She was sipping tea in the suite when he arrived, and she found something fascinating to stare at in the bottom of her teacup. The Diva knew how to look good for photos. She’d pinned up her hair and angled a printed scarf around her shoulders. Her white pencil dress showed off shapely arms and the impressive set of legs that had tried to emasculate him last night.
Henri appeared with the photographers. As they set up the shoot, Henri asked her about her jewelry. Studiously ignoring Thad, she showed him a wide, matte-gold bracelet set with stones. “A replica of an Egyptian cuff from a dear friend. And this is one of my favorite poison rings.” She flipped the domed top open, revealing a not-so-secret compartment. “Easy to fill it with poison and tip the contents into an enemy’s drink.” She darted an honest-to-God warning look at him.
“Or to off yourself,” he tossed back.
He had the satisfaction of seeing her wince.
The photographer was ready for them. Henri posed Thad behind The Diva, and then next to her on the couch. She tucked her fingers under her chin, displaying the watch. He kept his wrist visible.
He’d spent a lot of time getting his picture taken, and he was comfortable in front of cameras, but The Diva seemed antsy, shifting around, crossing and recrossing her legs. One of the photographers gestured toward an armchair near the windows. “Let’s try a few shots over there.”
The Diva settled in the armchair, and Thad took up a position behind her.
Marchand tugged on today’s silk neck scarf. “Thaddeus, may I suggest you put your hand on her shoulder?”
All the better to display the Victory780, but Thad had never been more reluctant to touch a woman.
She flinched, a movement so subtle he doubted anyone else noticed. He had no idea what he’d done to make her hate him so much. He was a straight shooter—blunt when he needed to be—but generally diplomatic. He liked most people, and he didn’t make a habit of collecting enemies. He respected women and treated them well. This was her problem, not his. Still, he had to admit to a perverse curiosity.
After the photographers left, Henri suggested they all meet for dinner at eight in the hotel’s four-star restaurant. Thad had plans to get together with some former teammates, and he declined. The Diva pleaded fatigue and said she’d order room service later. Henri didn’t extend the invitation to Paisley.
Thad excused himself to change into workout clothes, but as he reached the second-floor fitness center, he realized he’d forgotten his phone. He liked to listen to music on the treadmill, and he went back to retrieve it.
The living room’s double French doors were open, and she stood on the terrace by the rail. He hesitated. To hell with it. He was sick of her crap, and this was his chance to talk to her privately.
He walked over to the open doors but didn’t step out. “I’m behind you, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t attack me again.”
She whirled around. She’d gotten rid of the big scarf and traded her stilettos for a pair of flats, but she still looked plenty put together in her white dress. Did she even own a pair of jeans?
“Do you need something?” She addressed him as if he were a servant who’d interrupted her.
She was so condescending his teeth started to itch. “I thought you might have something you wanted to tell me.”
“I can’t imagine what that would be.”
“Something on the order of, ‘I’m sorry as hell I acted like a lunatic last night, and thank you, Mr. Owens, for not knocking me silly.’ Which would have been easy to do.”
Her iceberg expression could have sunk a thousand ships. “I have nothing to say to you.”
She clearly wasn’t worth his time, and he could have walked away. But they were going to be together for a month, and he needed to have it out with her. “You’ve given me the cold shoulder from the beginning, lady. Do you treat most people like garbage, or am I a special case? I don’t give a damn what you think of me, you understand. But I am curious.”
Her nostrils flared like an opera heroine about to order a beheading. “Men like you . . . you’ve got it all. Money. Looks. The public fawning over you. But that’s not enough, is it?”
Now he was really steamed. “Here’s the difference between you and me. If I have a beef with somebody, I’m upfront about it. I don’t hide behind snarky comments.”
She drew in a deep breath that expanded her rib cage in a way he’d have found impressive if he weren’t so incensed. “You want upfront?” she said. “All right. Does the name Alyssa Jackson mean anything?”
“Can’t say as it does.”
“What’s one more victim, right?”
“‘Victim’?” It took a lot to make him lose his temper, but he’d never had anyone regard him with so much contempt. “Exactly what kind of victim?”
She gripped the railing with the hand that held one of her poison rings. “Alyssa and I shared an apartment for a while in the Bronx. It was when you were the Giants’ hot new quarterback—the one who didn’t last two seasons. But you were the big man in town, and all the women wanted you. Except the ones like Alyssa who didn’t.” Her lips curled with contempt. “And you don’t even remember her name.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “How about you refresh my memory? Exactly what am I supposed to have done to her?”
“I don’t know what the legal definition of sexual assault is, but what you did was close enough. I begged her to go to the police, but she refused.”
He clenched his teeth against his rising fury. “Now there’s a surprise.”
“You could have had any woman you wanted, but the easy ones weren’t the ones who appealed to you. They weren’t the ones who made you feel like a big man.”
He couldn’t listen to any more, and he turned away only to come to a halt as he reached the door. “You don’t know me, lady, and you don’t know a damn thing about my character. You also don’t know your old friend Alyssa as well as you think, so keep giving me the cold shoulder because we don’t have anything more to say to each other.”
*
Thad pounded down the service stairs to the second floor, his sneakers assaulting the stair treads. He’d never needed the gym more.
“Thaddeus Walker Bowman Owens!” He’d been twelve years old, in the car with his mother, and full of himself. They were on their way to his basketball practice when he’d called Mindy Garamagus a slut.
His sweet, mild-tempered mother had pulled to the side of the road and let him have it. A smack right across the face. The first and only time she’d hit him.
“Don’t you ever say that about a woman! How does a girl get to be a slut? Ask yourself that. Does she do it all by herself?” Tears had filled his eyes as she’d looked at him as though he were some kind of worm. “The only men who use that word against a woman are weak, men who feel powerless. Don’t judge what you don’t understand. You have no idea who she is!”
His mother was right. Even then he knew that the only thing wrong with Mindy Garamagus was that she made him feel like the immature twelve-year-old he was.
That night, he’d gotten a similar lecture from his dad. It was long before the word “consent” had become part of the zeitgeist, but the message was loud and clear.
Even without his parents’ lectures, he couldn’t imagine himself ever taking advantage of a woman. How could sex be fun if you weren’t both into it?
He’d once again forgotten his phone, but no way in hell was he going back to get it.
*
No matter how much money Marchand had offered her, Olivia would never have signed that contract if she’d known she’d be traveling with Owens instead of Cooper Graham, as she’d originally been told. Graham had a wife, kids, and a squeaky-clean reputation. Traveling with him would have been a nice distraction, something she’d never needed more than she did at this point in her life.