"Whatever you’re planning."
Remember what I said earlier about your childhood friends knowing you so well they can anticipate your response? Well, this is another of those times.
"What are you, a mind-fucking-reader?" I snap.
"I am your best-fucking-friend. Isn’t that what BFF stands for, anyway?"
I glower at him. "What are you, ten?"
"What are you, a plonker?"
I shake my head. "This entire conversation is bonkers."
"No more than you doing something you’re going to regret for a long time to come."
"A-n-d, there you go again. Like I said, you have no idea what I was up to when you called."
"You mean, you weren’t going to call Karina Beauchamp and have her team monitor Isla’s social media and block trolls and delete negative comments the way you controlled the response to your wedding announcement?"
I try to wipe any expression off of my face, and he shakes his finger at me. "Don’t even try on that innocent look. It makes you look like Max after he’s dug up all the plants in the flower bed."
"You’re comparing me to Sinclair’s pet?"
"At least, I didn’t compare you to Michael and Karma’s kitten, or JJ’s turtle."
"JJ has a pet turtle?" I’m referring to the head of Kane Enterprises who also happens to have launched an exclusive networking platform through which I identified my next startup investment. One for which I have high hopes.
"I’m a politician." He leans back in his seat. "I know everything."
"And I know something about you that you don’t even realize yet."
"If you mean Zara—"
"So, there’s something going on between the two of you."
His brow creases, then he rearranges the expression on his face. "There’s nothing between us."
"So you keep saying."
"Because it’s the truth. Also, nice segue, but it didn’t work." He narrows his gaze on me. "Coming back to what you were going to do when I called you—"
"I was going to get a cigar. Is that allowed?" I huff.
"Bull-fucking-shit. Do not try to manage the response on this video. Not when she dared to share her true self with the world."
I sink back into my chair. "So you saw it?"
"I did, and I think Isla is incredibly brave for what she did. It takes guts, it takes bravery, it takes belief in oneself to do what she did."
"She was daring in what she did, and now I must be gallant and protect her from the backlash."
"You’re doing her a disservice."
"Because I want to ensure no one harms her?"
"She knew the risks when she put herself out there. She’s willing to face the response, whatever it is. If she finds out what you’re going to do—"
"She won’t."