Chapter 100
Chapter 100:
Plan B. If Kieran won’t do it, I will. I need to find out who the real Gaston Collins is.
The noise in the SoHo café seemed to fade into a dull buzz as Bella Douglas stared at Jocelyn. Her skepticism was palpable — a physical weight pressing down on the small table between them.
“So, the kiss at the hospital?” Bella asked, stirring her latte aggressively. “The one Grandma Wolfe told everyone about? The one that apparently made the nurses blush? Fake p>
Jocelyn felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She picked at a loose thread on the tablecloth. “Method acting. He’s very committed to the role, Bella. He knows Grandma needed to see it p>
“Joss, I’ve seen fake,” Bella countered, leaning forward. “I grew up with Kieran and Aspen. I know what a performance looks like. That man had his hand on your neck. He was breathing you in. You can’t fake that kind of hunger p>
“He’s a playboy,” Jocelyn argued, though her voice lacked conviction. A flicker of the fever dream — that deep, possessive voice — passed through her mind, and she pushed it away. “He knows how to manipulate women. It’s part of his charm. It’s a tool p>
“But why you?” Bella pressed. “He could hire a model. He could hire an actress who knows the game. He married you — his enemy’s ex-girlfriend. The woman with the baggage and the debts p>
“Because I’m safe,” Jocelyn insisted. “I needed the money. He needed the stability. It’s transactional. We have an NDA the size of a phone book p>
𝗖𝘩i𝘯𝘦𝘀𝖾 𝘯𝘰𝘃𝘦𝗅s t𝘳a𝗇𝗌𝗅𝘢𝗍е𝗱 o𝗻
Bella sighed, leaning back in the booth. “Just… be careful. If he’s not gay, you’re walking into a lion’s den wearing a steak necklace p>
“I’m fine,” Jocelyn lied. She took a sip of water to cool her dry throat. “We have boundaries. He sleeps in his wing; I sleep in mine.” Except for last night, a traitorous voice whispered. Except when he held your hair while you were sick on the side of the road.
“And if he falls for you?” Bella asked softly.
“He won’t,” Jocelyn said quickly. “He has a… friend. A male friend. I’ve seen them together. They’re very close p>
She was inventing details now, grasping at straws to build the wall higher. She needed the wall. Without it, she was just a girl falling in love with a man who had bought her.
Bella looked unconvinced but dropped the subject. “Okay. Fine. He’s gay. But if he hurts you, Joss, I swear to God I will key his Aston Martin. I don’t care how much it costs p>
Jocelyn smiled weakly. She pulled out the black American Express Centurion card Gaston had given her. It felt heavy in her hand, cold and metallic.
“Perks of the job,” she joked, waving the card at the waiter.
Bella watched her pay, a sad smile playing on her lips. “Just don’t sell your soul, Joss. The interest rates are a bitch p>
High above the city, in the corner office of Collins Tower, the air was cool and smelled of ozone and money.