SAGE FINGERED THE beautiful pendant.
It felt strange to be wearing a piece of jewelry purchased by Trey. She knew it was purely a strategic move and that there weren’t any emotions tied to it. But every time she looked at it, her heart beat faster.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Trey stared at her across an umbrella table where they’d been enjoying a light lunch.
“I was just thinking I shouldn’t be sitting here. I should be circulating and putting your plan to work.”
“You don’t have to push yourself every minute of the day. Sometimes you need to just enjoy yourself.”
“I will once I accomplish what I came here to do.”
He looked at her like he didn’t believe her. “You’ve accomplished a lot in the short amount of time since you’ve been at QTR.”
“And there’s so much more to do.” Her gaze moved over his shoulder, landing on an A-list actress. Her last two movies had been box office hits.
Trey pulled up the notes he’d made about the actress’s past films, upcoming ventures and interests. He read off the information to Sage. Armed with the information to make this hopefully a successful conversation, Sage stood up.
“Good luck,” he said. “If you don’t need me, I’m going to do some mingling. I’ll text you if I get something.”
Her gaze kept straying back to the actress, making sure she didn’t get away. When she glanced back at Trey, she said, “I’ll see you back at the château.”
She moved away quickly to catch up with the actress.
You can do this. They’ll like your idea. You just have to get them to listen.
“Hi.” Sage smiled as she approached the young woman. “Aren’t you Abigail Wright from the movie Visitors from Beyond?”
“Why, yes, I am.” The young woman smiled at being recognized from one of the films being played here at the festival. “Did you enjoy it?”
“I did.”
They went on to discuss the film for a couple of minutes. Perhaps Trey had been right about the beautiful piece of jewelry. So far it had been her lucky charm.
The actress’s gaze strayed to Sage’s badge, which was still obscured by the pendant. “I see you are with the press.”
“I am. And I would love to interview you.” She was thankful Trey had researched the actress’s professional background as well as her volunteer work. “I know you’ve done some volunteering to build houses for those less fortunate.”
The actress’s face lit up. “I have. It’s a really great venture.”
“Perhaps we could frame the interview around the volunteer work you’ve done and then segue into your films.”
“I would like that. What outlet are you with?”
This was the moment of truth. “QTR Magazine.”
The young woman paused and Sage prayed she wouldn’t change her mind about the interview. At last, the actress gave Sage her contact information and they agreed to a time and location.
Sage couldn’t tell if the actress was too new to the business to know about the scandalous past of QTR or if she was so hungry for attention that she didn’t care. Either way, it had worked out for Sage.
One interview down, more to go. And it was thanks to Trey. He was the one that thought of the lovely piece of jewelry to camouflage her true identity. She hoped one day soon those tactics wouldn’t be necessary. She wanted QTR Magazine to be synonymous with integrity. But for now, Trey had earned a few points in his favor.
Sage adjusted the pendant over her pink press badge, straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. Steadily putting one foot in front of the other, she headed for the group of people gathered outside the Debussy Theatre.
She worked the crowd like a pro. Agents exchanged business cards with Sage, giving her a sense of optimism. No, it wasn’t a firm date for an interview, but each card represented an open door. And she planned to march through those doors.
She’d just approached Johnny Volt, an action movie superstar, when Elsa materialized out of nowhere. Trying to ignore her stepmother’s looming presence, Sage said, “It’s so nice to meet you.”
Sage and Johnny shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
This was her chance to turn this casual conversation into something more productive. “Mr. Volt—”
“Please, call me Johnny.”
“Okay. Johnny, I’ve heard a lot about your movie releasing in August. It’s projected to be a box office hit just like the first one. I was wondering if you’d be interested in a magazine cover and a feature article.”
“What magazine are you with?”
“Excuse me.” Elsa took that moment to interrupt. “I’m Elsa.”
Sage smothered a groan. She would not give Elsa the satisfaction of seeing how her interruption bothered her. Still, it annoyed Sage how the woman descended upon them mid-conversation and announced her name like she was one of those celebrities that only went by their first name. Did she really think she was that big of a name?
“If you’ll excuse us,” Sage said in a restrained tone, “we were in the middle of a conversation.”
Elsa turned back to Johnny. “Before you agree to anything with QTR, you’ll want to hear what I can offer you. It’ll far surpass anything they can do.”
Johnny glanced at Elsa with disdain. “You heard her. We’re talking. Privately. Now if you’ll excuse us.”
Elsa’s deep-red lips gaped. It would appear that she was not used to being dismissed. Sage struggled to keep from laughing at the horrified expression on Elsa’s face when Johnny turned his back to her.
“Is she gone yet?”
With a loud sigh, Elsa turned on her five-inch heels and walked away.
“She is now.” Sage stopped herself from apologizing for her stepmother. In the past, that’s exactly what she would have done. But not now. She may share her last name with the woman, but she wasn’t family. And Elsa’s actions were no reflection on her.
“I would like to hear more about what you have to offer. Can I have your phone?” Johnny held out his hand.
She couldn’t believe that the Johnny Volt was not only talking to her, but he was also going to put his number in her phone. With a slightly shaky hand, she gave him her phone.
He quickly typed in his information. “Give me a call next week and we’ll set something up.” He returned the phone. “But now I have to go. It was good to meet you.”
