What? What does Viviana have to do with him?” Toni asks.

I roll my eyes. “Justin and I both had visits from the FBI today. I probably wouldn’t be here if Marci Peterson hadn’t been able to join me for the interview.”

Caroline hugs my shoulders. “She’s amazing. But I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too. Jim Adelson at Clear Security has his technology guru working with FBI Cybercrimes, going through my company. They want to be sure Viviana didn’t figure out a way to burrow into our systems since we have some big military spending contracts.”

“Shiiiiit,” Claire breathes. “That would really suck. What does that mean for you?”

I’m sure whatever my board has for me tomorrow at our emergency meeting will make the trade papers. I’m not going to talk about it here. Who knows who might be in this bar, and besides, I don’t want to think about it right now.

I shrug. “I don’t know. Sometimes I wish I did something fun and fanciful.”

“Like have