After Johnny disappeared into the crowd, Trey approached her. “I saw Elsa and got concerned. What did I miss?”
“I’d say that good won out over evil.”
Trey laughed. She loved the sound of his laugh. It was deep and warm. Her gaze caught and held his longer than necessary.
It would be so easy to forgive and forget, but she couldn’t. She knew the price of trusting someone and then having them turn on you. Trey already proved he was someone she couldn’t trust. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
Using every bit of willpower, she glanced away. She refused to let down the wall around her heart. He’d already had his chance. That’s all he got—but her heart didn’t agree.
* * *
He had to do more.
The following afternoon, Trey had given a lot of thought to how he could make amends with Sage. He knew nothing he did would undo the past, but he wanted to show her he was better than that—he wanted to prove it to himself.
He’d let himself get so caught up in evening the score with his father that he hadn’t realized the price it would exact from those around him.
He needed to get back to being himself.
He needed Sage to trust him again. And the pendant had been a start, but he wanted to do something extra special—something to put the spark back in Sage’s big, beautiful eyes. And he had the inkling of an idea that just might do the trick. But he couldn’t do it alone.
It was midway into the afternoon when Trey decided to make his departure. They had just arrived outside the Grand Theatre Lumière. The red carpet was in full action with celebrities in designer gowns, sparkling gems and black tuxes. When a celebrity stepped onto the carpet, camera flashes lit up the area. There were so many cameras that it was blinding.
Sage leaned close to him to speak over the crowd. “Did you see George? Oh, look, there’s Uma. This movie is going to be amazing.”
He loved hearing the enthusiasm in Sage’s voice. Day by day, things were getting better between them. Though he wished the process was faster, he was grateful they’d made it this far.
He leaned close to her ear, catching the sweet scent of jasmine. He lingered for a moment, breathing in her intoxicating scent. When someone bumped into him, it jarred him back to his senses.
“Would you mind if I went back to the château for a bit?”
Concern filled Sage’s eyes but in a blink it was gone. “Sure. I’ve got this. I got caught up in the fact that people are starting to talk with us. But when I mention an interview or a cover, they shy away.”
“You’ll nail it. Just give it time. The festival seems like a really big crowd, but it’s really rather small when it comes to passing information. Once it gets around that you are so nice and have integrity, they will view QTR in a different light.”
She looked at him with skepticism. “I don’t know about that.”
“Trust me.” The words were out before he realized that was the exact wrong thing for him to say to her. “Forget that. Trust yourself and believe that you can do this.”
As he walked away, he realized his campaign to win back Sage’s friendship and perhaps her trust had to be many pronged. The first would be celebrating her birthday, which was quickly approaching. It landed on the next to the last day of the festival. And it wasn’t going to be any birthday party. He had something very special in mind.
And the other idea was to deal with Elsa. He knew that Sage thought she could handle her, but he had to do something to help. That woman, she just couldn’t get away with the way she treated Sage.
He would see about getting his group of online friends, aka hackers, to lend a hand. He’d never needed their help before, but they owed him for various things in the past. This was his time to collect. He needed to know everything about Elsa and all the things she didn’t want other people to know—including her questionable acquisition of Sage’s family company.
He strode quickly to the château. He needed to speak with Maria, his housekeeper, before she left for the day. She had been with him since he was a boy. In many ways, she was as much a mother to him as his own mother.
As soon as Trey entered the house, he headed for the kitchen. It was Maria’s favorite room. She’d told him that numerous times over the years. And he had to agree with her. It was spacious, modern and had the most terrific view of the sea. It was one of the reasons he’d held on to the place.
“Maria.” He entered the kitchen and came to a stop. He glanced all around, but she was nowhere to be found. “Maria?”
He started walking through the house looking for her. After covering the ground floor, he was starting to suspect she’d completed her work early and had gone home. He supposed he could phone her, but he’d rather go over the details in person.
He reached the top of the steps when the door to Sage’s room opened. Maria stepped into the hallway. When her gaze caught him standing in the hallway, she jumped and pressed a hand to her chest.
When she spoke, it was in French. Though she also spoke English, she preferred her native language. “You startled me.” She smiled at him. “I didn’t know that anyone had returned.”
“Sorry, it’s just me.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“I could really use your help.”
Her eyes widened with interest. “Certainly. What do you need?”
“I need your help planning a birthday party for Sage. If you could take care of coordinating the food and staff, I’ll take care of the invitations.”
Maria smiled. “You really like her, don’t you?”
He hesitated. Until now, he hadn’t even admitted to himself about his growing feelings for Sage. For so long, he’d tried holding her at arm’s length, but somewhere between rescuing Happy and the Red Heart Gala she’d broken through his barriers.
He wanted to believe that this was the beginning for them. He wanted to believe they could write a different story than the unhappy one his parents had lived.
“I... I do care about her. But I’ve really messed things up.”
Maria patted his arm and sent him a sympathetic look. “Did you apologize?”
He nodded. “But it was more than an apology could cover.”
“Give her time. Keep showing her that you care. She’ll come around.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Of course I am. Who could resist that smile?” She patted his cheek. “Now, you’ll need to give me a menu so I can get started shopping.”
“About that, I have some very specific ideas to run by you.”
Together they entered his office and they plotted out a birthday party that would be unlike any other.